Name: Flight
Genre: Drama
Released: 2012-11-02
Duration: 138 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood

Flight

First Impressions of a Flawed Character

Lang When I first met you, I couldn't believe what a drunk arrogant scumbag you were.

Whip Oh, really?

Lang Yeah.

Whip Oh, thank you.

Lang But I did the research, Captain Whittaker. I heard the expert analysis and I'm in awe of what you did. The FAA and the NTSB took ten pilots, placed them in simulators, recreated the events that led to this plane falling out of the sky. Do you know how many were safely able to land the planes? Not one. Every pilot crashed the aircraft. Killed everybody on board. You were the only one who could do it.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Celebrating Fame and Its Perks

Harling Mays You're a rock star, man! You will never pay for another drink as long as you live.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Mechanical Issues and Impact Analysis in Flight

Lang You can see on initial impact, the left wing hit the ground. Think if it would have sheared off completely, everybody would've walked away from this plane.

Whip Wing snapped off, drove the engine cowling into the rear fuselage.

Lang You were sitting in the last six or seven rows it was like being hit by a train. Listen, clearly there was a mechanical issue with this plane.

Whip Clearly.

Lang Yeah. But what you and I know, this was an act of God, and I'm going to fight to get the NTSB to add "act of God" as one of the probable causes.

Whip Whose God would do this?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Being on a list and its implications

Harling Mays I'm on a list, baby girl.

[to a hospital nurse]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

A Moment of Acceptance and Reflection

Whip Whittaker That was it. I was finished. I was done. It was as if I had reached my lifelong limit of lies. I could not tell one more lie. And maybe I'm a sucker. Because if I had told just one more lie, I could've walked away from all that mess and kept my wings, kept my false sense of pride. And more importantly, I could've avoided being locked up in here with all you nice folks for the last thirteen months. But I'm here. And I'll be here for at least the next four or five years. And that's fair. I betrayed the public trust. I did. That's how the judge explained it to me. I had betrayed the public trust. The FAA, they took away my pilot's license. And that's fair. My chances of ever flying again are slim to none. And I accept that. I've had a lot of time to think about it, all of it. I've been doing some writing. I wrote letters to each of the families that had lost loved ones. Some of them were able to hear my apology. Some of them never will. I also apologized to all the people that tried to help me along the way, but I couldn't or wouldn't listen. People like my wife, you know. My ex-wife and, uh, my son. And again, like I said, you know, some of them will never forgive me. Some of them will. But at least I'm sober. I thank God for that. I'm grateful for that. And this is gonna sound real stupid coming from a man who's locked up in prison, but for the first time in my life, I'm free.

[addressing a prison counseling group]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Confidence in Exceptional Skill

Whip Whittaker No one could have landed that plane like I did. No one.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Testimony About Alcohol Before the Accident

Block Mr. Whittaker, I want to talk about the days leading and the hours leading up to the accident, but before I do, I want to remind you that you are under oath and that any testimony you give here today will be considered admissible in any subsequent hearings or criminal proceedings. Do you understand what that means? Captain Whittaker, for the record I need you to verbalize your answer.

[Whip nods]

Whip Uh, I'm sorry. Yes, I understand.

Block On the days leading up to the accident, Tuesday, October 11, Wednesday, October 12, or Thursday, October 13, did you consume any alcohol or any other intoxicating elements?

Whip No, I did not.

Block On the morning of the accident, Friday, October 14, did you consume any alcohol, or ingest any chemicals or drugs that may have impaired your ability to perform your job?

Whip No.

Block Mr. Whittaker, do you now, or have you ever had a problem with alcohol dependency, alcoholism, or drug addiction?

Whip No, I have not.

Block Okay, Mr. Whittaker, we're about done. Due to the severe turbulence in the early part of the flight, you asked the flight crew to suspend the beverage service on the plane, is that correct?

Whip Yes, that's correct, I suspended the drink service on the plane.

Block Are you aware that our investigators found two single service vodka bottles in the galley trashbin?

Whip Yes, I'm aware of that.

Block There were five crewmembers onboard that would have had access to the beverage trolley. Less than an hour after the accident, blood was taken from each of these crewmembers, yourself, First Officer Evans, Flight Attendant Margaret Thomason, and posthumously, from Camelia Satou, and Katerina Marquez. Toxicology analysis was performed, and three of these tests came back negative, one was disqualified for technical reasons, and one tested positive for alcohol, it registered .17 blood alcohol level. Are you aware of that?

Whip Yeah, I'm aware of it now.

Block Ms. Marquez was not only a colleague, but you knew her outside of work, is that correct?

Whip Outside of work, no, not really.

Block Did you know Ms. Marquez had a drinking problem?

Whip No, I did not.

Block Did you ever see her drink to excess?

Whip No, I did not.

Block Were you aware that she was twice treated for alcohol addiction, the last time was sixteen months ago and paid for by SouthJet Airlines?

Whip No, I did not.

Block Is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank on that flight?

Whip Could you repeat the question?

Block Is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank on that flight?

Whip I'm sorry, my what?

Block Your opinion, Captain. Since her toxicology report is the only toxicology report is the only report that is admissable in this hearing, and she in fact tested positive for alcohol, is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank the two bottles of vodka on the plane?

Whip God help me.

[exhales]

Block I'm sorry, Mr. Whittaker, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?

Whip I said, "God help me.

Block Yes, well, however, is it your opinion...

Whip It's my opinion Trina did not drink that vodka.

Block Excuse me, Mr. Whittaker?

Whip She saved a boy's life.

Block Could you speak louder, Mr. Whittaker?

Whip Trina did not drink the vodka... because I drank the vodka.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

Burden of Responsibility Weighs Heavy

Whip Whittaker This thing is so heavy it's killed me.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Flight

NTSB Investigation and Legal Concerns

Anderson As you know, when a plane goes down, the NTSB sends a Go Team to the crash site immediately.

Whip They find the flight data recorder?

Anderson They did. It's perfectly intact.

Whip Oh, great. Great, great, great. Then that solves everything. So, why do we need a lawyer from Chicago?

Anderson Well, Hugh specializes in criminal negligence.

Whip Criminal negligence?

Lang Death demands responsibility. Six dead on that plane, someone has to pay.

Whip Yeah, but that's a plane that fell a part at 30,000 feet.

Anderson The airline will try to prove equipment failure, which is gonna make the manufacturer responsible. The manufacturer, in turn, is gonna try and prove poor maintenance of the equipment by the airline.

Lang Or pilot error.

Whip I flew the plane inverted, Hugh. That means upside down. You get the picture? A hundred people, upside down, 500 feet off the ground. Do you have any idea what that's like?

Lang I do. I, uh, heard the black box recordings last night.

Whip Oh, you heard this? Are you a pilot?

Lang No, I'm not.

Whip Then you don't know what the fuck you're talking about, do you?

Anderson Hugh's on our team, Whip.

Whip Is he?

Anderson Yeah, he is.

Whip He doesn't act like he's on our team.

Anderson Well, he is.

Whip Asking me questions about fucking pilot error.

Anderson Listen, it's the NTSB's ball game. They run the investigation, and they will ultimately rule on the cause. And that's why we need him.

Lang Well, they interview the entire flight crew, they interview the passengers, they hold public hearings.

Whip All right, let's cut to the chase. Just tell me what it is I need to know, Charlie.

Lang The NTSB Go Team also collects blood, hair and skin samples from the entire flight crew for the purposes of a toxicology report.

Whip Okay. When do they want to do that?

Lang They've already done that. In the hospital. It's the first thing they do. You don't remember having your blood drawn the night of the crash?

Whip No. They get the results of this test?

Lang Yeah, they do. Now, initial reports show that you had alcohol in your system at a system of .24. Now, in the good old U.S. of A., one of the most lenient drunk driving countries in the world, you go to jail for driving with anything above .08. And by driving, I mean a car.

Whip So, that doesn't mean anything. I had a couple of beers the night before the flight. That made the tail of the plane explode?

Lang A couple of beers?

Whip Yeah, a couple of beers. You know, I need a lawyer, Charlie.

Anderson Hugh is your lawyer.

Whip I need a bigger lawyer. I need a lawyer that understands that someone put me in a broken plane. Without me up there, there would've been 102 funerals, not six.

Lang We're not talking about funerals right now, Captain.

Whip Then what are we talking about?

Lang We're talking about prison time.

Whip What?

Lang ]s. Somebody has to pay.

[[Lawsuit]

Whip What, write a check? It's not gonna be me, I promise you that. As long as they're writing checks, tell them to write one for me, too. Because somebody put me in a broken plane.

Lang This toxicology report states that you were drunk and high on cocaine. Felonies punishable by up to 12 years in prison. And if it is proven that your intoxication was the cause of death of the four passengers, now we're going to look at four counts of manslaughter. That could be life in prison.

Flight

Baseball Preferences Amidst Airline Discussion

Avington Carr I never wanted that fucking airline and neither did my brother, it was my father that wanted it. I like baseball.

Lang Oh, I like baseball.

Len Caldwell Everybody in Georgia likes baseball.

Anderson The whole country likes baseball-

Carr Cut the crap. So what’s the deal, Lenny? Is your union going to survive this one? More importantly, how big of a check do you think I’m going to have to write?

Len Well you had six fatalities on board.

Lang No, no, it’s four. The two crew members don’t count. I don’t mean they don’t count. They don’t get settlements like the passengers. That’s a workman’s comp claim, part of the union contract. They do a dangerous job; they know it.

[slight chuckle]

Carr Are you the lawyer for the pilots’ union?

Caldwell No, sir, this is Hugh Lang. He’s the attorney we brought on board to handle the criminal side of Captain Whitaker’s situation.

Carr And what is Mr. Whitaker’s situation? NTSB is up my ass with a flashlight. We had to give them access to everything. Everybody’s curious about Captain Whitaker.

Anderson Well I flew with him in the Navy and he is a great pilot.

Carr Huh. Is he a drunk?

Anderson He is a heavy drinker. But maybe I should bring him-

[slight pause]

Carr In a minute. Alright so let’s get down to it, Lenny. What does the union plan to do about this blood test saying Whitaker was high on booze and coke? This guy’s a real peach.

Lang Well, I’m going to kill the toxicology report. The testing was done incompetently. The toxicology equipment they used was last calibrated in June of 2009, already eighteen months past code. Their log that should clearly state who labeled the blood vials and when, is very incomplete. And they used a preservative in the blood that has been known to cause fermentation of the blood and in some cases register higher in an alcohol test. Now, I’ve done all this and I’ve only been here a few days so, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I can handle this.

Carr I like this guy, Lenny. He makes we want to go out, sniff a few lines and then fly a jet.

[laughs]

Caldwell Mr. Carr, we are going to fight to push all fault on the manufacturer, Jackson-Ridgefield.

Carr And you think they’re just going to open their check book and buy us all lunch? Good fucking luck. What’s my exposure, Jim?

Jim Well the awards to the families could kill the airline.

Carr Fuck the airline. Insurance companies can have the goddamn airline. I just don’t want them sniffing my other pockets.

Caldwell Speaking for the pilots’ union, sir, we don’t want to see your airline go away. We enjoy the contract you have with us. We’re going to protect Captain Whitaker and in turn, we’re going to protect your airline.

Carr Does Whitaker know he’s going to jail?

Lang My clients don’t go to jail, Mr. Carr.

Carr Oh, he’s going to jail. He belongs in jail, bet your ass he’s going to jail. Only question is, is he going to die in jail?

Lang You’re wrong, Mr. Carr.

Carr’s lawyer Last time I checked six counts of manslaughter is life in prison.

Carr Life in prison. What we in Georgia call “all day long”.

Flight

Crisis at 30,000 Feet

Whip Whittaker Plane fell apart at 30,000 feet.

Flight

Coordinating Actions in a Critical Situation

Whip When I say, I want you to retract the flaps, retract the gear, trim us nose-down, okay? But everything's gonna be opposite, so make sure you trim us nose-down.

Evans Trim down? What are you gonna do?

Whip Margaret, when I tell you, I want you to push these forward, full throttle, can you do that?

[to Margaret]

Margaret Okay.

Evans What do you mean, sir? What are we doing? Why would I trim down?

Flight Quotes