Nov. 02, 2012|United States, United Arab Emirates|138 Min.|TV-MA
Genre: Drama
Description: Captain Whip Whitaker, an airline pilot, wakes up in an Orlando hotel room with a flight attendant named Katerina after a night of heavy drinking. To sober up, he uses cocaine and prepares for his next flight. He takes charge of SouthJet Flight 227 to Atlanta, which encounters severe turbulence during takeoff. Once the weather clears, co-pilot Ken Evans assumes control. Whip secretly mixes vodka into his orange juice, addresses the passengers, and then dozes off in the cockpit. He’s abruptly awakened as the plane plunges into a steep dive. Unable to stabilize the aircraft, Whip is forced to execute a controlled crash landing in an open field, even flying the plane upside down at one point. He loses consciousness upon impact.
Waking up in an Atlanta hospital with moderate injuries, Whip is visited by Charlie Anderson, a friend representing the pilots’ union. Charlie informs him that 96 out of 102 people on the flight survived, with two crew members and four passengers losing their lives. He also mentions that the co-pilot is in a coma. Whip sneaks out for a cigarette and meets Nicole Maggen, a heroin addict recovering from an overdose. The next day, his friend and drug dealer, Harling Mays, picks him up from the hospital.
Retiring to his late father’s farm, Whip meets with Charlie and attorney Hugh Lang, who reveal that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted a drug test while Whip was unconscious. The results showed he was drunk and on cocaine during the flight. Hugh promises to nullify the toxicology report on technical grounds and succeeds. Whip begins a relationship with Nicole, but his drinking conflicts with her efforts to stay sober. Later, he attends the funeral of Katerina, who died in the crash. He meets Margaret, a surviving crew member, and urges her to tell the NTSB that he was sober during the flight.
Cast director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast actor: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Tamara Tunie, Nadine Velázquez, Peter Gerety, Garcelle Beauvais
Original name: Flight