The Last Inch (1959)

Based on the short story by James Aldridge. Excellent, but elderly pilot Ben agrees to do dangerous underwater shooting for television. Together with his 12-yo son Davy, he flies a light sports plane to Shark Bay. A long time Davy is sitting on the beach. Finally, from the ocean a bloodied Ben appears. The boy hardly can drag his father back to the plane. Ben had only once shown him how to fly a plane. He also had explained that it was the last inch above the ground that mattered if the plane was going to crash while landing or not.