The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (also known as The Flight) is a 1988 American made-for-television drama film based on the actual hijacking of TWA Flight 847 as seen through the eyes of flight purser Uli Derickson, the chief flight attendant. Derickson herself acted as a consultant for the film. The film was directed by Paul Wendkos and showcases the first 48 hours of the hijacking until Derickson's liberation. Synopsis Passengers gather at Ellinikon International Airport to board TWA Flight 847, which has just arrived from Cairo for its continuing flight to Rome's Fiumicino Airport. After the aircraft leaves Athens, two passengers, "Castro" and Saiid, brandish pistols and hand grenades and take over the plane. Derickson is forced at gunpoint to the flight deck door, where she realizes neither of the two hijackers speak English, but one speaks her native German. A third, English-speaking hijacker, Ali Atwa, was due to board with Castro and Saiid, but missed the flight in Athens. She is able to communicate the hijackers' demands and the aircraft is first ordered to re-route to Algiers. Due to a lack of fuel for the journey, the hijackers settle on Beirut, which will also nearly exhaust their fuel supply. Beirut Airport initially refuses to allow the plane to land, but the flight crew insists there is no alternative and proceeds to land. There, a US Navy diver, Robert Stethem, and the flight engineer are beaten until Beirut authorities approve the refueling of the aircraft. Several passengers are freed after Uli advises the hijackers that less passengers means the aircraft could taken on more fuel and fly farther. The plane then departs for Algiers, during which time Castro pressures Uli into identifying Jewish passengers onboard. When she refuses, she is forced to read aloud the names of all passports collected, and Castro identifies names he believes are of Jewish descent. Uli instructs each of these individuals to stand, and are later directed to the rear of the aircraft where Castro scolds them. The plane arrives in Algiers, where more hostages are released. As TWA was not a regular carrier at this airport, Algerian airport authorities refuse to fuel the jet without payment. Uli provides her own Shell credit card to pay for the fuel in hopes of avoiding further retaliation from the hijackers against the passengers. After a tip-off of an impending US strike on the