MovieChat Forums > Airport '77 (1977) Discussion > The oil rig scene

The oil rig scene

posted 12 years ago by Eels14
9 replies | jump to latest

Did the hijackers disable the planes warning system? Why didn't the oil rig show up on the planes computer? When the plane clipped the rig it was then the system warned the pilots. lol

[–] josborn828 12 years ago

1st, I think we have to take a step back and realize this is a movie but also I think you might be getting ahead of the time when this story actually occurs. The plane is 747-100, the 1st version of the 747 and far more crude than planes of the day. I would advise searching Boeing 747-100 and find some images of cockpits of the time. Recent photos of old planes will have updated avionics like TCAS. I would imagine the only radar onboard would be a weather radar. As far as computers go, if you look right before they take over the plane, the engineer is seen using the flight computer. The E6B flight computer is the round wheel that slides up and down a wide ruler looking device.

2nd, re-watch the scene, there are no alarms before the plane hits the derrick. You hear engines reving and a bell of all things. I think the sound people might have thrown in the bell so people would realize that is was a vessel (semi-sub MODU)they hit.

Finally, how cheesy is it that a wing hits a derrick made to support over 1,000,000 pounds and bounces off with it's structure intact. Not to mention, offshore drilling rigs work 24/7 so you think the derrickman (guy that stands 100 feet up the derrick) might have noticed and called the USCG. Then, the hijacking pilot then leaves the engine running after it catches on fire.

[–] rockmail 11 years ago

TCAS only warns of other transponder equipped aircraft. You may be thinking of GPWS which warns of major ground obstacles like hills, but of course nothing as small as an oil derrick.

[–] libby2130 9 years ago

the oil rig was deserted

[–] jztzt 12 years ago

Aren't such structures supposed to have aircraft warning lights so that planes will know something is there even when it's dark or foggy?

[–] josborn828 12 years ago

I think that one is more about 1970's special effects. Even the early CG stuff is dark but to try to create a "scaled version" aircraft warning light on a derrick would be too difficult. It would also illuminate the wires and other devices used to make the models do what they want.

Whatever the case, the most plausible way for that accident to occur would have been because of a "soft horizon". At night the difference between where water ends and sky begins is very confusing, expecially in a storm. The problem was before JFK JR's crash, most people never realized how difficult flying at night can be. At the altitude and speed that 747 was flying at, it would take less than a second of looking at the wrong thing and it's over.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] rockmail 11 years ago

First of all things don't show up on "computers". Computers manipulate data, and then display it on monitors. To get that data, airliner computers either have to have it preloaded as programming and data, or collect it from sensors.

There are no sensors now or then that will show an indication of any items on the ground like the oil derrick. Some aircraft do have GPS and radar based ground proximity warning systems, but they only warn of major things like mountains and the surface of the Earth beneath them.

In other words, your "obstacle sensor" is a fantasy and has never existed for airliners.

[–] bradhig 8 years ago

The rig is deserted and possibly automated. The collision damaged control surfaces and possibly the hydraulics which is why the pilot couldn't level off. He was desperately trying to reach the island where he and his buddies planned to land and transfer the paintings. He didn't make it.

[–] PaladinNJ (20308) a year ago

They probably turned off all equipment emitting an electronic signal so they couldn't be tracked. That would include radar.