History Film / Airplane

* TheCameo: Bob Costas, Pat Sajak and Art Fleming.

* BlatantLies: ''"There is no reason to panic"''.

* RousingSpeech: Subverted. [=McCroskey=] tries giving one to Striker like in the previous film, only for Ted to point out that he's fine; it's the ship that's screwed up.
* RunningGag: "No, why don't you take care of it?"; "No, not a 'bu-', a bomb," and many more.

* TakeThat: A brilliant one at RonaldReagan.
-->'''Airport officer 1:''' "We could get [=McCroskey=]."\\

** The suicide-for-insurance bomb plot comes from the first {{Airport}} movie.

** R.O.K. is a direct parody of [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL]].

* ShoutOut. Guess what Shatner's character sees through the periscope?

* TheJorEl: Striker's treated this way in the first half of the film, as his warnings about the shuttle's safety problems (based on being the test pilot) go unheeded.

-->"Mommy, why is that woman [[TheGodFather in bed with a horse]]?"

* ActorAllusion: A short segment parodying Peter Graves' role in MissionImpossible.

* ForTheEvulz: Johnny thought it funny to turn off the runway lights for a moment.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Randy belting out "River of Jordan" while the heart transplant patient's mother is desperately trying to revive her. May qualify as NightmareFuel for parents, although the ambulance scene at the end implies she survived (at least until the OffscreenCrash).

* VideoPhone: Parodied. Someone on the moonbase turns on a screen and after some static and wavy lines appear is able to get through to William Shatner. There's a brief conversation, then Shatner opens the door in front of him to reveal that he was talking to the man through a window.

--> ''No wonder your so upset. She's lovely! [[MaleGaze Such a great figure. Supple pouting breasts. Firm thighs.]] It's a shame you don't get along.''

* AnachronismStew / StillTheEighties: News reporters still wear fedoras in 1979-1980, and a pair of nuns are seen in traditionnal garb. Most jarringly, Striker's flashbacks to what would logically be the VietnamWar include shots of ''World War I triplanes'' and even a pre-Wright-Brothers whirlygig. Justified by RuleOfFunny (and, perhaps, by the somewhat elderly median age of this movie's cast).

* AnachronismStew / StillTheEighties: News reporters still wear fedoras in 1979-1980, and a pair of nuns are seen in pre-Vatican II garb. Most jarringly, Striker's flashbacks to what would logically be the VietnamWar include shots of ''World War I triplanes'' and even a pre-Wright-Brothers whirlygig. Justified by RuleOfFunny (and, perhaps, by the somewhat elderly median age of this movie's cast).

* AIIsACrapshoot: Complete with ShoutOut to ''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'' -- "What are you doing, Dave?"

* [=~Beat Still, My Heart~=]: Played for laughs as a transplant heart hops off of a table.

*** The above line was actually a running gag taken UpToEleven when LeslieNielsen said it in [[ScaryMovie Scary Movie 3]].

** Actually, the writers didn't even know they were parodying it. The similarity was only pointed out when the film was completed.

* ConvenientlyCoherentThoughts: Played for laughs in ''{{Airplane}} II''. After the Mayflower space shuttle malfunctions, someone in the space traffic control room asks "What do your people think?" The audience is briefly granted the power of {{Telepathy}} so we can hear the controllers' thoughts.
-->Controller #1: They're screwed.\\
Controller #2: They're dead.\\
[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Johnny]]: Did I leave the iron on?

** "What a pisser."

* SomebodyElsesProblem: The passengers are oblivious to the unconscious bodies of the pilots being dragged through the aisle, among other things.

* RidiculousFutureSequelisation: As Sonny Bono buys the bomb in the spaceport gift shop, a poster for "Rocky XXXVIII" is shown behind him.

* VisualPun: "The shit's going to hit the fan", "Okay, boys, let's take some pictures", "They've got instruments", and "We'll get him down safe" among others.

* VisualPun: "The shit's going to hit the fan," "Okay, boys, let's take some pictures," "They're on instruments," and "We'll get him down safe," among others.