 In the opening scene of the movie, the camera sweeps across a series  of newspaper clippings showcasing Dirk Pitts accomplishments. If  you watch closely youll see two articles of note. One is an article  about the raising of the Titanic. This is in reference to the  Clive Cussler (qv) novel "Raise the Titanic" where Dirk Pitt  brings the ship up (it was written several years before the real  Titanic was found to be shattered beyond reach on the bottom of the  ocean). The second article is about the discovery of the Oiseau  Blanc. This plane was of French origin and was attempting to be the  first plane to make a non