Best movies like Mayday at 40,000 Feet!
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies like Mayday at 40,000 Feet!? Contribute your insights to steer others toward tv shows and movies you've already seen that might similarly enthrall them. Aid in enlarging the circle of people referring videos amongst each other. We encourage your engagement!
Plot Summary:
The co-pilot and engineer of a passenger jet struggle to keep the plane airborne until it can reach an open airfield after a killer aboard the plane fires a gun at an engine and pilot of the plane.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 343
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: disaster movie
Best tv shows and movies like Mayday at 40,000 Feet! (1976):
Similar in 79%
Last Flight (2014)
Plot Summary:
As an old Boing 747 takes off for its last red-eye flight from a small Pacific island, unusual events occur intermittently. While all the passengers are panic, the captain and the chief flight attendant try to lead the investigation.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 346
Genere: Action, Horror, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973)
Plot Summary:
A commercial-jet captain (Chuck Connors) has ghosts on board from stones of an English abbey being shipped overseas.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, splatter, black and white, horror comedy, spooky, weird, cult film
Similar in 81%
Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 (1993)
Plot Summary:
Lost somewhere over the Pacific in a single-engine Cessna with low fuel, a pilot (Scott Bakula) awaits rescue.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 615
Genere: Drama
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Miracle Landing (1990)
Plot Summary:
Cracks are noticed in the ceiling of an aircraft. They widen & a large portion of the fuselage tears off & an emergency landing attempted. Based on actual events.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 635
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: disaster movie
Similar in 88%
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Plot Summary:
America is on the search for the murderer Eddie Kim. Sean Jones must fly to L.A. to testify in a hearing against Kim. Accompanied by FBI agent Neville Flynn, the flight receives some unexpected visitors.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 144000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: scary, suspense, suspenseful, exciting, grindhouse, cult classic, humorous, horror comedy, natural horror, psychological
Similar in 76%
This Is a Hijack (1973)
Plot Summary:
A man feels obligated to hijack the plane his boss is on after he has gambled himself into overwhelming debt.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 144
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 78%
Lost Flight (1970)
Plot Summary:
Bridges is the captain of a downed airliner who must help his crew and passengers survive on a deserted jungle island in the midst of a power struggle - an adult version of "Lord of the Flies.".
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 198
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
SST: Death Flight (1977)
Plot Summary:
On its maiden flight, the crew of America's first supersonic transport learns that it may not be able to land, due to an act of sabotage and a deadly flu onboard.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 651
Genere: Adventure, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychotronic, grindhouse, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Hijacked: Flight 285 (1996)
Plot Summary:
While being escorted to prison from Phoenix to New York, crazed killer Peter Cronin (Anthony Michael Hall) hijacks a commercial jet in flight with the help of accomplices. Holding the 200 passengers and the crew members hostage, Cronin forces the plane to land in Dallas, then demands another, more powerful aircraft for the last leg of his escape. As FBI agent Frank Layton (Perry King) and detective Deni Patton (Ally Sheedy) attempt to negotiate with Cronin, time runs perilously short for the hostages, who know that the killer isn't bluffing when he threatens to kill one prisoner per hour unless his demands are met.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 574
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disaster movie
Similar in 84%
Ground Control (1998)
Plot Summary:
An air-traffic controller quits after a plane crash but, years later, goes to help an airport that is in the path of a terrible storm.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Air Panic (2002)
Plot Summary:
FAA system analyzer named Neil McCabe is the only person who seems to have this different hunch towards a group of international terrorists after a horrific plane incident occured. He thinks that an evil genius computer hacker sets out and manipulate the computer electronical system which linked to several airplanes to cause destruction and tragedy. In order to prevent the mishap, McCabe and his teammate, Rudy, finds out about the machine used by the criminals which leads them to a psychotic thrilling fight between the terrorist.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 884
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, rough, serious, realistic, fast
Similar in 88%
Turbulence (1997)
Plot Summary:
On a flight transporting dangerous convicts, murderer Ryan Weaver manages to break free and cause complete chaos throughout the plane. As various people on board fall victim to Weaver, it is ultimately down to flight attendant Teri Halloran to keep the aircraft from crashing, with on-ground support from an air traffic controller. While Halloran struggles to pilot the plane, Weaver continues to terrorize the surviving members of the crew.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspenseful, intense, suspense, tense, serious, scary, captivating, psychological thriller, christmas horror
Similar in 76%
Air Collision (2012)
Plot Summary:
When a solar storm wipes out the air traffic control system, Air Force One and a passenger jet liner are locked on a collision course in the skies above the midwest.
IMDB Rating: 2.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, mockbuster, realistic, independent film, disaster movie
Similar in 77%
Airport 1975 (1974)
Plot Summary:
"Something hit us...the crew is dead...help us, please, please help us!" With these terrifying words, 22 of Hollywood's greatest stars find themselves aboard a pilotless jumbo jet headed on a collision course with destruction in the nerve chilling sequel to the greatest disaster movie ever made.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, psychotronic, psychological, exciting, rough, serious, fast, crying, black comedy
Similar in 76%
Airport '77 (1977)
Plot Summary:
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle while taking VIPs and valuable art to Philip Stevens new museum. But when hijackers take off the plane and knock everyone out with sleeping gas the plane crashes in the sea. The passengers survive but a small hole at the front is flooding the plane and 2 daring rescues must be put into action because everyone is trapped 200 feet underwater.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, serious, suspenseful, psychotronic, psychological, cult classic, rough, bleak, fast
Similar in 82%
The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
Plot Summary:
The last of the 'Airport' series again stars George Kennedy as aviation disaster-prone Joe Patroni, this time having to contend with nuclear missiles, the French Air Force and the threat of the plane splitting in two over the Alps!.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, cult classic, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, fast, suspense, crying, psychotronic
Similar in 76%
Skyjacked (1972)
Plot Summary:
A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 84%
Air Crew (1980)
Plot Summary:
Story of the lives of three Soviet pilots who are united by disaster in a small town in the mountains.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 144 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspenseful, psychological, exciting, rough, serious, crying, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Airspeed (1999)
Plot Summary:
When wealthy executive Raymond Stone sends out his private plane to pick up his spoiled teenage daughter, Nicole, and a pair of his top-ranking employees, disaster strikes. While the jet flies through an electrical storm, the pilot and other passengers are incapacitated, and Nicole is left on her own to keep the plane in the air, guided by an air traffic controller. Can the irresponsible and panic-stricken teen find a way to land the jet?.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 77%
Collision Course (2012)
Plot Summary:
Kate Parks has spent the past year on tour promoting her book, an in-depth look at the attempted cover up of her husband's death in a plane crash. Now all she wants is to return home to her daughter, 15-year-old Samantha. But when a powerful solar flare strikes her flight home, killing the pilot, knocking out the co-pilot and frying all the electronic systems on the plane, it looks like she may not get there. As panic sets in among the passengers, Kate works with flight attendant Jake to manage the growing chaos and tension on the plane as she tries to keep 30,000 tons of steel hurtling through the air at 500 miles per hour. Flying blind, Kate tries to find a way to communicate with air traffic control - one way or another, this plane is coming down. With the passengers' lives on the line, Kate will have to find a way to land safely... or never see her daughter again.
IMDB Rating: 3.5
IMDB Votes: 605
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, serious, captivating, suspense, scary, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Cabin Pressure (2002)
Plot Summary:
A fully automated commercial jetliner is prepared to make its maiden voyage. Without an on-flight pilot, the craft relies on satellite linking for its course. But when the plane suddenly deviates from its determined route and establishes a circular pattern over Seattle, it becomes evident that the craft has been hijacked by a disgruntled former airline employee who has hacked into the flight's computer system from his apartment, somewhere in the United States. Now, a former discredited Navy pilot and an oddball technician must race against the clock to find where the angry employee is, and regain control of the plane before it crashes into the city.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 274
Genere: Drama, Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, disaster movie
Similar in 86%
Airline Disaster (2010)
Plot Summary:
When the President learns that domestic terrorists have skyjacked the passenger jet her brother is flying, she must choose between family and the safety of the people in the cities below.
IMDB Rating: 2.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, tense, suspense, rough, realistic, fast, computer animated, disaster movie
Similar in 89%
Air Marshal (2003)
Plot Summary:
A commercial jet plane has been hijacked by a group of terrorists who don't realize that a U.S. Air Marshal, Brett Prescott (Dean Cochran), is among the passengers. The fate of dozens of people lies in the hands of Prescott, who must forge a one-man war against the hijackers destructive plans.
IMDB Rating: 2.9
IMDB Votes: 566
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Turbulent Skies (2010)
Plot Summary:
When a new airplane that's equipped with a new computer that can fly the plane on its own, is about to have its first flight. But the son of the owner decides to upload more software, he doesn't bother to check if there are any viruses with it. And he also invites some potential investors to try it. So the plane appears to be working well but suddenly it veers off course and it can't be shut down. When the military learns of this and fears what if something happens if it's over a populated area; decides to shoot it down along with everyone on board. The man who built the computer whose wife is among the passengers thinks if he can get on board he might be able to shut it down and regain control of the plane. So the military using a new plane gets him on board. But what he didn't know is that both pilots are incapacitated so there's no one who can fly the plane.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 741
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, rough, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
The Captain (2019)
Plot Summary:
Based on the true story of a pilot who had to ensure the safety of 128 passengers and crew members on the plane when its windshield became damaged mid-flight. The incident is regarded as one of the miracles in aviation history.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Thriller
Country: China
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: suspense, sentimental, disturbing, action adventure, tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, factual, disaster movie
Similar in 85%
Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992)
Plot Summary:
Authentic drama of United Airlines flight 232 from Denver to Chicago. The DC-10 crashed during an emergency landing at Sioux City Gateway Airport on July 19, 1989. 184 people survived, partly thanks to the ground rescue workers who had 40 minutes to prepare for the event.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 759
Genere: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 83%
Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
Plot Summary:
A passenger of a hijacked airliner who happens to be an airplane engineer works to deactivate a chemical weapons bomb after the hijackers kill the pilot and threaten to kill all the passengers on the plane.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, suspense, independent film, suspenseful, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 81%
Airplane vs Volcano (2014)
Plot Summary:
When a commercial airliner is trapped within a ring of erupting volcanoes, the passengers and crew must find a way to survive - without landing.
IMDB Rating: 2.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, serious, realistic, mockbuster, exciting, disaster movie
Similar in 80%
Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
Plot Summary:
Having taken the blame for an accident beyond his control, pilot Mike Hogan has been on administrative leave indefinitely; however when the airline is desperately short of staff, he is offered to be first officer and accepts, without enthusiasm, received with disdain by the well-connected commander. Surprisingly his come-back proves less then routine, as the captain gets knocked out and a collision as well as a murderer being transported by police require courageous action from Mike, his crew and several passengers, including soccer star Ty Conner.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 840
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, Canada
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, realistic, independent film, fast, disaster movie
Similar in 85%
Airport (1970)
Plot Summary:
Melodrama about a bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 137 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, suspense, tense, serious, psychotronic, erotic, psychological, cult classic, rough