Real Pilot Reveals Snakes On A Plane Ending Mirrors Flight Simulator Incident

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A retired airline pilot claims a portion of the dramatic emergency landing scene in the movie Snakes on a Plane was based on a real event. The film features a plot where a crime boss unleashes hundreds of snakes onto a plane to eliminate a murder witness.

In the end, Kenan Thompson’s character, Troy, managed to land the plane safely after practicing on a PlayStation 2 flight simulator game.

Former airline pilot Rob Mark watched emergency landing scenes from movies like Flight, Sully, and Snakes on a Plane and shared his expert opinion with Vanity Fair on how accurately they were depicted.

Mark objected to some of the wording used during the landing, specifically the controller’s request for someone “who knows what they’re doing” to come on the radio. “Controllers wouldn’t say that,” Mark explained, adding that they don’t focus on who is piloting the plane.

Their main goal is simply to show how they can help. What really stood out, though, was the difficulty the wind created in slowing the plane down.

What I loved most was when Kenan Thompson glanced at Jackson in the passenger seat and confidently said, “Trust me.” Jackson replied, “Okay, because honestly, I don’t see any other choice.”

The controller was frustrated, saying someone competent on the radio wouldn’t make such statements. It seemed they didn’t prioritize the pilots, only wanting to know how they could assist. They were willing to remain silent if that was the best course of action. However, the controller was correct to point out that a tailwind would make it more difficult to stop the aircraft.

Troy was able to handle the emergency landing thanks to his experience with flight simulator video games. This reminded Mark of a student who’d spent years playing those games and, as a result, believed he was a skilled pilot. Some of the student’s choices during flight lessons were actually quite frightening for Mark.

The student tried a common move often practiced in flight simulators: reducing engine power, retracting the flaps, and lowering the aircraft’s nose towards the runway.

Mark’s student took an action that put them in danger, so Mark, an experienced pilot, had to take over and land the plane. Afterwards, he firmly explained to his student that real flying is far more serious than a video game, stating, “This isn’t Flight Sim. You can’t do that in a real airplane.”

I once had a student who grew up playing Flight Simulator and thought he was an expert pilot. There were a couple of times he did things that genuinely frightened me. For example, during an approach to land, we were quite high up. He tried a maneuver he’d likely done in the simulator – reducing power, extending the flaps, and sharply diving towards the runway. I had to regain control of the aircraft and we went around for another attempt. Afterward, I explained that what works in a simulation isn’t safe in a real airplane.

Even though it wasn’t a perfect movie, Snakes on a Plane became incredibly popular online, largely thanks to Samuel L. Jackson’s now-famous line: “I’ve had it with these motherfing snakes on this motherfing plane!”

Despite the initial hype, Snakes on a Plane didn’t perform well at the box office, earning only $62 million. Because of this, a sequel is highly improbable after all this time.

The film featured a talented ensemble cast including Julianna Margulies (who later starred in The Good Wife), Nathan Phillips, Rachel Blanchard, Flex Alexander, Keith Dallas, Sunny Mabrey, Bruce James, Lin Shaye, Terry Chen, Elsa Pataky, Mark Houghton, David Koechner, Bobby Cannavale, Todd Louiso, Tom Butler, Kevin McNulty, Samantha McLeod, Taylor Kitsch, Byron Lawson, and Gerard Plunkett.

David R. Ellis directed the movie, and John Heffernan and Sebastian Gutierrez co-wrote the script.

Okay, so, looking back at Snakes on a Plane, even though the movie got some things wrong about how airlines actually work and didn’t exactly crush it at the box office, it totally captured a moment. It was one of the first films to really benefit from those early viral internet moments – before Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok even existed! It felt like everyone was talking about it online, and the studio really leaned into that buzz.

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2025-12-23 22:29