Happy Flight
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese comedy film directed by Shinobu Yaguchi
about pilots and flight attendants. All Nippon Airways
(ANA) backed the creation of the film. The airline sponsored a giveaway of Happy Flight DVDs and other items to certain members of ANA's mileage club.
going on her first international flight, who service an All Nippon Airways
747-400 as Flight 1980 to Honolulu, Hawaii
, United States
. Suzuki feels stressed when Captain Noriyoshi Harada becomes his evaluator, while Saitō becomes stressed when she learns she is working under Chief Purser Reiko Yamazaki. The story also tells the story of Natsumi Kimura, a ground staffer who deals with issues regarding the flight.
The plot revolves around the logistics of preparing Flight 1980 for a timely departure. The aircraft serving has been reported with malfunctioning heated pitot tubes, but the captain decides to postpone the repair to avoid delays, relying on redundant instruments available. Bird patrol has been dispatched to fend off pigeons. Immediately after takeoff, an instrument alarm prompts the captain in command to switch to the backup pitot tube as their primary indication. The captain mistakenly transmits the cabin announcement to the air traffic channel.
Inflight services commence shortly after the seat belt sign has been turned off. Due to the fully and overbooked flight, not all passengers could receive their first choice of lunch between beef and fish; the cabin purser gives her stewardess a lesson in dealing with demand imbalance: promoting the less wanted fish. The stewardess follows through with her first mishap, describing the beef as "plain and ordinary." She then fumbles orders for white wine, apple juice, and motion sickness drugs. She corrects the drink orders; but the ill passenger vomits onto her uniform.
Up in the cockpit, the checking copilot responds to passenger worries by visually checking the wings over a bird-strike related incident. Meanwhile, the plane behaves erratically under the captain's solo command. Ground staff has confirmed that the flight suffered a bird strike; the engines ingested a bird without failing; but the bird also disabled the remaining pitot tubes, allowing to freeze at cruising altitude. The aircraft has lost all indication of air speed
until they descend below 22,000 feet (where air temperature is above freezing point).
With the aircraft unable to complete the journey, the captain elects to return to the Okinawa airport, now suffering from severe weather conditions. The flight crew and ground controllers now have to work together in bringing the plane back home, winning the cooperation of a "difficult" passenger, flying around adverse weather, and determine if the maintenance crew was at fault for the aircraft's failure.
reviewed the film, giving it three of five stars. Schilling said that he "felt somewhat like a convict watching a prison film whose heroes are the trustees and guards — and feeling the filmmakers aren't getting the whole story."
Shinobu Yaguchi
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He specializes in feel-good "zero to hero" films, where a group of people take up an unlikely activity, face a number of obstacles, but finally succeed. His film Waterboys was particularly successful and led to a TV series which entered its third...
about pilots and flight attendants. All Nippon Airways
All Nippon Airways
, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
(ANA) backed the creation of the film. The airline sponsored a giveaway of Happy Flight DVDs and other items to certain members of ANA's mileage club.
Story
The film Happy Flight is about Kazuhiro Suzuki, a copilot who is trying to qualify as a pilot, and Etsuko Saitō, a young flight attendantFlight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
going on her first international flight, who service an All Nippon Airways
All Nippon Airways
, also known as or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 35 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009...
747-400 as Flight 1980 to Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Suzuki feels stressed when Captain Noriyoshi Harada becomes his evaluator, while Saitō becomes stressed when she learns she is working under Chief Purser Reiko Yamazaki. The story also tells the story of Natsumi Kimura, a ground staffer who deals with issues regarding the flight.
The plot revolves around the logistics of preparing Flight 1980 for a timely departure. The aircraft serving has been reported with malfunctioning heated pitot tubes, but the captain decides to postpone the repair to avoid delays, relying on redundant instruments available. Bird patrol has been dispatched to fend off pigeons. Immediately after takeoff, an instrument alarm prompts the captain in command to switch to the backup pitot tube as their primary indication. The captain mistakenly transmits the cabin announcement to the air traffic channel.
Inflight services commence shortly after the seat belt sign has been turned off. Due to the fully and overbooked flight, not all passengers could receive their first choice of lunch between beef and fish; the cabin purser gives her stewardess a lesson in dealing with demand imbalance: promoting the less wanted fish. The stewardess follows through with her first mishap, describing the beef as "plain and ordinary." She then fumbles orders for white wine, apple juice, and motion sickness drugs. She corrects the drink orders; but the ill passenger vomits onto her uniform.
Up in the cockpit, the checking copilot responds to passenger worries by visually checking the wings over a bird-strike related incident. Meanwhile, the plane behaves erratically under the captain's solo command. Ground staff has confirmed that the flight suffered a bird strike; the engines ingested a bird without failing; but the bird also disabled the remaining pitot tubes, allowing to freeze at cruising altitude. The aircraft has lost all indication of air speed
Indicated airspeed
Indicated airspeed is the airspeed read directly from the airspeed indicator on an aircraft, driven by the pitot-static system. IAS is directly related to calibrated airspeed , which is the IAS corrected for instrument and installation errors....
until they descend below 22,000 feet (where air temperature is above freezing point).
With the aircraft unable to complete the journey, the captain elects to return to the Okinawa airport, now suffering from severe weather conditions. The flight crew and ground controllers now have to work together in bringing the plane back home, winning the cooperation of a "difficult" passenger, flying around adverse weather, and determine if the maintenance crew was at fault for the aircraft's failure.
Cast
- Haruka AyaseHaruka Ayase, born in Hiroshima Prefecture, on March 24, 1985, is a Japanese actress.-Career:In 1999, she successfully passed a Horipro audition. She first achieved widespread recognition for her starring roles in the short film Justice; in 2004 she rose to stardom as Aki in the TV series Crying Out Love, In...
- Tomoko TabataTomoko Tabata-TV:*Watashi No Aozora - Nazuna *Shinsengumi! - Kondo Tsune, Kondo Isami's wife-References:...
- Seiichi TanabeSeiichi Tanabeis a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 24th Yokohama Film Festival for Hush! and at the 27th Hochi Film Award for Hush! and Harmful Insect.-Filmography:* Atashi wa juice * April Story * Blues Harp...
- Shinobu Terajima
- Saburo TokitoSaburō Tokitōis a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 9th Yokohama Film Festival for Eien no 1/2 and at the 9th Hochi Film Award for The Miracle of Joe Petrel.-References:...
- Kazue FukiishiKazue Fukiishiis a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for What the Snow Brings, Tegami and Memories of Tomorrow.-Filmography:* Sabu...
- Ittoku Kishibe
Reception
Mark Schilling of The Japan TimesThe Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
reviewed the film, giving it three of five stars. Schilling said that he "felt somewhat like a convict watching a prison film whose heroes are the trustees and guards — and feeling the filmmakers aren't getting the whole story."