From 'Neerja' to 'Bell Bottom', 10 films made on plane hijack and crisis

On September 30, 2026, a major crisis occurred on Flydubai's flight FZ1073. The co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Mosquito in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv. There were 174 passengers and 8 crew members on board. After the attack, the plane started descending rapidly and lost an altitude of 14,000 feet in about 30 seconds. Despite being seriously injured, Smith unlocked the cockpit door. The passengers restrained the attacker. Two pilots who were not on duty took over the plane and made a safe landing in Tabuk. The incident brought to mind Bollywood movies, which depicted stories of plane hijacks, plane distress and rescuing passengers. Some of these films are inspired by real events, while some are based on fictional stories. 1. 'Neerja' In the 2016 film 'Neerja', Sonam Kapoor played the role of air hostess Neerja Bhanot. The film was based on the 1986 Pan Am Flight 73 hijack. Neerja lost her life while trying to save the passengers. She was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra. 2. 'Bell Bottom' Akshay Kumar's 2021 film 'Bell Bottom' was a spy thriller inspired by the events of a plane hijack made in the 1980s. In the film, Akshay played the role of a RAW agent who goes on a mission to rescue passengers from a hijacked plane. 3. 'Yoddha' In Sidharth Malhotra's 2024 film 'Yodha', an ex-soldier gets trapped in a hijacked plane. He then tries to save the lives of the passengers and confront the attackers. It was a fantasy action thriller. 4. 'Kandahar' Mohanlal played the role of Major Mahadevan in the Malayalam film 'Kandahar'. The film depicts a mission to rescue the hostages after a passenger plane is hijacked. Its story was inspired by the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 in 1999. 5. 'Zamee' Starring Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan, 'Zaman' depicts an operation to rescue passengers after a plane is hijacked. The film was inspired by the IC-814 hijacking of 1999 and was also influenced by Operation Entebbe. 6. 'Hijack' In the 2008 film 'Hijack', Shiney Ahuja played the role of ground maintenance engineer Vikram Madan. The plane in which his daughter is traveling is hijacked by terrorists. Vikram then enters the plane and tries to save his daughter and other passengers. 7. 'Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga' This Netflix thriller starring Yami Gautam and Sunny Kaushal begins with a diamond theft plot. After that, the story completely changes when the plane is hijacked. 8. 'Runway 34' In the film 'Runway 34', Ajay Devgn plays the role of an extraordinary and confident pilot named 'Captain Vikrant Khanna'. The story shows that amidst bad weather and very low visibility, he takes a risk and makes a 'blind landing' of the plane. An aviation inquiry is then launched against him for allegedly endangering the lives of the passengers, which is led by Amitabh Bachchan (as Narayan Vedanta). 9. 'Flight' In the 2012 Hollywood film 'Flight', Denzel Washington played the role of pilot Whip Whitaker. After a serious technical fault in the plane, he makes an emergency landing. His decisions and accident are then investigated. 10. 'Air Force One' The 1997 Hollywood film 'Air Force One' was a political action thriller. The film was directed by the famous German director Wolfgang Petersen. In the story of the film, President Marshall is returning to the United States from Moscow, Russia. In the meantime, his official plane 'Air Force One' is hijacked by Russian neo-nationalist terrorists. These terrorists are led by Igor Korshunov. During the hijack, the security officers try to get the President out of the plane safely. However, instead of getting out of the plane, the marshal hides there. They hide themselves in the cargo hold and start taking action against them to avoid the terrorists.