Doomsday Flight

The Doomsday Flight was a 1966 TV movie written by Rod Serling. The plot involves "a disgruntled aerospace engineer" who phones in a threat warning that he's planted a barometric pressure bomb on an airliner set to explode when the plane descends below 4000 feet for landing. He demands a ransom in return for instructions on how to disable the bomb. There isn't really a bomb, but the pilot nevertheless figures out how to defeat the scheme by landing at Denver, 5000 feet above sea level.

The movie is apparently pretty good. So good, in fact, that it soon earned an odd place in film history as The Movie Too Dangerous For The Public To See. Whenever it was shown, it inspired a slew of copycat bomb hoaxes, eventually leading the FAA, in 1971, to send a letter to TV stations, requesting that they never show it again. The FAA's letter warned that "the film may have a highly emotional impact on some unstable individual and stimulate him to imitate the fictional situation in the movie."

TV stations honored the FAA's request, and to my knowledge have never aired it again. It eventually was released on VHS (Available on Amazon), and there may be a DVD of it available (though not on Netflix). But you won't see it on TV.

You can find a fuller version of this movie's history here and here.

     Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 30, 2014
     Category: Movies | 1960s





Comments
Wait till the FAA learns about The Langoliers and, you can (or can't) land where ever you want.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 10/30/14 at 11:29 AM
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue!"
Posted by KDP on 10/30/14 at 12:43 PM
@KDP - LOL really .. just don't get your zones messed up :lol: Patty will be here tomorrow with me for the weekend .. woohoo !! :zip:
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 10/30/14 at 06:31 PM
It was the inspiration for " Speed " Should not admit that I remember this movie.
Posted by charles1682 on 10/30/14 at 07:57 PM
What bout the second Die Hard movie couldn't that inspire crazies to try to take over air traffic control or the recent Criminal Minds where the guy hacked airplanes overhead and crashed them. Crazies will always get crazy ideas, no stopping that.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 10/30/14 at 11:51 PM
Want something airplane "scarier" ? I bet hackers would love to take one of these over inflight.

http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/windowless-planes-hit-skies-decade/story?id=26554319
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 10/31/14 at 12:11 AM
Charles, maybe the NTSB and the FCC can get the TV to stop showing it, in case a crazy copycat gets any ideas. We can but hope.
Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 10/31/14 at 07:48 AM
I remember this movie. It was good. Anything Rod Serling wrote for TV was good. Scary and clever when you think about it. Low pressure in the cargo part of the airplane activated a trigger that would explode when the pressure went back up.
Posted by Mike on 10/31/14 at 01:03 PM
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.