Aside from being one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, the timeless classic Die Hard 2 also features some of the closest depictions of air traffic control yet committed to celluloid
The story of how a terrorist group manages to commandeer an entire airport on Christmas Eve, while a man in a big jumper crawls through the baggage handling system to stop them, is a tale for the ages.
But how close is it to real life? Has any controller ever been told to “stack ‘em, pack ‘em and rack ‘em?” Can you change sea level on the Instrument Landing System from an old church? What really sets off the airport metal detectors first? And most importantly, is Die Hard really a Christmas movie?
These questions and many more will the focus of our Altitude Christmas Special: Die Hard 2: Myth-busting a Christmas Classic
Join NATS Heathrow air traffic controllers and Die Hard mega fans, Ady Dolan and Chris Jones alongside commercial airline pilot, Lyndsay McGregor, as we unpick fact from glorious fiction.
Yippee ki yay air traffickers.
