Is There Anyone Here Who Knows How to Fly a Plane?

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking... We regret any inconvenience the sudden cabin movement might have caused, this is due to periodic air pockets we encountered, there's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your flight... By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?

[all hell breaks loose in the cabin]"

Imagine your worst fears of flying came true. The plane pilot and co-pilot are down for the count due to food poisoning. Most of the passengers are sick. The plane needs to land as soon as possible, so that everyone can be taken to the hospital. What do you do?

This is the basic plot of Airplane!, a comedy movie released in 1980 that parodied the disaster film genre. The film centers around Ted Striker, a former pilot who became traumatized by planes from an earlier war experience. After the war, his post-traumatic stress disorder caused him to lose his job and his girlfriend Elaine, who is a flight attendant. He decides to board the Trans American Flight 209 from Los Angeles to Chicago in the hopes of winning back Elaine. After it becomes clear that the pilots are out of commission, the responsibility to land the plane falls on Striker. He must rise to the challenge to save the crew and his relationship.

Amidst the struggle to land the plane, Airplane! hits on some hilarious - if not occasionally offensive - jokes and stereotypes. One of my personal favorites is when two African-American men are speaking in "jive" to a stewardess who cannot understand their slang, so an elderly white woman volunteers to translate.

Yet despite its use of improper language, Airplane! continues to be applauded as a culturally significant film. It, along with many of the other movies I have discussed, is preserved in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry because of the impact it made on American film and culture. Airplane! captured the public's frustration with the formulaic disaster movies that dominated during this time. It even used those same serious actors (from other disaster movies) to deliver these hilarious lines in the same deadpan style.

Through comedy, Airplane! was able to poke fun at the unoriginality found in 1970s films. Even though much of the script is verbatim from movies like Airport 1975, the writers put their own spin on the dialogue to create a film that is not only hilarious, but also critical of this cookie-cutter genre.

Airplane! continues to live on as (arguably) one of the best American comedies. Many people continue to quote its iconic lines today. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend you do. It is definitely worth it.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Lady: Nervous?
Ted Striker: Yes.
Lady: First time?
Ted Striker: No, I've been nervous lots of times.

Rumack: Captain, how soon can you land?
Captain Oveur: I can't tell.
Rumack: You can tell me. I'm a doctor.
Captain Oveur: No. I mean I'm just not sure.
Rumack: Well, can't you take a guess?
Captain Oveur: Well, not for another two hours.
Rumack: You can't take a guess for another two hours?

Rumack: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Rumack: The life of everyone on board depends upon just one thing: finding someone back there who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.

Enjoy the movie!