The President's Plane Is Missing is a 1973 American TV movie directed by Daryl Duke with a screenplay by Ernest Kinoy and Mark Carliner based upon the Robert J. Serling 1967 novel of the same name.

With diplomatic tensions building and the United States facing a possible military confrontation with China, Air Force One mysteriously crashes in the desert while heading to California, with President Jeremy Haines on board.

Madigan's wife, Hester, sees this as an opportunity to advance his career, but the Washington political community doubts his competence.

In dealing with growing tensions and conflicting advice, Madigan struggles to avoid a nuclear war with China.

[8] In Cinema and Nation, when comparing The President's Plane Is Missing to such films as JFK (1991) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962), reviewers noted that while many films use a premise that actual democracy is an illusion, this one was rare in that it turned the president into an action hero.