Panic in the Skies (1996)
The cockpit of a Boeing 747 is struck by lightning during takeoff for a flight to Europe, fatally injuring the flight crew. Laurie, the senior flight attendant, enlists the aid of passenger Brett Young. They determine that the autopilot can bring the plane in for a landing, but soon learn that the autopilot is locking onto the transponders of airfields at random, including signals from small airports with runways too short to accommodate the jumbo jet. Meanwhile, federal officials on the ground who have lost radio contact with the jet debate whether the plane should be shot down to prevent a more disastrous crash in a heavily populated area.
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Sorry, this movie sucks
Good movie but grossly overrated
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
Who cares if it's utterly, utterly ridiculous and implausible? Never heard of "the willing suspension of disbelief"? It is a miserably wet November afternoon, but "Panic In The Skies" has cheered me enormously. With more cheese than a pile of ripening socks, and enough improbability to drive Heisenberg to drink, this film has to set some sort of clichés-per-minute record, which I suspect will never be challenged. Astounding effort. I give this one ten out of ten for the mad dog alone. I hated "CHiPS" because I thought Erik Estrada was rubbish; I loved "PITS" (somehow appropriate?) for much the same reason - Erik was truly in his element here. A simple rule for life: don't get on a plane if you recognise one of the flight attendants from TV.
This film is the best aviation drama film I have ever seen! The actors are quality especially Kate Jackson! She seems to know what she is doing. The Plane a Boeing 747 takes ff from New York bound or London on Royce Air Internation on flight 115. The Plane is hit by lightning seconds after takeoff killing the crew of the cockpit. The autopilot which has gone loony takes the Planes anywhere it feels! It controls destination, speed, alltiude and when it lands. Finally in the end of film the aircraft lands in Vancouver. All passengers were safe! Kate Jackson even hit off with an escaping criminal called Brett Young! The area that lets this film down is the fact that the aircraft isn't a Boeing 747 but a McDonnell Douglas DC 10 of American Airlines noticed by the seat cover patterns!
I saw this movie after the Payne Stewart incident. Even though some of the special effects were fake it made me think about what the people would be feeling. It was pretty good. Of course I tuned in because of Kate Jackson and was not disappointed! She was solid as usual. I would definitely recommend it. Thumbs up!
As horrible as this film is, it forces you to watch it.It's on television as I type this, and I cannot bring myself to change the channel for fear of missing the next cockamamie predicament that happens. And what a cast! Kate Jackson, Ed Marinaro, Erik Estrada, Maureen McCormick, and Robert Guillaume. Tune in yourself and see how Sabrina, Officer Joe Coffey, Paunch, Marsha Brady, and Benson save a disaster-bound 747 from crashing!!!I regret that MST3K is off the air -- this is the kind of experiment that they would do proud.