‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ Ending Explained: Does the White Family Survive the Plane Incident?

Welcome to the Ending Explained for On a Wing and a Prayer, a new film arriving on Amazon Prime Video this week. The film tells the story of Doug White, who ends up involved in a flying incident that could end not only his life but also his family’s. The film is based on a real-life event, so most of the things that you will see in this movie are real. However, the movie has also taken a lot of creative liberties in order to make a film that is more fun to watch. There is also a strong religious vein throughout the film that sometimes feels a bit forced.

The film is directed by Sean McNamara, who has directed many family-friendly films in his career. So, you can expect that when it comes to On a Wing and a Prayer. This low-budget movie needs to overextend its premise by adding several supporting characters, including an entire POV that has nothing to do with the main story. Maybe this could have been a 60-minute TV special instead of an entire feature. The performances are fine, but a bit of edge is missing here, and the situation was asking for it.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for On a Wing and a Prayer. Read at your own risk.

Why Does The White Family Get Stuck In The Air?

The film starts by introducing our main character, a man named Doug White. This is Doug’s story, and it begins in the air. There we see Doug trying to fly an airplane. This is because a discovery flight is called to see if the student has the flying aptitude. However, Doug doesn’t seem to be very good at flying. The plane moves around and varies its altitude too many times. It definitely feels like this might not be Doug’s thing. Doug is trying to land the plane, and his teacher and brother, who are in the backseat, are preoccupied with their lives.

In the end, they land, and Doug accepts the fact that flying is not for him. We see that Doug and his brother have a very cool relationship. They are best friends, they share the same religious values, and they all make a happy family. We see Doug praying and trying to teach his daughter about the value of helping others. His wife, Terri, is also quite religious and wants her daughters to see the value of faith and community. One of the girls, however, is not totally on board with religion, as she finds it quite boring.

When they go back to their home from their trip, they get ready to continue their lives. However, in the middle of the night, Doug receives a terrible phone call. The phone call informs Doug that his brother has died. Doug finds it unbelievable that he saw him alive just a few days ago. But it is true. We see the entire family flying back to Doug’s brother’s place, where the funeral occurs. Doug has difficulty accepting his brother’s death, and his faith in God is shaken. He doesn’t know if praying is good enough anymore.

Doug and his family get ready to go back home, and they will do it by flying back on a private jet, a King Air 200, to be more precise. Doug, his wife, and his two daughters go on board alongside the ship’s captain, Joe Cabuk, an old but very experienced pilot. Because Doug is clearly sad, Terri talks with Joe about letting Doug fly in the co-pilot seat. Doug accepts reluctantly. It all seems to go well, but soon after they are in the air, Joe begins to feel bad. It seems he has a heart attack, and it is too late when Doug realizes that he is dead. Doug and his family are in the air, inside a plane with a dead pilot.

Does The White Family Survive The Plane Incident?

The movie focuses very much on the White family, but there are also quite several supporting characters that receive a lot of attention. It makes sense because Doug won’t be able to get the plane on the ground without help. His flying experience isn’t much, and it isn’t particularly good. Doug makes contact with traffic control and explains his situation. Soon, the people inside traffic control begin to establish communications with other towers, searching for someone who knows how to fly a King Air 200 and can teach Doug how to do it.

The film introduces us to Lisa, a flying operator with some flying experience who is trying to keep Doug calm and give him enough instructions, so he can stabilie the plane. We also get introduced to Dan Favio, a frustrated member of the control room who is trying to get a full-time job, but he is a bit of a mess. Dan makes a very important decision that changes the entire movie. He calls his friend, Kari, an expert pilot who knows how to fly the plane. However, because of a previous event, Kari is banned from being inside a control tower. So, Dan is breaking the law by just calling him.

Dan doesn’t care. He knows that there is more on the line than just breaking the law. An entire family of four is about to die. He convinces Kari to help. Kari’s family also died in a flying accident, so he is completely invested in helping Doug and his family to survive. Kari speaks through the phone to Dan, who speaks then through Lisa to Doug. Doug does the best he can and follows the instructions. They finally reach the airport chosen for them to land, but Doug fails to hit the ground at the last second because of the winds.

Doug must turn around and give it another go. Terri and her daughters pray to go that they can live through this situation and continue their lives. The movie has also been jumping back and forth to a pair of kids who are listening to the control room conversations through the radio. Both kids are quite interested in flying and sometimes come to the same conclusions as the experts. However, this storyline has nothing to do with the rest of the story. The kids never come in contact with the rest of the characters or influence the main story in any way.

Doug flies through a storm and manages to land, saving his family from certain death. In the end, Doug begins to believe in God and in the people once more because, without the help, he receives from the members of these different traffic control rooms, he and his family would be dead.