To avoid copyright infringement lawsuits, Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker bought the rights to "Zero Hour!"

Striker is seen driving a taxi to the airport. A customer gets into his cab and Striker leaves him there with the meter on. The man is shown to still be waiting after the movie's credits.

The only inappropriate question that Captain Oveur doesn't ask Joey is if he's been to a Turkish bath house, but he does ask if he's been to a Turkish prison.

Jim's wife remarks that he never has a second cup of coffee or vomits at home, referencing a Yuban coffee commercial from the '70s.

McCroskey mentions throughout the film that he picked the wrong week to quit smoking, drinking, taking amphetamines and sniffing glue.

When McCroskey asks what the expression "mayday" means, Johnny says it's the Russian New Year.

During the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams's appearance on "Late Night," it was revealed that David Letterman auditioned for a role in the film.

Barbara Billingsley, who starred as June Cleaver on the hit series "Leave it to Beaver," played "Jive Lady" in the movie.

The dummy is named Otto, a pun on "automatic pilot."

William Shatner appeared in the sequel, "Airplane II: The Sequel," but not the first film.

Striker's flashbacks cause three of the passengers to literally become bored to death, while none of the other options are technically shown on screen (the stock footage crashes don't count).