Unfriendly Skies: Airline Disasters!...
Especially popular in the 1970s, these films have actually thrilled audiences for decades. Here's a list of some good ones, in no particular order...
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- DirectorJack SmightStarsCharlton HestonKaren BlackGeorge KennedyA 747 in flight collides with a small plane, and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land.
- DirectorJohn GuillerminStarsCharlton HestonJames BrolinYvette MimieuxA Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707, forcing the crew to fly to Russia amidst tensions and stereotypes of the early 1970s.
- DirectorHall BartlettStarsDana AndrewsLinda DarnellSterling HaydenIn 1950s Canada, during a commercial flight, the pilots and some passengers suffer food poisoning, thus forcing an ex-WWII fighter pilot (Dana Andrews) to try to land the airliner in heavy fog.
- DirectorJerry JamesonStarsJack LemmonLee GrantJoseph CottenArt thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under one hundred feet of water.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsAlain DelonSusan BlakelyRobert WagnerA supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsJames FranciscusMimsy FarmerVenantino VenantiniA reporter tries to stop the crash of an aircraft after uncovering an airline's plot to save their business by sabotaging Concorde flights and have them decommissioned.
- DirectorRobert ButlerStarsDavid JanssenDon MeredithChristopher GeorgeThe co-pilot and engineer of a passenger jet struggle to keep the plane airborne until it can reach an open airfield after a killer aboard the plane fires a gun at an engine and pilot of the plane.
- DirectorJerry JamesonStarsLee MajorsHal LindenLauren HuttonOn the maiden flight of the first hypersonic commercial plane which can make the flight from New York City to London in four hours, a minor disaster occurs resulting in the plane actually leaving the Earth's atmosphere and orbiting around the globe. A lack of heat-resistant tiling prevents the plane from simply re-entering the atmosphere. With oxygen (and therefore time) running out, the crew of the plane and the crew on the ground must figure out a way to return the plane and its passengers to safety.
- DirectorWilliam A. GrahamStarsJack LordEdmond O'BrienKatherine CrawfordA bomb on board an airliner has an altitude-sensitive trigger. Unless a ransom is paid, it will explode when the plane descends to land.
- DirectorBarry ShearStarsWilliam ShatnerAdrienne BarbeauBrooke BundyOn December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsChuck ConnorsBuddy EbsenTammy GrimesAn invisible demon in the cargo hold of a jet airliner terrorizes the passengers.
- DirectorRobert ButlerStarsRay LiottaLauren HollyBrendan GleesonAfter a shootout on a flight transporting prisoners, a flight attendant must outwit a smooth-talking serial killer and land the plane herself.
- DirectorDavid MackayStarsCraig ShefferTom BerengerJennifer BealsA flight carrying a group of people returning home from a course to help with their fear of flying is hijacked by a terrorist. One aviation-wary passenger is forced to land the airliner, while the rest fear that a bomb is on board.
- DirectorGeorge SeatonHenry HathawayStarsBurt LancasterDean MartinGeorge KennedyA bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
- DirectorMichael CohnStarsJürgen ProchnowAndrew DivoffElizabeth MoreheadA U.S. Air Force officer tries to stop a murderous group of terrorists who are trying to steal two top secret F-117A Stealth Fighters from the cargo hold of a gigantic C-5 Galaxy Transport flying at 30,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsRobert RyanAnita EkbergRod SteigerAfter a commercial plane crash lands in a South American jungle, the passengers and pilots must patch up the engines and escape the cannibal-infested area.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsChester MorrisLucille BallWendy BarrieA plane has engine trouble while flying over a jungle inhabited by cannibals.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsRachel McAdamsCillian MurphyBrian CoxLisa on her flight to Miami befriends Jackson who turns out to be a terrorist. Holding her hostage, he forces her to help him assassinate the United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.
- DirectorRobert SchwentkeStarsJodie FosterPeter SarsgaardSean BeanA bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet, the child vanishes, and nobody will admit she was ever on the plane.
- DirectorReginald Le BorgStarsCraig HillPaula RaymondDayton LummisA cross-country airliner, whose passengers include a nuclear physicist, a rocket expert, and a mathematical genius, is drawn beyond radar range by an unknown, unbreakable force.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsGlenn FordNancy KwanRod TaylorAn airline executive refuses to believe that pilot error, by his friend, caused a fatal crash and persists in looking for another reason.