Trivia

Kim Basinger's debut with scene actions.

Of the three flight crew on Flight 401, Second Officer Donald Repo's name was fictionalized as "Dominic Cimoli" and First Officer Bert Stockstill's was more thinly disguised as "Bert Stockwell". Captain Robert Loft's real name was used, despite (or perhaps because of) his family suing John G. Fuller, author of the original book, and losing in court. Eastern Airlines was also thinly disguised as "American Southeastern Airlines".

Not all the exterior/in flight shots are of an L-1011. Some of the shots used are actually darkened shots of Boeing 727s in flight. The difference is that on a 727, the rear tail assembly features wings above the fuselage and all 3 engines are located in proximity. On an L-1011, the two main engines are on the front wings and the tail engine is above the rear cabin but the rear wings are level with the front wings.

The prediction by the ghost of Dom Cimoli, "There will never be another crash of an L-1011", held true as of the release of this movie five years after the crash of Flight 401, and for over seven years beyond that until the crash of a Delta Airlines L-1011 in August 1985, while landing during a wind shear. There were over a dozen of other incidents of fires, crash-landings or explosions over those years and after, a few involving hijackings.

Based on a book that claimed to have been a true story. However, it has since emerged that almost no equipment from Flight 401 was salvaged for use in other planes, and no airline personnel ever admitted to having seen the ghost. (In the book, it's claimed that all personnel "spoke under the condition of anonymity" making their stories impossible to verify one way or the other.) Even retired personnel, who have nothing to lose, say there were no sightings. At one point the airline considering suing the publisher, but decided against it as it would create too much publicity. It is now felt that the story is almost completely fabricated and no ghost was ever seen.