Oh, where do I start. Is it the tired old "God has forsaken me - oh wait now he's saving me so we're all good" trope? Or the bratty teen who learns to love and appreciate family through a shared harrowing experience? Or (worst for me), the motley collection of aviation misfits who circumvent officialdom to bring in what's needed to save the day?
As a pilot I was particularly offended by the last one, and specifically the portrayal of air traffic controllers and pilots as being initially reluctant to even try to talk the guy down because no way a non-pilot could never fly a King Air. First off, ATC and especially those who are pilots are familiar with this scenario, but the movie makes it seem like this is the first time a non-pilot has ever had to be coached into a landing. Secondly, I've had lots of novices up in my high-performance plane and I can tell you that they just don't find it that hard to keep a plane straight and level and pointed more or less in the right direction when being coached. Not that it would be easy or guaranteed, but making it all like it's some kind of miracle and only ended well because of god and misfits - sorry, I couldn't stomach it and had to quit before it was even done.
As a pilot I was particularly offended by the last one, and specifically the portrayal of air traffic controllers and pilots as being initially reluctant to even try to talk the guy down because no way a non-pilot could never fly a King Air. First off, ATC and especially those who are pilots are familiar with this scenario, but the movie makes it seem like this is the first time a non-pilot has ever had to be coached into a landing. Secondly, I've had lots of novices up in my high-performance plane and I can tell you that they just don't find it that hard to keep a plane straight and level and pointed more or less in the right direction when being coached. Not that it would be easy or guaranteed, but making it all like it's some kind of miracle and only ended well because of god and misfits - sorry, I couldn't stomach it and had to quit before it was even done.