Other mistake: When the stricken airliner is on final approach for landing, both pilots stare intently out the windscreen, never so much as glancing down at the flight instruments. In an instrument landing the pilot must look continuously at the instruments until the copilot reports that the runway is in sight, as that is the only way he can follow the controller's instructions.
Airport (1970)
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Directed by: Henry Hathaway, George Seaton
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean Seberg
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The dialogue seems hopelesslyoutdated. It was probably outdated even in 1970. But the attention to aircraft and airport operations give the film both authenticity and nostalgia appeal. Subsequent disaster films never really duplicated this. Arthur Hailey also deserves credit for raising the topic of mental illness among combat veterans. This had also been a theme in Zero Hour! in which the traumatized veteran became the hero.
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Ada Quonsett: When you get to be older, there isn't a lot left to be frightened of.
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Chosen answer: Patroni isn't referring to the cabin pressure, he says to "pressurize the manifold" - part of the engine start procedure of a Boeing 707, which I believe involves a ground crew pumping gas (nitrogen?) from a cart into the intake manifold.
Sierra1 ★
Pressurize - as in the manifold, to turn on bleed air from the APU - on board Auxiliary Power Unit - a small jet engine that provides electrical and pneumatic air to operate aircraft systems including starting engines.