John Travolta He is an Oscar-winning Hollywood actor, known for his iconic roles in ‘Grease’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. Although most know him for his work on screen, Travolta has been a licensed pilot for decades. In 2023, a London premiere brought back one of the scariest moments of his life, when Travolta opened up about his near-fatal cab experience.
John Travolta and complete electrical failure More than Washington DC
At the London premiere of “The Shepherd,” John Travolta opened up about a real-life emergency he faced while flying on a corporate jet over Washington, DC.“Actually, I experienced an electrical failure, not on a vampire, but on a corporate jet in Washington DC.” he said Travolta, who holds his pilot’s license, says the incident resonated with him when he first read the book on which Frederick Forsyth’s ‘The Shepherd’ is based. “So when I read it, it resonated even more because of this experience that I had personally had,” he added.
John Travolta thought it was all over at this point
Travolta couldn’t resist describing what it felt like in that cabin. “I knew what it felt like to think you were going to die,” she said.“I had two good jet engines, but I had no tools, no electricity, nothing. And I thought it was over.” He also reported that his family was on board during the flight. “I had my family on board and I said, ‘I mean, I can’t believe I’m going to die on this plane,'” Travolta recalled.
John Travolta and emergency landing that saved his life
A 1995 New Yorker report previously documented the incident, describing how Travolta made the emergency landing. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with his family on a flight in 1992.A Washington Post report indicated that investigators found the threat of a mid-air collision very real on that flight, with a New York-bound Boeing 727 as the other plane involved. “And then, as if by a miracle, we descended according to the rules to a lower altitude. I saw that monument in Washington DC and I identified that Washington National Airport was nearby, and I landed like the pilot Freddie Hooke does in the movie,” he recalled.
John Travolta and his 30-year journey to bring ‘The Shepherd’ to life
Travolta also revealed that he had been trying to bring ‘The Shepherd’ to the screen for three decades at the time.“After ‘Pulp Fiction,’ I was doing one movie after another,” he said. “After 10 years, I quit and decided I was never really going to make it.” The project only came together when writer-director Iain Softley connected with him. “It took 30 years, but here I am tonight,” Travolta said, and for a man who once thought his time was up at 30,000 feet, that moment on stage at the premiere must have felt everything.
