Flight of The Phoenix (2004 Film) - Plot

Plot

When an Amacor oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, Captain Frank Towns (Quaid) and crew chief A.J. (Tyrese Gibson) are sent to shut the operation down. However, on their way to Beijing, a major dust storm rips apart one of their engines, forcing them to crash land their C-119 Flying Boxcar in an uncharted area of the desert. Their cargo consists of used parts and tools from the rig, the rig's crew, and Elliot (Ribisi), a lone drifter. The crash results in Dr. Gerber (Paul Ditchfield) and Newman (Martin Hindy) dying of trauma, and one passenger, Kyle (Bob Brown), falls out of the plane to his death when the tail was ripped open. When the storm ends and the dust settles, it becomes apparent that they are 200 miles off course with only one month's worth of water available. Jeremy (Kirk Jones) thinks about leaving, but Rady (Kevork Malikyan) explains that the month they're in (July) is the hottest in the Gobi, and that he wouldn't be able to make it.

In the middle of the night, Davis (Jared Padalecki) goes out to urinate without informing anybody, during which he trips and gets lost in a sandstorm, eventually leading to his death. The group falls into a panic in the morning when they cannot find him, and after a failed search for him, Kelly (Miranda Otto) gets into an argument with Frank, during which he says that walking out of the desert would fail, and that their only option is to await rescue. The group initially agrees, but after surveying the situation and realizing that their value to Amacor is less than they had originally believed, they reconsider and are pitched a radical idea by Elliot, who claims to be an aeronautical engineer: rebuild the remains of their C-119 into a new, functional aircraft. Frank initially refuses, which causes Liddle (Scott Michael Campbell) to wander off on his own out of protest. Frank attempts to go in search for him, following the footsteps Liddle left in the sand. He comes across a valley littered with fresh debris. This turns out to be cargo from the aircraft, which had been dropped when the tail was cut open. Among the debris, he discovers the stripped body of Kyle, full of bullet wounds with shell casings clustered on the ground near him. At this point, Liddle appears and explains that someone had already been there and taken the watch that Kyle won from him in a poker match. Liddle says he will only go back with him if they build the plane, and Frank agrees.

They struggle for several weeks building the new aircraft, through dust storms, lack of water, and fighting amongst the group. Rady christens it Phoenix after the legendary bird. A problem evolves when a group of smugglers camp nearby; when the survivors attempt to communicate, the bandits kill Rodney (Tony Curran), but they are killed in a short, fierce skirmish when ambushed by Frank. Later, it is revealed that Elliot's aircraft design experience has been restricted to the design of model aircraft, much to the anger of everyone, especially Ian (Hugh Laurie), who almost kills Elliot. However, they eventually are able to construct the new aircraft and take off, barely in time to escape a larger group of bandit attackers seeking revenge for the murdered smugglers.

Through a series of photos, we see what became of the crew when they made it back to civilization. All have been revitalized by the experience: Frank and A.J. start their own airline (appropriately named Phoenix Aviation), Sammi and his wife start their own restaurant (Jeremy and Rady are there to celebrate), Liddle is reunited with his wife and kids, Ian becomes a professional golfer, Kelly is working at an ocean oil rig, and Elliot wears a flight suit on a Flight International magazine cover with the headline: "NASA's New Hope?"