Does anyone know how the airport tech in Die Hard 2 works?

Post Reply New Topic

So I was watching Die Hard 2 and I thought it was a huge plot hole, as to why didn't they planes just go to other airports. But when I talked about this plot hole on a forum, one person responded by saying they were an air traffic controller in real life, and that in real life, it wasn't physically possible black then for planes to call other airports because back then you could only call the airport you were nearest too, and that airport would have to relay the call basically, which the airport in the movie could not do, since they were taken hostage.

But is that really real though for back then? Because there are other movies like Airport, where the plane could call an airport from much further away. Unless that was just made up for 1970? Does anyone know this for sure, since I was wondering if it was a plot hole or not?

It's fiction.  Fiction is not real life.  It is meant to entertain, and not be explained.

That's true, but since a real air traffic controller told me the technology is all factual, that makes me curious if it were true.

My dad was a private pilot. Air traffic control uses radio transmission to communicate. Pilots have to follow lots of rules, like filing a flight plan with the airport they take off from and go to. There is also the concept of "airspace" where the space above and near a given airport is controlled by the air traffic controller in that airport. Each airport has one or more frequency that they are supposed to use to communicate with the pilots the pilot has to bee on communications with the tower in order to land. Some places, like Washington DC or Air Force bases have controlled air space - no fly zones. If you fly through the controlled air space without authorization they will follow you on radar until you land then contact the air traffic controller at the airport you land at and you will have some explaining to do.

Big airports usually have more traffic and take bigger planes. When a plane gets to a big airport and there is no space for it to land they can "stack" it - they basically tell it to circle the airport at a specific altitude - and the next plane to circle at a different altitude so they don't run into each other. More planes bigger stack. A pilot would never just decide on his own to go to another airport because he puts himself, his passengers and the pilots of the other planes in danger too - it like kind of like the military or a large hospital - following the rules is expected because lives are on the line - so it is not only a strong part of the culture, but also enforced by the law and by rules and regulations.

Oh okay. If the airport is unable to have planes land though, why stack a bunch of planes instead of just contacting other airports that would be more free to take them though, instead?

I haven't seen the movie do I cannot say much about that exact situation.

For commercial planes with many passengers I would think the pilot would not want to land at another airport. Passengers who pay for a trip from Los Angls to New York don't want to end up in Chicago, or even Newark New Jersey. They get angry at the airline.

During the events around 9-11 many planes were rerouted to other cities but that was a very unusual situation. The whole country was declared a no fly zone - only military planes were allowed to fly. Planes in the air were sent to other countries - some planes were sent to the small town of Gander in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. (This was the subject of the Broadway play "Come From Away" - you can read more on the wikipedia).

I can imagine a situation where air traffic control in a New York airport was taken over by "bad guys" and the people in the air would not know this, then they would assume a normal delay (such as all the air strips being filled - or a weather related problem) and would just wait for a turn to land. It is possible that a plane circling for landing for a long time would then run out fuel - or not have enough fuel to make it to another airport. From the air New York is very close and in the line of sight of several other airports - I would expect a pilot who knew there was a problem would just switch his radio the the frequency of another airport and request permission to land. If the "bad guys" were smart and kept a good secret the pilot might not know that there was reason to do that. As I said I didn't see the film so I am only guessing.

Sometimes films, as other suggested, things are not very realistic. The point is to make money by people buying tickets.
I see on the internet that the film came out in 1990 and the 9-11 event happened in New York September 11, 2001 so the film preceded the real life event. In the case of 9-11 passengers did not know what was happening on other planes so they didn't know that what was happening to the one plane they were on was part of a bigger plan. On one plane a passenger managed to use his cell phone to contact someone on the ground and they got information that way - the passengers (some say) discovered that the plane they were on might be used as a weapon or a bomb to threaten people on the ground and tried to counter-attack and take over the plane from the "bad guys" and the plane crashed in a remote spot. If you are interested in planes that would be a good subject to read about.

I guess if I was the pilot I would want to be VERY sure before I changed the destination - even to a different airport.
I only have about 3 or 4 hours in my pilot log book. From many years ago. If I could find it.