Whisky Romeo Zulu
Synopsis: An airline pilot becomes increasingly worried about the poor maintenance of the planes he and his fellow pilots fly every day, facing a corrupt management that tries to silence him down. Based on the true story of the Argentine airline LAPA.
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Review
Whisky Romeo Zulu is the code name of the LAPA Airlines passenger plane that caught fire during take off from Buenos Aires in 1999, becoming one of the worst aviation catastrophes in Argentina. This film provides a look at how LAPA airlines operated in those days from the point of view of one of their pilots.
The story tells of a corrupt airline management who tries to cut expenses by skipping necessary repair work on the planes, with the silent complicity of the maintenance crew and most of the pilots. One of the pilots becomes increasingly concerned about the state of the planes he flies, but his complains are ignored by his superiors. He will later go to the media with his story, and eventually resign to his job, tired of receiving unfair treatment from management and his peers due to being considered a whistle blower. It was just a few weeks after his resignation that the accident of the plane that gives title to this movie occurred, finally triggering an official investigation of the airline operating practices.
What is interesting about this film is that director and lead actor Enrique Piñeyro plays himself in it, as he is the real life former LAPA pilot who tried to alert the airline management and the media of the poor maintenance practices of the company. The film also includes a romantic sub-story of the encounter of this pilot with his school girlfriend, now an airline security business woman. Acting is very good, and the story is told in a way that keeps the viewer interested in what will happen next.
©2008 by Miguel Grinberg
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