Factual error: When Joe Patroni is attempting to move the stuck 707, Bakersfeld is standing beside his car watching, very close to the plane. Without some form of hearing protection, he would have been very quickly deafened by the noise - a 707 at takeoff thrust is incredibly loud. I once watched a 707 take off from about a half mile away and forgot to cover my ears - it was so loud it actually hurt.
Airport (1970)
1 review
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 It was probably outdated even in 1970.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.
More mistakes in Airport
Tanya Livingston: There's bound to be a passenger with a fifty-dollar wrenched back. I'd better get out there with some release forms and plenty of sympathy and understanding.
Question: First there's a scene showing the "Golden Argosy" flight crew taking a mini-bus out to the plane (which, I assume, is already at the gate). The next scene shows Vernin Demerest and Gwen Meighen alone on the plane talking about her being pregnant, etc. Later in that same scene we see the rest of the crew getting onto the plane while Demerest and Meighen are all-of-a-sudden pretending there's a problem with a light. My question is this: If they all went out to the plane together on the bus where were the rest of the crew while Demerest and Meighen were talking on the plane? Wouldn't the whole crew have arrived together and got onto the plane together?
Answer: For that matter, why would the crew take a bus to a plane that's already at the gate? Wouldn't they just board via the jetbridge?
Now, yes, they go through security with the passengers. Prior to 2001, crew on my airline often took a private bus from the sign-on building to the aircraft.
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Answer: You are right. I have seen the film 100 times and never questioned that. There is no reason for only some of the crew to be on the plane, but it was needed for the scene to work.