An airplane gets caught in turbulence and goes back in time.
Episode Summary
An airplane, Global Airlines Flight 33, traveling from London to New York hits some turbulence and breaks through the sound barrier.
When the crew and passengers look out the window and see dinosaurs, they realize they’ve gone backwards in time!
The pilot reverses course and the plane breaks through the sound barrier again; this time they arrive in New York, only 20 years too early.
In the last scene, the pilot prepares to repeat the time warp trick one more time, hoping they have enough fuel to make it home.
Thoughts
Nearly the entire episode took place in the cockpit – and what a cramped cockpit it was, with five people in there (not including the stewardess)! There were way too many close ups of sweaty faces as the crew reacted to their situation and their surroundings, so it’s not at the top of my rewatch list, but it was tense and well-paced nonetheless.
We barely saw any of the plane’s passengers; there’s a somewhat comical scene showcasing two (a British man and an elderly woman), but they don’t show up again afterwards. Weird that they only got focused on that one time.
Fun fact: Flight 33 was traveling to Idlewild Airport AKA Kennedy Airport‘s original name.
Mr. Taylor says
I’m glad it rated three eggs. I would agree it was a bit heavy-handed with the close-ups of sweating faces, but I kind of liked the pilot on the left and I liked the story enough to be able to forgive the close-ups. And the dinosaur footage was a big plus!
Michael says
Dinosaur footage makes everything better!
Leroy Kincaid says
Robert stack must have a body-voice double. I refused to believe it was John Anderson
Carl says
Watching, or at least listening to this episode at 3am (perfect time for the Twilight Zone) and hoping to sleep, but, I was convinced I could hear Robert Stack’s voice! I noticed typing into Google “Robert Stack Twilight Zone” is a pretty common search and lead me here. Somehow the sound of John “Robert Stack” Anderson’s voice and the “Airplane!” context makes it hard to take the episode seriously. It’s almost like I’m in the Twilight Zone and about to hear Rod Serling go into a monologue describing my predicament at any moment! ?