Oceanic Airlines

Oceanic Airlines.

Oceanic airliner in episode Lockdown.

Logo circled in red in the DeGroot bookcase.

The logo on the tail section of Flight 815.

Oceanic Airlines is the fictional airline that operated Flight 815 which crashed on the island. In Lost, the Oceanic Airlines logo has 18 dots spread around concentric circles, creating a total of 4 circles. According to Oceanic Airlines's website, it has ceased operations as a result of financial difficulties due to the crash. Oceanic Airlines was founded in 1974.

Oceanic Airlines also appeared in the 2003 thriller "Code 11-14", which featured a terrorist and serial killer onboard flight 816 (Sydney-LA), nearly causing a crash of the plane by reprogramming the autopilot. Another appearance of Oceanic Airlines is in "Executive Decision"from 1996. In this movie, terrorists are on board Oceanic flight 343 from Greece to the US.

Oceanic Airlines on the Internet

• While most links on the Oceanic site lead to a 404 message, the link for "Island Insider" is active, and leads to a message from the writing team. The message indicates a coming weekly knowledge test, which would, upon completion, open up the opportunity for exclusive messages directly from the writing team. No further information is available at this time.
• There is one link still working, but you have to type it manually (I got this by looking at the page source) the seating chart.
  • So far, being an "Island Insider" hasn't produced any of said messages directly from the writing team.
  • The picture at the top of the site looks a lot like the Raft from season 1.

• On the Island Insider page, blue links go to a dead-end 404 page, but clicking the center paragraph produces a pop-up window with multiple-choice trivia. On May 27, 2006, it reads:

• "What does Kate use to try and open the dynamite crate?" Choices are "crowbar," "human femur," "a pick ax," and "Swiss army knife."
• Choose "a pick ax" to see an ABC sign-up form for "a special email list to receive communications directly from the LOST writing team."

• Oceanic Airlines television commercial broadcast on-air during Season One. (right-click and then "Save Target As" to save this clip to your hard drive)

• note: due to the odd manner in which this clip was originally encoded, it will only play in Microsoft Media Player on the PC)

Employees

• Michael Orteig, President of Oceanic Airlines
• Chrissy, ticket agent
• JD, Flight Attendant
• Michelle, Flight Attendant
• Cindy Chandler, Flight Attendant
• The Pilot of Flight 815
• (Ticket Agent #1 in Exodus Part 3, played by Wendy Braun)
• (Ticket Agent #2 in Exodus Part 3, played by Suzanne Turner)
• (Gate Agent in Exodus Part 3, played by Mary Ann Teheny)
• (Gemma & Hunter-- see Theories)

Hidden messages on the site

• If anyone should find this message, please get word I'm alive and stranded on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. Please send help soon. Things are bad. And they're getting worse... SALLY
• I survived a horrific plane crash and am stranded on an island somewhere Northeast of Australia and Southwest of Hawaii. In the event that I am never found, please forward word of my fate to my parents. - This message is unsigned but the sourcecode states the sectionname is "Robert".

This message only seems to become visible if you mouse over the last paragraph of the "All Flights Cancelled" message.

• There are three hidden images on the front page of the Oceanic Airlines site:
  • Claire's plane ticket
  • Two sketches Michael drew for Walt while in the hospital.
  • More sketches by Michael, with a postcard.
• The hidden images can be seen via one of two ways:
  • The fun way - On the front page, in the "Quick Search", enter THE for your departure city and BOY for the destination. Click "Find". Note the black plume of smoke on the image of the island at the top of the page becomes animated. You thought it was a palm tree, didn't you? Also note that the edge of an image has become visible under the announcement from Oceanic. Mouse over it until you see a drag icon (cross with arrowed ends) and drag it to the left. You can now drag it around to see the whole thing. Refresh and repeat until you've seen all three images.
  • The lame, but easier and clearer way - Disallow style sheets in your browser (Google it), and load the page. You'll see one of the three images at the bottom of the page, along with the secret messages from survivors. Refresh until you've seen all three.
  • The easiest way is to follow these links: [1] [2] [3]

The actual image names on the website are obfuscated in the following way:

1. A javascript array is created and populated with a scrambled alphabet plus a period(".").

2. Another script concatenates elements of the array to form the three image filenames.

The result is that the images are available to the webpage but never appear in plaintext in the source code, an elementary form of encryption.

Clicking on the The_Numbers along the bottom row produces a video.

Theories

• Several characters have remarked on how unlikely it is that so many people survived the plane crash with such minor injuries.
• At this point, the crash was most likely caused by Desmond when he followed Kelvin Inman to his boat and neglected to push the button, causing a 'SYSTEM FAILURE'.
• There is reason to believe the Others expected them. Oceanic Airlines could be involved with the DHARMA Initiative and the Others, thus intentionally crashing on the island.
• The oxygen masks could have been used to knock out the passengers. While Kate at least witnessed the breaking up of the plane, she, like most of the other survivors, put on an oxygen mask shortly thereafter. (Jack is a notable exception — he blacked out — but notice that he woke up in the jungle instead of on the beach.)
• Cindy disappeared right before the Tailies rejoined the rest of the group. She was with them on the way up the hill, but was gone when they got to the top. Such a discreet disappearance would be plausible if she were one of the Others.
• Much speculation has gone into why the Monster killed the pilot. If Oceanic deliberately crashed the plane, there seem to be two possibilities: either the monster is more hostile towards the Others (perhaps it can, in fact, sense "badness"), or the pilot isn't really dead.
• Oceanic, or at least some people in the airline, are linked to the DHARMA Initiative and/or The Others. In the Swan Orientation Film, the Oceanic Airlines logo can be seen in the DeGroot bookcase video

Interesting notation

• Oceanic Airlines Flight 816 appeared in the 2003 thriller Code 11-14, which featured a terrorist and serial killer onboard, causing almost a crash of the plane by reprogramming the autopilot
• Oceanic Airlines Flight 343, a Boeing 747-200, appeared in another thriller from 1996: Executive Decision
• Oceanic Airlines Flight 760, a Boeing 747-47 features in the drama series "Category 6 - Day of Destruction". The plane is struck by lightening and forced to take emergency procedures
• In episode "A Clean Conscience" of Alias, J.J. Abrams' other ABC show, when Nadia and Sydney are waiting for Sophia's plane to land in Los Angeles, a boarding call can be heard for Oceanic Airlines non-stop flight to Sydney at Gate 17. (The episode aired April 27, 2005.)

External links

• Lost-related mock-"official" site - run by ABC; incorporates a few Easter eggs.
• Oceanic Airlines mock site; same site as above with a different URL.
• Another 'unofficial official' Oceanic site
• Oceanic Flight 815 - Official LOST Website

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