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Airplane!

FILM · 1980 · USA

Airplane!

Directed by
Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker
Runtime
88 min
Studio
Paramount Pictures, Howard W. Koch Productions

31 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

An ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.

  • Airplane! — production image

31 Interesting Facts About Airplane!

Interesting Facts (19)

  1. #001

    For the argument between the announcers about the white and red zones at the airport, the filmmakers hired the same voice artists who make real-world announcements at Los Angeles International Airport. At the real airport, the white zone is for loading and unloading passengers only, and there is no stopping in the red zone (except for transit buses). In real life, the two announcers also married each other.

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  2. #002

    The role of the doctor was Leslie Nielsen's first comedy role. He later said he was glad to get the offer because he feared he was too old for anything other than "elderly grandfather" roles. The studio actually wanted Dom DeLuise for the doctor, but directors Jerry Zucker, David Zucker and Jim Abrahams prevailed. This led Nielsen to a whole new career in absurd comedies, especially other Zucker Abrahams Zucker productions.

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  3. #003

    Aeromexico was the only airline to buy the film for in-flight entertainment.

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  4. #004

    In a 2008 interview on the talk show Today (1952), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told the story of being on a flight in Europe and being asked to sit in an empty seat in the cockpit during takeoff so the crew could say they were flying with Roger Murdoch.

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  5. #005

    According to the Blu-ray commentary, the song "Stayin' Alive" was sped up by 10 percent for the film's dance scene. Permission had to be obtained from The Bee Gees to speed it up.

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  6. #006

    For the famous scene in which the Boeing 747 crashes through the large windows inside the terminal, producer Jon Davison says in the Blu-ray extras that after the film he received many letters from various pilots telling him they had come very close to recreating this scene in real life, and that some pilots admitted coming close enough to touch the glass with the noses of their planes.

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  7. #007

    Stephen Stucker improvised most of his lines as Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs.

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  8. #008

    Robert Hays was a real-life licensed pilot who completed his training in 1974.

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  9. #009

    The credits add the words "So there." to the end of the anti-piracy warning at the end of the film. In the Blu-ray commentary, the directors said the FBI called them to say they did not approve and wanted the words removed and the film re-released. However, by that point the film had already been widely distributed and recalling all copies was impossible.

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  10. #010

    Otto the autopilot was eventually dismantled after spending several years in Jerry Zucker's garage.

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  11. #011

    The woman in the film who tries to apply makeup is Charlotte, the real mother of David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. She would also take small roles in the Naked Gun films.

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  12. #012

    The directing trio passed up the chance to make Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) because they felt they had used up all the airport jokes with this film.

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  13. #013

    At the age of 61, Robert Stack did his own stunts in the fight scene at the airport ticket area.

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  14. #014

    The Jaws (1975) spoof at the beginning of the film consisted of layers of cotton on a piece of plywood with a hidden wire track to make the plane reach "fly."

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  15. #015

    Vincent Price was offered the role of Dr. Rumack but turned it down. The role went to Leslie Nielsen. He said it was the biggest regret of his career.

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  16. #016

    The Mustang used in the scene where Captain Rex Kramer is brought to the airport belonged to Robert Hays. He was paid $35 a day for its use, and they used it for two days.

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  17. #017

    In an interview given shortly after Peter Graves's death in 2010, Rossie Harris said Graves was extremely uncomfortable while the two of them were together on the film set; Graves avoided any contact with him when they were not shooting. Harris also said that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was "not acting" when he exploded and grabbed Joey after harsh criticism of his basketball performance. Harris said Kareem grabbed him very hard, and that Joey's terrified expression was quite realistic.

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  18. #018

    The film cost $3.5 million and took only 34 days to make.

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  19. #019

    The model plane used for the flying shots hangs in a museum at Las Colinas Studios in Texas.

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Production Story (3)

  1. #020

    The film's gross over its first two days covered the entire production budget.

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  2. #021

    The shots of the planes taking off were filmed by directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Since this was their first big-budget film, they were not aware that a second unit was supposed to handle such shots.

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  3. #022

    It was produced for $3.5 million and took 34 days to complete. The film became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1980, earning $171 million (as of July 15, 2002).

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Behind the Scenes (2)

  1. #023

    Much of the banter between the two Black passengers was improvised by actors Al White and Norman Alexander Gibbs, because the ZAZ team was not sufficiently "conversant" in Black street slang. In a bonus sample for the Blu-ray's "Don't Call Me Shirley" edition, White and Gibbs explain how they came up with the dialect for the ZAZ team. When the participants speak normal English, jive subtitles are added to the scene.

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  2. #024

    Ethel Merman insisted on bringing her own hairdresser to the set. She could only come to the film set in the afternoon because styling her hair took all morning.

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Characters & Cast (3)

  1. #025

    Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker cast actors such as Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves and Leslie Nielsen because of their reputations for playing absurd characters. Until this film, these actors had not done comedy, so their "straight-arrow" personalities and lines made the film's satire much more pointed and funny. Bridges was initially reluctant to take his role in the film, but his sons convinced him.

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  2. #026

    The role of the Jive Lady was originally intended for Harriet Nelson, who played the mother on the 1950s sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952). She turned the role down because she was concerned about the film's adult language. Barbara Billingsley, who played the mother on the 1950s sitcom Leave It to Beaver (1957), was brought in instead. Nelson later admitted to Robert Hays that she regretted not taking the role.

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  3. #027

    Recalling the film about twenty years later, Robert Hays remembered Julie Hagerty as the best person he had ever met. He fondly recalled that whenever she missed a line, she apologized with "Sorry!" She said that when she made a mistake and the director shouted "Cut!", she would say "Sorry!", and Robert would explain that it was his fault, not hers. Then she said, "Oh, sorry."

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Easter Eggs & References (4)

  1. #028

    This was Ethel Merman's last film acting role before her death on February 15, 1984, at the age of 76. Ethel had appeared as a guest actor on the television series Love Boat in 1982.

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  2. #029

    The presence of professional basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the flight crew was a nod to professional football player Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch's pilot role in Zero Hour! (1957).

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  3. #030

    The disco radio station in the film is named WZAZ, a reference to producers David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. The same initials appear on one of the on-location microphones along with the reporters at the control tower.

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  4. #031

    In the scene where the husband makes a broadcast for his sick wife, a heavily bearded man is visible in the background. His beard was supposed to blow off in the wind, but the adhesive they used would not let it come loose. He can be seen grimacing as he tries to help remove it.

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Related pages

  • Christopher Lee — Airplane! comes up in the facts on that page
  • Ted — Airplane! comes up in the facts on that page
  • Toy Story 2 — Airplane! comes up in the facts on that page

Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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