John Travolta Recalls Near-Death Experience: ‘I Thought It Was Over’

John Travolta is starring in a new Disney+ short film titled The Shepherd, about a young military pilot making a tense emergency landing after losing power while flying, and the iconic actor says that a personal real-life near-death experience inspired him to take the role. Recalling the experience during a Q&A — as reported by Variety — Travolta shared that he “experienced a total electrical failure” while piloting a jet over Washington D.C. in the early ’90s. To make the situation more terrifying, his family was with him, with his family.

“I actually experienced a total electrical failure, not in a Vampire but in a corporate jet over Washington D.C.,” Travolta told the London audience. “So when I read the book, it resonated even more because of this experience I had personally had.” Travolta was piloting a Gulfstream II from Florida to Maine for Thanksgiving at the time of the frightening incident, and he confessed, “I knew what it felt like to absolutely think you’re going to die. I had two good jet engines but I had no instruments, no electric, nothing. And I thought it was over.”

“And then as if by a miracle, we descended as per the rules to a lower altitude,” the Academy Award nominee added. “I saw that Washington D.C. monument and identified that Washington National Airport was right next to it and I made a landing just like [Freddie] does in the film.” This experience, Travolta said, drew him to The Shepherd, which is based on the 1975 book of the same name, by Frederick Forsyth.

“On Christmas Eve, a young Royal Air Force pilot flying home across the North Sea finds himself in peril when his radio and electric power cut out, leaving him stranded and running on limited fuel,” reads an official synopsis of The Shepherd. “Just when it appears his luck is about to run out, a mysterious good Samaritan guides him to safety.” In the film, Travolta plays the “mysterious good Samaritan” and Ben Radcliffe portrays the young pilot. Steven Mackintosh stars as well.

Praising his co-star Travolta said that Radcliffe “captured that despair when you think you’re actually going to die.” He also added that The Shepherd deeply resonated with him because it’s about “life and death and how precious life is.” The Shepherd begins streaming Dec. 1, only on Disney+.