As a licensed aircraft mechanic, with over 20 years of experience working on commercial aircraft including the Boeing 727, where do I begin to point out the technical errors in this movie, but I'll take a swing at with my top 10.
1. This aircraft is designed to protect its occupants from lightning strikes. A lightning strike taking out the pilots is a ridiculous premise upon which to base an air disaster movie.
2. The controls for the autopilot are above the center console, where both pilots can reach it. Not above the captain's control column.
3. The auto pilot gets "scambled" and is guiding the aircraft into a imminent crash into the airport. The autopilot is electronic and must have power to function; if you want to disengage it, pull the circuit breaker that's readily available in the flight deck. Pull the breaker and there's no more power for the system that is guiding it into the ground.
4. The Boeing 727 has 3 engines, there were only 2 thrust control levers in the movie's flight deck.
5. Air traffic controller (ATC) was left to give instruction and technical details about the aircraft, no pilot or technical personnel were brought in to help.
6. Air-to-air fueling boom was manipulated sideways, not possible. Cannot even maneuver in horizontal direction from the aircraft and it would have been torn loose long before fill extension.
7. Nose wheel well pressure panel, through which 3 persons were evacuated, only had 4 screws in it. such a panel would require at least 20 screws and is much smalller than was shown.
8. ATC said the autopilot was in the back of the aircraft. Auto pilot computer is in the E & E bay, located behind the nose wheel well, which is exactly where the pressure panel they removed would have lead. (oh, since I am anready in the wheel well, I might as well remove the autopilot computer to prevent us from crashing into the airport.)
9. Only 1 pilot was flying the tanker, there are 2 pilots. (Gee, one of those pilots could have been transfered to the B727 to land it.)
10. Any ATC would have known that the readios on an aicraft used for voice communications is called a communications radio or comm radio for short, not a communicator (or was this really a Star Trek episode).
