AIRPORT '77

'''Airport '77''' is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise. The film is generally considered the best of the sequels due to the quality of the writing and acting, even if the technical feasibility of the ditching and subsequent submersion of a fully pressurised 747 might be questioned. The film starred a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, ''Airport '77'' was a box office hit earning US$30 million [1] but marked the series' progression into increasingly unlikely plots.

Contents

Plot

Cast

Trivia

Sequel

References

External links

Plot

A privately owned luxury Boeing 747, Stevens' Flight 23 (call sign two-three sierra heavy) complete with piano bar, office, and bedroom, is used to ferry invited guests to an estate owned by wealthy philanthropist Philip Stevens (James Stewart). Valuable artwork of the Stevens' private collection is also onboard the jetliner, to be eventually displayed in his new museum. Such a collection motivates a group of thieves led by co-pilot Bob Chambers (Robert Foxworth) to hijack the aircraft in the hopes of landing it on an abandoned airfield on St. George Island.
Once pilot Don Gallagher leaves the cockpit, the hijackers' plans go into motion. A sleeping gas is released into the cabin and the passengers lose consciousness. Knocking out the flight engineer, Chambers puts the plan in motion, and Stevens' Flight 23 "disappears" into the Bermuda Triangle. Descending to virtual wave-top altitude, Flight 23 heads into a fog bank, reducing visibility to less than a mile. Minutes later, a large offshore drilling platform emerges from the haze, Flight 23 heading straight for it at close to 600 knots.
Chambers pulls back on the stick in a banking left turn but the Number 4 engine clips the derrick, causing the engine to catch fire. Chambers immediately hits the fire extinguishing button and flames are momentarily extinguished. However, because the aircraft was at such a low altitude, the sudden loss of airspeed threatened to stall the airplane. As the engine reignited, Chambers was forced to use another fire-suppression bottle. But by this time, the aircraft stall alarm went off and was not recoverable. The aircraft impacted the water and eventually came to a halt, then beginning to slip beneath the waves.
The ocean bottom was fortunately above the crush-depth of the fuselage, many of the passengers injured with some seriously. Two of the 'would-be' thieves were killed in the initial crash. (Monte Markham) was killed in the hold securing the art for the transfer when a cargo container caused a breach of the outer skin, for the compartment flooded and (Markham) was drowned. The second fatality was (Michael Pataki) who was on the flight deck with Chambers who was killed when he was slammed into the flight panel on impact.
Since the aircraft was off course, search and rescue efforts were focused in the wrong area. Involved in these efforts is Phillip Stevens and of course the ubiquitous Joe Patroni (George Kennedy, who was in all Airport movies). The only way to signal rescue efforts to the proper region is to get a signal buoy to the surface in a small dingy. Captain Gallagher and diver Martin Wallace (Christopher Lee) are able to release the dingy but an unexpected failure of the hatch drowns Wallace and Gallagher is barely able to get to the surface and activate the beacon. Getting a fix on the new signal, an S-3 Viking overflies the crash site, confirming the location of Flight 23.
The navy then dispatches a sub-recovery ship, the USS Cayuga (LST-1186) with a flotilla of other vessels. The aircraft was ringed with balloons and once inflated, the aircraft rose from the bottom of the seafloor. Once on the surface, the passengers were evacuated. First Officer Chambers was killed on the way up when he was pinned under a sofa. With the survivors on their way to waiting ships, Captain Gallagher and the head stewardess (Brenda Vacarro) were the last to evacuate from the aircraft as it slipped under the waves for the last time.

Cast

★ Jack Lemmon ''as'' Capt. Don Gallagher

★ Lee Grant ''as'' Karen Wallace

★ Brenda Vaccaro ''as'' Eve Clayton

★ Joseph Cotten ''as'' Nicholas St. Downs, III

★ Olivia de Havilland ''as'' Emily Livingston

★ James Stewart ''as'' Philip Stevens

★ Darren McGavin ''as'' Stan Buchek

★ Christopher Lee ''as'' Martin Wallace

★ Robert Foxworth ''as'' Chambers

★ George Kennedy ''as'' Joe Patroni

★ Kathleen Quinlan ''as'' Julie

★ Monte Markham ''as'' Banker

★ Gil Gerard ''as'' Frank Powers

★ James Booth ''as'' Ralph Crawford

★ Monica Lewis ''as'' Anne

★ Pamela Bellwood ''as'' Lisa Stevens

★ Arlene Golonka ''as'' Mrs. Stern

★ M. Emmet Walsh ''as'' Dr. Williams

Trivia

★ Footage of ''Airport '77'' was used in an episode of the television program ''Airwolf''. ^[1]

Sequel

★ ''The Concorde ... Airport '79''

References

1. Flight #093 Is Missing (''Airwolf'', Season #2, Episode #21, Nov. 17, 1984)

External links

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