Movies & TV Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for movie and TV enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
In Cast Away (2000), Chuck is flying west towards Malaysia, hits a storm, then crashes.
Chuck finds a bunch of packages that seem to be headed for the US, the main angel wing package is for Texas.
Why is a plane heading towards the other side of the world with a package for Texas?
As far as I remember we never actually see any to or from addresses on any of the packages so it's anyone's guess where they were headed. That said, I should point out the flaw in your conclusion that the angel wing package was destined for Texas. The angel wing lady lives in Texas and that is her logo. So the package bearing her logo is not being sent to her, but from her to some unknown destination. Chuck is simply returning the package to her because he wants to tell her how the logo inspired him to try and return home.
EDIT: I'm adding Moo's point from the comments since it is a very good one. The plane was headed from the US to somewhere overseas. It doesn't make sense that a package being sent to Texas would leave Boston (or wherever they are) and head to Malaysia if it was destined for Texas.
I wondered about this for awhile and then found the third draft of the script which explains this. In this version, the package that is sent to Russia is not returned. The package leaving on the plane that will crash is a new package, sent by the lady in Texas, but not to Russia. After Tom's character is rescued, he consults with FedEx to see who should receive it. The lady's husband's account is traced. Russia is next to last address, but last address is Kuala Lumpur, which explains why the package in on this plane. His current address is unknown, so they decide to return it to the sender address in Texas. The revised script kept this storyline but did not explain it well.
To answer the question of the packages and the package from Texas in particular: Most of the packages do not have much importance, but the one from Texas is the vital one. Our hero does not open this package but the scriptwriters' blog and notes explain that this package contained all the necessary survival items he could have used to survive, such as a water purifier, flint for making fire etc. Ironic, the meaning in life being we humans often miss the most important things we need in life because of our own bad choices.
The lady's package from Texas gets delivered to her husband in Russia at the beginning of the movie. The husband is wearing a cowboy hat and is obviously having an affair (his lover being the lady standing beside him at the door when he receives the package from his wife from Texas)... and saying "It's from my wife". So it's hinted that it was returned to sender, although there is no actual scene depicting it being sent back to the sender.
Tom Hanks' character then returns to America from Russia, does some more business, says goodbye to his wife, saying "I'll be back soon", then leaves America the second time and has the fateful plane crash with the returned package from the Texan husband on the plane with him. That part of the script is a little ambiguous and is not shown or explained properly, and is easily missed if the viewer is not watching intently. I think that part is a scriptwriters' mistake and should have had more credence in the script.
Anyhow, that particular package from the lady in Texas is now with him on the island, and hence becomes his reason to survive and return it back to Texas. Although why it is being returned back to America when the plane had already landed back in America from Russia and then left with him on the plane is the biggest mistake in the film and is often missed altogether. If you watch the beginning of the film intently, you will see that this is correct.
