Hawaii Calls

Two years before Lindbergh successfully flies non-stop across the Atlantic, the US Navy attempts the same daring feat across the Pacific Commander John Rodgers is a fifth generation naval officer from a prestigious upper- class family and the second licensed pilot to fly for the US Navy. On August 31, 1925, he and his four crewmen lift-off from the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay in a twin engine, bi-winged flying boat called the PN9-1. If successful, they will be the first to fly non-stop from San Francisco to Hawaii, setting the record in a blistering twenty-eight hours . The ill-fated flying boat runs out of fuel three hundred miles short of their goal and is forced to set down onto a turbulent ocean. Once on the water, the men discover they are no longer in communication with the fleet. As the world anxiously awaits the outcome of the crew's fate, the navy's best search efforts fail to find the plane and her crew remain lost at sea for ten days. As the politics of blame and cover-up take center stage back home, the crew quickly expend their meager two-day supply of emergency rations while all hope of ever finding the men grows ever slimmer. As all hope slowly fades away, Rodgers' personal leadership skills and navigational expertise ultimately encourages his men onto a path toward self-reliance; cleverly rescuing themselves in the end. Based upon a true story ripped from the headlines of 1925. In 1927, Honolulu International Airport was quietly dedicated to the memory of Commander John Rodgers.