Factual error: Elaine (the stewardess) is looking for a doctor. She finds Dr. Rumack who's wearing a stethoscope. He has it on backwards. The earpieces should point forward - his are pointing backward.
Airplane (1980)
1 factual error
Directed by: Jim Abrahams
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Julie Hagerty, Peter Graves, Robert Hays, Lorna Patterson
Revealing mistake: In the dance sequence, we see Elaine twirling Ted around and throwing him into the crowd. Watch the top-right-corner of your screen, as the stunt-double lands in the audience you can see Robert Hays (Ted Striker) in the top-right-corner waiting to pop out. (00:19:10)
Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.
Trivia: Towards the end of the credits, there is a paragraph that states "Unauthorized duplication, distribution, or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution. SO THERE." (01:27:05)
Question: When Over's wife gets the call about her husband's plane having problems, there is a horse in bed with her and she tells the horse to let himself out. This is the only joke in the movie I didn't understand. Is there anybody out there who got the joke and can help me understand it?
Answer: This is an inside joke that Mrs. Over is cheating on her husband with a horse.
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Answer: This is a reference to The Godfather, where a character being intimidated by the Mafia wakes up with his prize racehorse's severed head next to him on the bed. For comedy purposes this is twisted by the movie as an implied sexual relationship, when the horse is revealed to be alive.