flight denzel washington true story

Zemeckis added that the crash in "Flight" was based on an actual Alaska Airlines accident in 2000 that killed all 88 people on board. Things turn out much differently in his fictional version. It's not a spoiler to reveal that most passengers survive thanks to the bold manoeuvres of a veteran pilot, played by Denzel Washington.

Full Answer

Is Denzel Washington in the movie Flight?

Zemeckis then entered negotiations to direct Flight in April 2011, and by early June had accepted, with Denzel Washington about to finalize his own deal. It was the first time that Zemeckis and Washington had worked together on a motion picture.

Did Denzel Washington really fly a plane while drunk?

Alcoholic pilot Whip Whittaker (Denzel Washington) does a miraculous job crash-landing a plane that has suffered a severe mechanical breakdown in midair, however the mandated investigation into the incident will inevitably lead to the discovery that he was flying the plane while drunk and on cocaine.

How did Denzel Washington land the plane upside down?

After steering the plane through a particularly nasty bout of turbulence, Denzel Washington’s half-cut captain Whip has a nap, only to wake up with the plane nose-diving. To land the knackered aircraft, he rolls it upside down to stop it plummeting to the ground, before flipping it the right side up and crash landing in a field.

Is flight based on a true story?

Gatins explained in a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the dramatic fictional crash depicted in Flight was "loosely inspired" by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was caused by a broken jackscrew.

Is flight based on a true story Denzel Washington?

The film is loosely inspired by the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. Principal photography began in October 2011 near Atlanta, Georgia and lasted over 45 days. It was largely shot on location, with visual effects and computer-generated imagery used to create the plane crash.

Was flight 227 a true story?

United Airlines Flight 227 (N7030U), a scheduled passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport New York City to San Francisco International Airport, California, crashed short of the runway while attempting a scheduled landing at Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah, on Thursday, November 11, 1965.

Is pilot based on a true story?

In an interview, director Robert Zemeckis put all the speculation firmly to bed: "It's completely fiction. The movie draws from different incidents that involved airplane malfunctions from the last couple of decades, but [there is] nothing that it's based on that's a true story."

Is flight Inspired by a true story?

Zemeckis added that the crash in "Flight" was based on an actual Alaska Airlines accident in 2000 that killed all 88 people on board.

Can a plane really fly inverted?

Depending on the aerofoil this could restore level flight and even allow the plane to climb. But wings on aerobatic planes are curved on both the upper and lower sides. With this symmetric design, the plane can fly either normally or inverted. The pilot can flip from one to the other by altering the angle of attack.

Was the Flight of the Phoenix a true story?

The Flight of the Phoenix (Aldrich & Blake, 1965; Aldrich et al., 2004; Dudley-Smith, 1964) is based on a real-life event from World War II in which a twin-engine cargo plane crashed in the desert.

Can a passenger jet fly inverted?

“The MD-80 cannot sustain inverted flight. The MD-80, as with all commercial airliners, was designed to fly upright. Commercial airliners are only tested and certified for upright flight.” But there is one case where an airliner flew inverted in real life.

Is Last Flight Out a true story?

A television movie based on a true story. A group of Americans risk their lives to take 500 Vietnamese civilians to safety aboard the last commercial flight out of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.

Did Alaska Airlines Flight 261 fly upside down?

Just before plunging into the Pacific Ocean, the crew of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 flew upside down while desperately trying to regain control of the passenger jet, investigators confirmed Thursday.

How much do pilots earn?

According to The Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary for commercial pilots is $93,300 per year, which was the the median annual wage in May 2020. The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers is $160,970.

What caused the plane crash in flight movie?

As in the film, the cause of the crash was fatigue of a jackscrew due to overuse and poor maintenance. Unlike 'Flight' though, the heroism of the pilots was not in doubt. They were posthumously awarded the Airline Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. 'Flight' is in cinemas now.

What is a jackscrew on a plane?

A jackscrew, or screw jack, is a type of jack that is operated by turning a leadscrew. It is commonly used to lift moderately and heavy weights, such as vehicles; to raise and lower the horizontal stabilizers of aircraft; and as adjustable supports for heavy loads, such as the foundations of houses.

What is the deadliest plane crash in US history?

All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. With 273 fatalities, it is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States. Flight 191 just after takeoff, with its left engine missing and leaking fuel and hydraulic fluid.

What happen to flight 227?

United Airlines Flight 227 (N7030U), a scheduled passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport New York City to San Francisco International Airport, California, crashed short of the runway while attempting a scheduled landing at Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah, on Thursday, November 11, 1965.

What is the oldest plane still flying?

Bleriot Monoplane The oldest plane still flying in the world is the Bleriot XI. And it's not even close! Where generations of aircraft have been built and retired in its wake, the Bleriot XI, one of the first planes ever, built in 1909, still flies in Hudson Valley, New York.

What caused the plane crash in flight movie?

As in the film, the cause of the crash was fatigue of a jackscrew due to overuse and poor maintenance. Unlike 'Flight' though, the heroism of the pilots was not in doubt. They were posthumously awarded the Airline Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. 'Flight' is in cinemas now.

Do commercial planes have inverted wings?

The answer is yes for a “little” bit! Unlike military fighters, commercial planes do not have the engine power for sustained inverted flight and rely on lift from the wings. Commercial airliners are only tested and certified for upright flight.”.

Is Flight based on a true story?

Is flight movie based on a true story? Screenwriter John Gatins explained in a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the dramatic fictional crash depicted in Flight was "loosely inspired" by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was caused by a broken jackscrew. That crash had no survivors.

Who wrote Flight segues into a brave and tortured performance by Denzel Washington?

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four, writing " Flight segues into a brave and tortured performance by Denzel Washington—one of his very best. Not often does a movie character make such a harrowing personal journey that keeps us in deep sympathy all of the way.".

Who is the actor who plays the pilot in Flight?

Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Steve Starkey, Zemeckis and Jack Rapke. It stars Denzel Washington as William "Whip" Whitaker Sr., an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, ...

What happened to Captain Whip Whitaker?

He pilots SouthJet Flight 227 to Atlanta, which experiences severe turbulence at takeoff. After clearing the bad weather, Copilot Ken Evans takes over control of the flight. Whip discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice while addressing the passengers, and then takes a nap in the cockpit. He is jolted awake as the plane goes into a steep dive. Unable to regain control, W hip is forced to make a controlled crash landing in an open field, losing consciousness on impact.

What was the crash in Flight 261?

Gatins explained in a 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the dramatic fictional crash depicted in Flight was "loosely inspired" by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, which was caused by a broken jackscrew.

How much did Flight make in 2012?

Flight opened in 1,884 theaters across the US and Canada on November 2, 2012. In its first week, the film ranked second in the American box office, grossing US$24,900,566 with an average of US$13,217 per theater. Flight earned US$93,772,375 in the US and an additional US$68,000,000 in other countries for a total of US$161,772,375, well above its US$31 million production budget.

Where was the movie The Captain of Alaska Airlines filmed?

This film is loosely inspired by the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 . Principal photography began in October 2011 near Atlanta, Georgia and lasted over 45 days.

Who is Whip's friend?

Whip awakens in an Atlanta hospital with moderate injuries and is greeted by his old friend Charlie Anderson, who represents the airline's pilots union. He tells Whip that he managed to save 96 out of 102 lives on the flight, losing two crew members and four passengers, but mentions his copilot is in a coma.

Why does Denzel Washington turn his plane upside down?

In the new movie Flight, the pilot portrayed by Denzel Washington turns his airliner upside down to save it from an uncontrolled descent. Is that really possible? (And how would the pilot's drug abuse affect him?)

Who plays Whip Whitaker in Flight?

In Robert Zemeckis's latest movie Flight, out Nov. 2, Denzel Washington plays Whip Whitaker, a regional-airline pilot who heroically rolls the airplane he's flying to rescue it from an uncontrolled descent. The inversion sequence—especially an extreme long shot of the aircraft soaring, engines up, over a suburban Atlanta apartment building—stuns.

Why is inversion bad for airplanes?

Inversion risks engine failure, because fuel pickup tubes draw from the tank's bottom. But if your airplane had a broken jackscrew and dysfunctional horizontal stabilizer, like Whitaker's, inversion could help it regain altitude and slow down; its nose would remain stuck pitched down—but now "down" means up, toward the sky.

What did Haynes use to guide the plane?

Haynes and his flight crew used the power of the wing-mounted engines to guide the airplane's descent. (On approach, Haynes stayed calm and collected—he even kept his sense of humor. After air traffic control cleared Flight 232 for an emergency landing at Sioux City, he quipped: "Roger.

Why do airplanes stay aloft?

They stay aloft thanks to engine propulsion, which overpowers air resistance, or drag, and the way air streams over their aerodynamically shaped wings to generate lift. The wing flaps, structures that supplement lift but create drag, would be retracted.

When did the DC-10 crash land?

Consider Sully Sullenberger—or Al Haynes, the captain of United Airlines flight 232, a DC-10 that crash-landed on July 19, 1989, after the catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine led to the loss of all hydraulic flight controls.

Who was the first pilot to fly a 707?

The sight certainly would be unusual, but it wouldn't make for a groundbreaking stunt: In 1955, Boeing chief test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnson executed two barrel rolls in a Dash 80, the 707 prototype, over Seattle's Lake Washington as part of the company's U.S. tour to promote jets as the future mode of air travel.

Who directed Flight forrest gum?

Zemeckis, an Oscar-winner for directing "Forrest Gump," says he's hoping there's no eye-rolling over his latest big screen catastrophe in "Flight.". He said he strove for as much realism as possible. "We have real pilots and experts vet all these ideas so we don't have anyone doing that," he said of picky eye-rollers.

What airline crashed in Flight?

Zemeckis added that the crash in "Flight" was based on an actual Alaska Airlines accident in 2000 that killed all 88 people on board. Things turn out much differently in his fictional version.

Who plays Whip's lawyer?

John Goodman co-stars as a pal who enables Whip's private vices, Don Cheadle plays a hard-nosed lawyer who defends Whip against accusations of pilot error while Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood plays a union rep who proves to be one of Whip's few allies.

Is Whip an easy protagonist?

Zemeckis admits that Whip is not always an easy protagonist to like. "But I think we also can sympathize with the fact that he's imperfect, sort of like everybody," said Zemeckis, whose most recent efforts were the big-budget animated films "A Christmas Carol," "Beowulf" and "The Polar Express.".

Who is the movie that is about plane crash king?

TORONTO -- With the upcoming release of the disaster film "Flight," acclaimed director Robert Zemeckis can rightly seek the title of Hollywood's "plane crash king.". His latest drama begins with a terrifying catastrophe that sends crew and passengers see-sawing through the air as a routine trip goes horribly awry.

Is Whip an easy protagonist?

Zemeckis admits that Whip is not always an easy protagonist to like. "But I think we also can sympathize with the fact that he's imperfect, sort of like everybody," said Zemeckis, whose most recent efforts were the big-budget animated films "A Christmas Carol," "Beowulf" and "The Polar Express.".

Who was the pilot arrested for a rum flight?

Prouse was one of three Northwest Airlines pilots arrested one morning in Minnesota in 1990. All three had spent the previous evening’s layover at a bar in Fargo, N.D., downing as many as 19 rum and Cokes. Tests showed their blood-alcohol levels far beyond the legal limit.

How many pilots have been treated by HIMS?

HIMS has treated more than 4,000 pilots, with only 10 percent to 12 percent of participants suffering relapse. It has kept alcohol out of the cockpit and has helped prevent the issue from being driven underground, where it’s more likely to be a safety problem.

What is the alcohol limit for pilots?

The Federal Aviation Administration blood-alcohol limit for airline pilots is 0.04 percent, and we are banned from consuming alcohol within eight hours of reporting for duty. We must also comply with our employers’ in-house policies, which are usually stricter. Drug and alcohol tests are unannounced and common.

Was Lyle Shelton a stunt pilot?

Wikipedia tells us that the late Lyle Shelton, a former stunt pilot, worked as a technical adviser. Perhaps Shelton could have told us more about that upside-down business, but he wasn’t an airline pilot, and it’s the cockpit details—the dramatization of airline SOP—where things fall short.

Overview

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Cast

Production

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