While viewers may be terrified at the idea of a plane crash, Hollywood uses this tragedy as a launching point for several films, both fictional and based on true stories. Whether it is a story of transformation, survival, or heroism, air crash movies will continue to emerge on the big screen. Check out these six devastating air crash movies now…but maybe not while you’re on a plane.
6. Non-Stop (2014)
Our sixth selection for air crash movies is Non-Stop, taking an unlikely hero and placing them in the spotlight at 40,000 feet. Bill Marks is a former cop who deals with his daughter’s death by drinking and now works as a federal air marshal. While on a flight from New York to London, Marks receives a series of text messages demanding $150 million into an off-shore account, and if he doesn’t comply, someone will die every 20 minutes. Will Marks find the terrorist in time?
While this may not be a typical “crash” movie, it does put the passengers in constant peril until the culprit is caught.
–IMDb score: 6.9
5. Alive (1993)
Fifth for air crash movies is Alive, based on the true story of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team. It’s 1972, and the Uruguayan rugby team is flying to Chile to play a game. However, on the way there, the plane with 45 people on it crashes in the Andes Mountains. A search party is dispatched into the snow-swept landscape, but no one is found, and all are considered dead. Two months later, 16 survivors are finally rescued, forced to do the unimaginable to survive.
–IMDb score: 7.1
4. Fearless (1993)
Showcasing the aftermath of a crash on one person is our fourth selection for air crash movies, Fearless. Max Klein survives a terrible airline crash and emerges from the wreckage a changed person. Unable and unwilling to connect to his former life or wife, Laura, he embodies an invulnerable and godlike personality. But, when psychologist Bill Perlman is unable to shake Max, he has Max meet another survivor, Carla, who is torn apart with grief after losing her baby in the same crash. Will her grief finally break through Max’s walls?
–IMDb score: 7.1
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3. Flight (2012)
A pilot’s deepest secrets are uncovered in our third selection for air crash movies, Flight. Piloting a flight from Orlando to Atlanta, Whip Whitaker must take action when the plane starts to fly erratically. With dwindling options, Whip is forced to crash the plane and saves almost all on board. When he wakes in the hospital after the accident, he meets a lawyer who says he could face criminal charges due to a positive alcohol and drug test. He denies being impaired, but Whip’s addiction is not so easily dismissed.
–IMDb score: 7.3
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2. Sully (2016)
Coming in second on our list is Sully, based on the real story of Flight 1549 and pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. On January 15, 2009, the plane left New York City but shortly after taking off an accident wrecked the plane’s engines. Told to return to the airport, Sully decides that the plane will not make it and chooses to land the aircraft in the Hudson River. While none of the passengers were seriously injured, Sully is under intense scrutiny by the National Transportation Safety Board, whose investigation reveals he could have made it. Sully maintains his position, and must put his job on the line to uncover the truth.
–IMDb score: 7.4
1. Cast Away (2000)
Last but not least on our air crash movies list is Cast Away, a film that may be older but is still incredible. FedEx executive Chuck Noland is en route to an assignment in Malaysia when his plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during a rough storm. The sole survivor, Chuck, washes ashore on a deserted island and tries in vain to escape or make contact with the outside world. When neither works, Chuck learns how to survive on the island, where he remains for years with his volleyball friend, Wilson. Will Chuck ever make it back to civilization?
–IMDb score: 7.8
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