“Cone of silence” is a blind flying term signifying the correct approach position for an aircraft directed by radio control when weather conditions make it impossible for a pilot to see.
Bernard Lee plays Captain George Gort, a reliable, veteran, “fly by the book” pilot who is blamed when the (fictional) Phoenix jet airliner he is flying crashes at Ranjibad.
He insists that it was not his fault but is put through a gruelling flight test by Training Captain Dallas (Michael Craig) before he is allowed to resume his job.
Gort finds himself saddled with a verdict of “pilot error” which satisfies everyone except himself and his daughter Charlotte (Elizabeth Seal).
Nevertheless, certain employees of the airline are dubious about Gort’s ability even when he is officially commended for the way in which he brings a plane back safely after his windscreen has been shattered in a hailstorm.
Dallas, meanwhile, has fallen quite heavily for Charlotte and when Gort’s reputation as a pilot is once more unfairly at stake – following another crash, this time fatal – he does his utmost to exonerate him and finally establishes a fault in the plane’s flight instructions, narrowly averting another disaster.
It’s a fascinating and exciting suspense story with an exemplary cast.
Released in some markets as Trouble In The Sky.
Captain Dallas
Michael Craig
Captain Clive Judd
Peter Cushing
Captain George Gort
Bernard Lee
Charlotte Gort
Elizabeth Seal
Sir Arnold Hobbes QC
George Sanders
Captain Manningham
André Morell
Captain Bateson
Gordon Jackson
Captain Braddock
Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell
Nigel Pickering
Noel Willman
Stewardess Joyce Mitchell
Delphi Lawrence
Mr Robinson
Marne Maitland
First Officer Joynson
William Abney
First Officer
Jack Hedley
Navigator
Simon Lack
Navigator
Hedger Wallace
Steward
Charles Mylne
Steward
Howard Pays
Commissioner
Ballard Berkeley
Commissioner
Charles Lloyd Pack
Controller
Homi Bode
Controller
Anthony Newlands
Aircraft Controller
Geoffrey Bayldon
Miss Wright
Olga Dickie
Sir Henry
Frederick Leister
Director
Charles Frend