Synopsis

On a nearly empty Christmas Eve flight from New York to Los Angeles, convicted murderer Ryan Weaver is being transported alongside another prisoner when a violent escape attempt kills the cockpit crew. Flight attendant Teri Halloran must learn to fly the crippled 747 while battling a worsening storm, skeptical authorities, and Weaver, whose apparent remorse gradually gives way to terrifying violence.

Factoids & Trivia

• The production built four enormous aircraft gimbals to create the plane's movements. The largest could rotate a 70-foot section of mock-up weighing 75,000 pounds, and was capable of completing a 360-degree rotation in 10 seconds.

• Construction of the largest gimbal required the soundstage floor to be removed, six feet of dirt to be excavated, and substantial concrete supports to be installed.

• The film's 747 was a real Boeing 747-200 that had previously flown for Qantas, PEOPLExpress, and Continental. It later appeared in the television series *Smash Lab* before being destroyed in 2008.

• MGM originally planned to release the movie in December 1996, taking advantage of its Christmas Eve setting. The release was postponed until January 10, 1997, after poor test screenings.

• MGM temporarily pulled the film's trailers and paused its marketing campaign after the crash of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996.

• Made on an approximately $55 million budget, the film earned about $11.5 million in theaters. Its later success as a heavily rented home video helped lead to two direct-to-video sequels.

• Shirley Walker's complete score was issued in chronological form by La-La Land Records in 2013.