Panic in the Skies (1996)

A 747 filled with passengers is struck by lightning in mid-flight. The explosion kills the pilot and co-pilot and sends the airliner into a deadly nose dive. As terror fills the cabin, a flight attendant and two heroic passengers race to engage the automatic pilot, saving the lives of 400 people... for now. But with the plane's fuel tank leaking and no one on board qualified to land the jumbo jet, the Air Force is faced with a grim decision: Shoot the plane down over a deserted area or hope they find a solution to save the plane before it crashes into a major city risking thousands more deaths. With time running out, a few ordinary people must do the extraordinary to save Flight 115 from disaster. Kate Jackson headlines an all-star cast in this explosive drama that features Ed Marinaro, Robert Guillaume, Erik Estrada and Maureen McCormick.

One of the funniest aviation movies ever made

I love this movie. It's totally incorrect from a technical point of view and that's is the fun part.

Fun goofs: the aircraft changes color scheme during flight and it also swaps from Boeing 747-200 to 747-300. The cabin is a hybrid between a DC-10 and a Boeing 747. The flightdeck seems identical to an MD-11.

There is a popping cable who is capable to change altitude and speed.

The Flight Management Computer is fully compatible with a normal PC and seems to run Windows.

New York ATC is a very small facility with the ability to track an aircraft over the whole american continent. Wow!

Transponder data is simple: RAI-115 H. No altitude, no speed, no heading....

Vancouver is a very small town with a very small airport according to this movie.

The aircraft can climb way over it's maximum altitude and the oxygen supply lasts very long.

I use this movie for pure entertainment! If you want an aviation movie with "realism", I can recommend Airport (the original), Miracle Landing etc instead.

Panic in the Skies is a comptetitor to the "Airplane!" and "Airplane! 2 The Sequel" in my movie collection. September 29, 2007

Panic in the Skies

I enjoyed this movie with the people being trapped on the Air Plane.
It was very frighting for the people espesecially when the two pilots were killed by the thunder and lightning. The cockpit was a right mess with wires everywhere and it was amazing that the plane could still fly.
They had to get a man's laptop to hook it up to the planes computer in the cockpit.

I give the film 5 stars! September 1, 2007

A movie so bad that it is truly hilarious

This was, quite possibly, the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. It was so awful that me and my girlfriend were cracking up and truly enjoying ourselves. The dialogue is so bad and the plot is usually very predictable.

I just loved this film because it was so bad. It could easily be a film shown on "Mystery Science Theatre". I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes B movies. June 13, 2007

Fun TV Disaster Thriller

Definitely not a great film, but a fun one. A TV version of one of the Airport/Plane disaster flicks. Jackson is the head stewardess and surrogate mom and a lot of B-grade 70's and 80's actors make up the rest of the cast. Erik Estrada, Maureen McCormick, Ed Marinaro ... anyway a storm blows up and kills the cockpit folk, so it's up to Kate and Company to save the plane and passngers. They have altitude and oxygen problems, gally fires, stray vicious dogs, rolling leaking cars and criminals all on the loose. BUT - it is definitely entertaining and rewatchable. Silly, yes, thrilling, at times, and so over the top. You almost can't help yourself in getting caught up in all the drama. A fun TV flick. April 29, 2006

MOVIE HAD FAULTS, BUT STILL ENTERTAINING

Upon reading some of the other critical reviews from viewers, I tend to agree with some of the things that were said. On the other hand there was a good cast, and the movie was entertaining none the less. I watched the last half of the movie on Lifetime Movie Channel, so I missed the beginning. I have seen a lot worse movies that were rated higher. I was wondering if some of the people who submitted their reviews took the time to review, and edit their reviews. It's funny that those who are so critical on other matters can't correctly spell the simple words, or take the time to edit what they write. For those reading the reviews, please read through some of the reviews. It will make up for what you might have missed in a movie being reviewed! January 27, 2006

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