As Wednesday’s trade deadline approaches, Mets fans might want to borrow Leslie Nielsen’s line from the classic movie “Airplane,” when an inexperienced pilot is charged with landing the jetliner.

Three times, Nielsen — who plays a doctor on board — opens the cockpit door and blurts out “Good luck, we’re all counting on you.”

In this case, Mets fans are Nielsen, begging general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to get it right. All that hangs in the balance is the organization’s future as the GM considers trading Noah Syndergaard, in particular.

As The Post’s Joel Sherman reported Friday, Van Wagenen is working hard to trade Syndergaard, with the Braves, Padres and Astros among the teams that are most heavily involved.

If Van Wagenen had shown proficiency in piloting the plane last offseason, the Mets likely wouldn’t be in the position of listening to offers for a top asset such as Syndergaard. But Van Wagenen’s awful winter in large part has left the Mets dead in the NL East and searching for paths to significant improvement.

Simply put, if the GM is going to trade Syndergaard he can’t mess up again. He has to get this one right.

Van Wagenen’s blockbuster trade that sent prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn (along with Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak and Gerson Bautista) to the Mariners last winter for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz was billed as a move that would help the Mets win immediately and in the future. But Van Wagenen may have crippled both causes by acquiring an underperforming 36-year-old second baseman, who is under contract through 2023 and a closer who still hasn’t shown he can handle the stress that comes with pitching in New York (although Diaz is now a trade option).

Van Wagenen should realize he doesn’t have to force a deal involving Syndergaard if it’s not there. Unlike Zack Wheeler, who can head to free agency after the season, Syndergaard remains under club control through 2021.

“If you trade Syndergaard you probably aren’t competing for the playoffs next season,” a major league executive said.

Whether that statement is true or not could hinge upon team COO Jeff Wilpon having the stomach to let Van Wagenen pursue a free agent such as Gerrit Cole for next season’s rotation. The Mets’ practice in the past decade of only giving big contracts to their own players (David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Jacob deGrom) suggests they will avoid pursuing Cole.

The executive said the Mets should revisit history with Syndergaard and orchestrate the kind of “two-plus for one” deal that brought the right-hander to the team. In that trade, the Mets sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto after the 2012 season and acquired catcher Travis d’Arnaud, Syndergaard and then-prospect Wuilmer Becerra as the principals (John Buck was a Toronto salary dump to help offset Dickey’s contract).

Syndergaard was the only arrival in the trade who thrived with the Mets, but it was enough to make it a good deal for both sides.

Wheeler, who returned from the injured list to pitch respectably Friday against the Pirates — he allowed three earned runs over 5 ¹/₃ innings in his team’s 6-3 victory — isn’t going to bring a huge return, but the Mets have to decide if what they would receive in a potential trade for the right-hander outweighs the draft-pick compensation they would get if he is extended a qualifying offer and then departs.

“He’s been a heck of a pitcher for us, and I hope he continues to be,” manager Mickey Callaway said.

A team official noted the Mets’ success drafting players in recent years (think Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and Michael Conforto, among others) has outweighed the organization’s proficiency in trades, so going the draft-pick route for Wheeler might be preferable.

Either way, Wheeler isn’t going to yield the kind of pieces needed to retool the organization following the deal that sent Kelenic and Dunn to the Mariners last winter. Syndergaard can bring those pieces. But Van Wagenen also has to be savvy enough to walk away if a deal isn’t there.

Enter Leslie Nielsen, speaking for Mets fans to Van Wagenen in the cockpit: “Good luck, we’re all counting on you.”