John Travolta Recounts Terrifying Near-Death Moment While Flying With Family: “Thought It Was Over”
In a candid revelation, actor John Travolta, who is also a seasoned pilot, recently shared a harrowing experience of a near-death encounter while flying with his family. The star disclosed the incident during the London premiere of his upcoming short film, The Shepherd, drawing parallels between the movie's plot and his personal brush with mortality.
Travolta recounted the terrifying episode, attributing it to a 'total electrical failure' during a corporate jet flight over Washington, D.C. The actor, who holds multiple jet licenses and was flying with his family, vividly described the moment when he felt certain about facing imminent death. “I had two good jet engines, but I had no instruments, no electric, nothing. And I thought it was over,” Travolta shared during a Q&A session at the premiere, as reported by Variety. This revelation aligns with his previous remarks in a 1995 interview with The Washington Post, where he detailed the emergency landing at Washington National Airport.
The incident occurred in 1992 when Travolta was flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Rockland, Maine, to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, as per Insider. The actor reflected on the gravity of the situation, stating, “I knew what it felt like to absolutely think you’re going to die.” In a testament to quick thinking and skillful piloting, Travolta managed to guide the jet to a lower altitude and execute a successful landing, akin to a scene from The Shepherd, the short film. The 38-minute film is adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s novella. Travolta described the descent as a 'miracle' and likened it to the film's plot, where a young pilot overcomes a plane's electrical failure, as per HuffPost.
The actor, who has been flying since 1978, emphasized his calm demeanor even in the face of a dire situation, a quality that likely contributed to the successful outcome of the incident. The details of this dramatic event had been largely concealed, with the Federal Aviation Administration and Travolta himself declining to comment when the news broke in 1995.
The revelation adds a profound dimension to his role in The Shepherd, a film that now holds a deeply personal connection to his own aviation saga. In a serendipitous turn of events, Travolta, now 69, shared that the film adaptation of Forsyth’s book had been a longstanding aspiration. "Because it was right after Pulp Fiction, I was doing one movie after another," Travolta said. "After 10 years, I just let it go and decided that I was never going to really get to do it, it took 30 years, but here I am tonight," he expressed, referring to the decades-long journey from the real-life incident to the upcoming premiere of The Shepherd on Disney+ on December 1, 2023.
