A couple weeks ago, someone in the 74 crew left a comment
on another Hollywood vs reality video asking if I could do "The Dark knight"
to the opening scene where some mercenaries take over a plane in flight.
So, here we go.
Hey, 74 crew! Welcome back!
If you don't know me, my name is Kelsey
I'm a 747 pilot.
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So whether you're a pilot or an aviation enthusiast,
consider subscribing.
I've been doing a Hollywood vs reality series
where I've been breaking down aviation scenes
in different movies.
And when I looked at this scene at first glance,
it seemed pretty short. I thought it was gonna be pretty easy
but it's actually really complex.
There's a lot that's happening in here.
The scene was actually filmed in Scotland
and the director, Christopher Nolan, is actually really proud of it
when I was looking up some stuff on the video.
He's actually really, really proud of this
so I'm going to try not to hurt his feelings.
Let's get into it.
The flight plan I just filed with the Agency lists me, my men, and Dr. Pavel here.
But only one of you.
First one to talk
gets to stay on my aircraft!
So... Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
He didn't fly so good!
Who wants to try next?
Tell me about Bane!
Why does he wear the mask?
Lot of loyalty for a hired gun!
Or perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man
before throwing him out of a plane.
At least you can talk. Who are you?
It doesn't matter who we are.
So first he'd mentioned that he filed a flight plan
but he only listed one of the three of them.
The flight plan I just filed with the Agency
lists me, my men, and Dr. Pavel here.
But only one of you.
And the reason that matters is because
every flight, when we go up in the air, we list how many souls
or how many people are aboard the aircraft.
So essentially what he's saying is that
if he threw to those guys out the plane, it wouldn't really matter
because once they land,
the people that are on the ground wouldn't even think
there was someone missing because they only listed a certain number of people
when they boarded the aircraft.
Next, let's talk about the aircraft they're in.
They're in an Embraer 110.
It's a much older turboprop aircraft
and if you aren't familiar with what a turboprop is
I did a video about it a few weeks ago and it's very exciting.
He said sarcastically.
Now, I personally haven't been on an Embraer 110
but I have been on a lot of aircraft of similar size
and there's a few things that are very Hollywood about this scene so far.
First, the guys that are standing up don't look like they're very small men.
Yet, they're standing up vertically like there's a lot of space.
In most of these smaller turboprop aircraft, there's not a lot of space to stand up.
Now, I'm only six foot tall
but I've been an aircraft about this size,
and you can't usually stand up vertically.
I would guess it's somewhere maybe about five eight, five nine
something like that.
Someone about that height would be able to stand up.
But these guys look like they're six foot or bigger
and they're standing up like there's no problem like they're in an Airbus or a Boeing.
Next is the doors on this aircraft.
It's showing here that they're opening them inward.
In most aircraft, the doors are opening outward.
For a few reasons, but one in particular is, the limited amount of space inside the aircraft.
So the fact that they're opening this door inward, that's not very realistic.
Next you'll notice how flush the aircraft door is.
Most aircraft have places for pins or different things
to help secure the door in place because it's gonna get pressurized.
So it's not something you'll often see where
it's smooth and flush like it is in this scene here especially on a smaller,
older turboprop aircraft.
Finally and this is just something of note,
the tail number of this aircraft starts with a ZS.
That indicates that this plane is actually registered in South Africa.
Every country has a different letter or letters
that go on the front of each of their tails
and that shows where they're registered at.
For example, if you see a US aircraft,
it's gonna start with an N.
This movie is being filmed in Scotland
so they start theirs with a G.
So different countries have different numbers or letters that go in the front there
which indicate where that plane is actually registered.
So that was just something that I noticed that caught my eye
and something I wanted to share with you.
Okay! Let's get back to the Dark Knight.
Dr. Pavel refused our offer in favor of yours.
We had to know what he told you about us.
Nothing! I said nothing!
Well congratulations, you got yourselves caught.
What's the next step of your master plan?
Crashing this plane...
There are a few things that are kind of strange in this scene.
First, you see that the aircraft that's coming in above them
is actually a C-130.
That's typically a military used aircraft.
What's interesting to note though is that the flaps are actually out on this aircraft.
Usually, we only put our flaps out if we're trying to go slow.
Those are helped to create lift on the aircraft
when the aircraft is going slower.
So if you're trying to catch up to a plane or get ahead of it
you wouldn't be flying with your flaps out
because it limits the amount of speed you're able to carry.
Now, the C-130 goes about a hundred knots faster
than an Embraer 110
but either way, you still wouldn't be flying with your flaps out
and going slow especially when another aircraft is cruising.
They're not trying to go slow so
why would you be going very slow?
That doesn't make any sense.
Now, you see the plane is actually over them
and then the plane starts rocking and creating some turbulence.
I think what they're trying to simulate is wake turbulence.
Which is when you fly behind and below another aircraft's path
the air from the wings actually gets turbulent.
So if you fly through that, you can hit a what's called wake turbulence.
However, wake turbulence is usually descending from the wings
when it comes off of the wings, it usually descends about 300 to 500 feet per minute.
So, for the distance that they are and for the height that they are
there's really no way that these guys are experiencing any type of wake turbulence
because they're too high and really almost right on top of the other aircraft.
The fact that they're showing wake turbulence
I think is what they're trying to simulate,
that's not very realistic.
And I'm not sure what the CIA's protocol is for something like this
because I've never flown for them.
Neither confirm nor deny that.
See how good I am.
But if you're flying high-risk passengers
and then a C-130 pulls out above you
and then the door opens up
I would think you'd be making some type of a maneuver.
You wouldn't just be looking at them going:
"I wonder what they're doing".
All right! Let's get back to the movie.
With no survivors.
Mayday! Mayday!
All right. Well, in a hypothetical scenario where the C-130 starts climbing,
all of the pilots would have to do is either speed up or climb a little bit
and that maneuver would be irrelevant.
Now, once the Embraer is actually pulled off of his axis and it has it like that,
it's actually gonna be probably operating more like a kite
than it is showing there where the wings are ripping off.
Now, I have no idea what the structural load is for an Embraer
but I would imagine the wings would maybe bend
but I obviously can't imagine them ever snapping off,
but if they did snap off,
fuel and other things would be coming out of the wings
and there's a bunch of cables that are connected to the outside of the wings there.
So those would all be attached.
So you're not just gonna snap it off like a piece of wood
and then they would just fly off.
That's never gonna happen.
And the other thing to remember is that the flaps are out on the C-130.
So they're not even going that fast
and yet they're ripping the wings off of this Embraer.
So that doesn't really make sense.
I don't know if that was done for filming purposes but in real life,
in that hypothetical scenario, if you're going slow and dragging a plane
behind you like that,
it would be more acting like a kite than snapping the wings off like that.
Let's get back to the movie.
Now, we talked about earlier
the door on this aircraft they have it opening inward
so there's no reason to blow the tail off of the aircraft.
The plane is obviously already depressurize
so you would just be able to open the door and push it in and go inside the plane.
So to blow it off, that doesn't make any sense
and just like when I talked about the wings
that there are cables and things attached to it,
the same for the tail.
You know, to control the rudder and the different things the elevator
there are different cables that are running back there
so if you were to blow it off,
you would be having cables and stuff that would be flying around everywhere.
Doesn't make any sense.
And another thing which doesn't really have anything to do with aviation
but just I was wondering this guy has now been hijacked
and he's laying on his back there and he hasn't even pulled out his gun
until the guys come into the plane.
I don't know why you wouldn't just have your gun out,
if you're getting hijacked. That doesn't make any sense to me.
All right! Let's get the last scene.
Calm down, Doctor.
Now is not time for fear.
That comes later.
I'm guessing, at that point, they just reel him back into the plane
and that is actually a thing that the military is trained to do.
Is to real people into an aircraft from externally.
That is actually a real thing that happens.
All right, 74 crew! That's a quick review of "The Dark Knight" that you requested.
Now, I have an entire series that I'm doing where
I'm breaking down these Hollywood versus reality videos.
If you're enjoying these, make sure you hit the subscribe and the bell notifications
so you know the next one when it comes out.
In the comment section below, I want you to let me know.
Do you enjoy the genre of Superman and Batman?
The superhero genre?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Until then,
keep the blue side up!
Next, usually aircraft doors open outward not inward,
because the limited amount of airspace...
Limited amount of airspace...
So, for example ZS is south of...
South America...