Mickey S . Michaels As an employee of Paramount Pictures , Michael ( Mickey ) Simpson Michaels was the set decorator on and s first season . He shared an Emmy Award nomination with production designer Herman Zimmerman and art director Randy McIlvain in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Series for DS9 ' s pilot episode , . Michaels previously received an Emmy nomination in Outstanding Art Direction for his work on another popular science fiction series , " Battlestar Galactica " . He shared this nomination with fellow set decorator Lowell Chambers and art director John E . Chilberg II , who later worked on . Michaels began his career as the set decorator on the 1970 film " Airport " , which featured the likes of Michael Bell , Whit Bissell , William Boyett , and Celia Lovsky . He earned an Academy Award nomination in Best Art Direction - Set Decoration for his work on this film and would return for all three sequels : " Airport 1975 " ( 1974 , featuring Irene Tsu ) , " Airport ' 77 " ( 1977 , featuring Robert Foxworth , Robert Hooks , Charles Macauley , and Michael Pataki ) , and " The Concorde . . . Airport ' 79 " ( 1979 , featuring Ed Begley , Jr . , Nicholas Coster , Robin Gammell , and David Warner ) . He received his second and last Academy Award nomination for " Airport ' 77 " . From 1972 through 1974 , Michaels was the primary set decorator on the television series " Emergency ! " His later set decoration credits include two 1980s " Police Story " TV movies – 1987 ' s " The Freeway Killings " , which featured Marc Alaimo and James B . Sikking , and 1988 ' s " The Watch Commander " , featuring David Graf , Gregg Henry , Roy Jenson , Carlos Lacamara , and cinematography by Gayne Rescher – and the feature films " Raise the Titanic " ( 1980 , featuring Paul Carr , Michael Ensign , Charles Macauley , Stewart Moss , Michael Pataki , Mark L . Taylor , and cinematography by Matthew F . Leonetti ) , " The Pursuit of D . B . Cooper " ( 1981 , featuring Nicholas Coster and cinematography by Charles F . Wheeler ) , " Warning sign " ( 1985 , starring Jerry Hardin and Keith Szarabajka ) , and " Hot to Trot " ( 1988 , starring Virginia Madsen and Jim Metzler ) . Michaels was contracted to Paramount Pictures for five years , from 1989 through 1994 . During this time , he worked on " Star Trek VI " and " DS9 " as well as the hit films " The Hunt for Red October " ( 1990 , featuring Daniel Davis , Boris Lee Krutonog , and Gates McFadden ) , " Flight of the Intruder " ( 1991 , under production designer Jack T . Collis ) , " The Naked Gun 2½ : The Smell of Fear " ( 1991 , featuring John Fleck ) , and " Clear and Present Danger " ( 1994 , featuring Vaughn Armstrong , Reg E . Cathey , Raymond Cruz , Elizabeth Dennehy , Ellen Geer , Aaron Lustig , and Harris Yulin , with music by James Horner ) . After leaving Paramount , Michael worked on two submarine movies : the 1995 thriller " Crimson Tide " ( featuring Scott Grimes ) and the 1996 comedy " Down Periscope " ( starring Kelsey Grammer ) . Two of the submarine movies on which Michaels worked – " The Hunt for Red October " and " Crimson Tide " – featured art direction by set decorator Dianne Wager and art director Donald B . Woodruff . Hailing from Santa Monica , California , Michaels died of natural causes in Los Angeles in 1999 .