Flight

       The movie, “Flight” was about an airline crash. This movie is the second one I decided to write my reviews. The first one I wrote my reviews was Sully, which also talked about an airplane crash. With birds striking, Sully had the plane landed on the water, which was not easy decision. In this movie, the reason why caused the pilot William Whitaker to land the plane on the farm was mechanical issue, which was vertical control failure. William tried his best to control this big bird. Such as bumping fuel and putting the gears down and using speed brakes. The 50-kilogram plane was still descending out from 30,000 feet high badly. William had no options but to invert the plane to let it dive slowly and then invert it back. I believe no one can do like him. Although the aircraft glided on the farm and the whole body of the plane was divided in half, luckily, William saved most of the souls on board like Sully did. There were 102 souls on board in total, but only six people died, which were the two flight attendants and four passengers. Even though it caused tragic loss of life, it was also a celebration of life. If these two airline crashes were preordained, then I wanted to ask if they were acts of God and if God gave them a mission. What was the mission for? Why did God choose William? Then why was William sent to jail after being investigated by NTSB?

       That fateful day because of the cranky weather and a lot of air turbulence ahead, made the flight bumpy as if the plane was falling apart. The night before the flight, William and Trina, who were crew members, were drunk until morning. They had unusual relationships. Besides being friends, colleagues and alcoholics, and they also sex buddy. “Let’s get ready for the flight. Our flight is at 9 o’clock.” said Trina. In order to get William himself awake, he snorted heroin with a straw. As a pilot who was doing his job, he didn’t take it seriously for sure. He should be punished by someone. But who could do it? God seemed to be waiting for a chance that all bad conditions were gathered and to see the plane crashed. After the plane crashed, knowing six people death was painful. However, the most painful news was to know Trina’s death, whom he shared his life with. Not until she died did William want to turn a new leaf and stay away from alcohol.

     In this movie, there was another beautiful woman named Nicole. Her mom died due to breast cancer. She was lonely and started relying on drugs. She was slowly becoming a drug addict. That day, she inhaled cocaine a lot and almost died, so she was being sent to the hospital where William was sent to as well. Unless the doctor saved them from the hell, they hadn’t had a chance to meet at the stairwell and smoke together. This woman’s attitude toward life was to contrast with William’s. They decided to change their lives, but the result was totally different. After both of them were discharged from the hospital, they certainly wanted a new life. Nicole wanted to quit drinking alcohol and using drug, so did he. However, it was easier said than done. Nicole tried to find a job. Luckily, she was offered a job as a sale clerk and she also joined a rehab clinic. She was determined not to use drug again.

       William’s situation was more complicated than Nicole. William was still being investigated by the NTSB. Along the way, he was anxious and had an anxiety. Because of that, he was quite busy with meeting all the crew members who were on board that day. He attempted to persuade them to say, “It was an ordinary day. My physical condition was good. That was a broken plane.” It sounded like he was like a hero and seemed like he should have stood on the stage and drawn applauses due to saving them. According to the report of the NTSB hearing, they placed ten pilots in stimulators to re-created the events that led to the plane crashed. During the stimulation, all planes crashed and all passengers on board were killed. No one could save most of them like him. Speaking of this, I had no options but to say he was a hero. But, could he argue that he wasn’t intoxicated while he was doing his job? Despite no eyewitness, he was still drinking in the cockpit. He would be charged of six counts of manslaughter.

        When it comes to the issue about intoxication, I want to ask about those car accidents that lead to people death owing to drink-driving. Why aren’t these people sent to jail? In Taiwan, the drivers only pay a fine and then they can go on driving on the road and then the same situation happens again. Is it fair to those who lost their family members? In recent year, the government in TW has started to pay attention about this issue. In order not to let this event happen again and again, the government have taken severe punishment. Such as adding fine and calling off driving license for 2 years. Although I don’t think it is enough, I still hope this punishment works.

        The president of airline labor union didn’t want to pay a lot of settlement. They hired an attorney to combat the NTSB and also help William. The attorney spent a week finding some clues that could help William. For example, the testing of toxicology was done incompetently because their equipment was last calibrated in June of 2009. It was already 18 months past code. The attorney also asked the NTSB to consider the severe weather, “It is an act of God.” As long as William didn’t drink anymore, the attorney seemed to win the case confidently. However, this arrogant William continue to drink. Did he do it on purpose?

         We are human being. Most of us have difficulty controlling our behaviors. When we make mistakes and we are unable to make it right, we always tend to lie first. This is a self-protection ability. But can we manage our behaviors that cause bad things to happen? For example, I might know what I do is wrong. Can I stop myself from doing this bad thing or saying something bad? It is not a simple question at times. Self-Control is an ability. We have learned it from parents and school time since we were little. After being an adult, some of them manage it well, but some don’t. William was a person who was unable to control himself well. His wife left him. As a result, he chose to drink. He had a son who didn’t talk to him because he chose to drink. He wanted to have a new life with Nicole, but Nicole chose to leave. As a result, he chose to drink. He had a good job as a pilot. He lost his job as a result of choosing to drink too. He drank until the morning when he got ready to attend the meeting of NTSB. His life was filled with lies and alcohol.

           Today was critical day. He sat and faced all people who attended the meeting of NTSB. He seemed nervous and he was afraid to be sent to jail. He tried to answer each question carefully. The chamber resounded with cheers and applause when it came to the question of severe weather and the way he landed the plane. No one could do that, but him. However, speaking of toxicology reports, he couldn’t answer it properly. His voice became smaller and smaller. “It was you who said there wasn’t have beverage service, was there?”the head of the of the NTSB asked.“Yes.” William replied. “Then, why were there two bottles of Whiskies in the galley trash? the head of the of the NTSB asked. William became silent. “Were you an alcoholic?” The head of the NTSB asked. "No." William answered. When the investigator showed the photo of Trina on the screen, William was stared at the screen. “Was Trina an alcoholic because we also had her toxicology report?” The head of the NTSB asked. William didn’t answer.

      With the head of the NTSB repeating the question many times, William felt stressed. Finally, he said, “I was drunk the night before the flight that day. I was drunk two days before the flight. I am drunk now.” From that moment on, he was free. He no longer needed to lie. He could face who he was honestly. No one would save him, but himself. Trina was a critical person in his life. When I watched this footage, I was thinking if he might say, Trina was an alcoholic.” Even if he lied about everything in his life, at least, he had a conscience in the end.

       The end of the movie was that William was sent to jail because of 6 counts of manslaughter. Then I am tempted to ask about the manslaughter of drink-driving. Why do they not need to be sent to jail in Taiwan?