Airport 1975

***Airport 1975*** is a 1974 American air disaster film.

## Plot

Columbia Airlines Flight 409 is a Boeing 747-100 on a red-eye route from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. Scott Freeman, meanwhile, is a businessman flying his private Beechcraft Baron to an urgent sales meeting in Boise, Idaho. However, an occluded front has the entire West Coast of the United States socked in, with Los Angeles reporting zero visibility. Columbia 409 and Freeman's Beechcraft are diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport.

Salt Lake air traffic control assigns Columbia 409 to land ahead of Freeman's Beechcraft. As Columbia 409 is about to start its descent, First Officer Urias unlocks himself from his seat to check out a vibration. Just then, Freeman suffers a heart attack and unknowingly descends into the approach of Columbia 409. The Beechcraft slams into Columbia 409 just above the co-pilot seat, blowing Urias out of the plane to his death, destroying most of the Flight Engineer's panel and fatally injuring Flight Engineer Julio. Captain Stacy is struck in the face by debris and is blinded. Nancy Pryor, the First Stewardess, rushes to the flight deck, to find Flight Engineer Julio dead, First Officer Urias gone and Captain Stacy injured. Although severely injured and blinded, he is still alive. Using the last of his strength, Captain Stacy is able to engage the autopilot and the altitude hold switch before losing consciousness.

Pryor informs the Salt Lake control tower that the crew is dead or badly injured and that there is no one to fly the plane. She gives an assessment of the damage as a large hole on the right side of the flight deck that destroyed most of the instrument gauges over the engineer station. Joe Patroni, Columbia's Vice President of Operations, is apprised of Columbia 409's situation. He seeks the advice of Captain Al Murdock, Columbia's chief flight instructor, who also happens to be Nancy Pryor's boyfriend, even though their relationship was "on the rocks" at that time.

Patroni and Murdock take the airline's executive jet to Salt Lake. En route, they communicate with Pryor, learning that the autopilot is keeping the aircraft in level flight, but it is inoperable for turns. The jet is heading into the Wasatch Mountains, so Murdock starts to guide Pryor by radio on how to perform the turn when radio communications are interrupted and the Salt Lake tower is unable to restore contact.

Unable to turn, leaking fuel and dodging the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, an air-to-air rescue attempt is undertaken from an HH-53 helicopter flown by the US Air Force Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. While a replacement pilot is preparing to be released on a tether from the helicopter to Columbia 409, Captain Stacy is able to give a cryptic clue regarding the decrease in airspeed during a climb in altitude. Pryor realizes that she must accelerate to be able to climb over the mountain and successfully does so. After Columbia 409 has leveled off, the replacement pilot is released towards the stricken airliner. Just as Pryor is helping him in, the release cord from his harness becomes caught in the jagged metal surrounding the hole in the cockpit. As he climbs in, his harness is released from the tether and he falls from the aircraft.

The only other person on the helicopter who can land a 747 is Captain Murdock. He is tethered to the helicopter, lowered to the jet and successfully enters it through the hole in the cockpit. He then lands the plane safely at Salt Lake City International Airport. However, when he does land he is forced to taxi the plane around the airport as it does not stop right away. The flight attendants successfully conduct an emergency evacuation of the passengers via the inflatable slides as Pryor and Murdock reconcile.

## Cast

* Charlton Heston as Capt. Alan Murdock
* Karen Black as Chief-Stewardess Nancy Pryor
* George Kennedy as Joe Patroni
* Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Captain Stacy
* Gloria Swanson as herself
* Susan Clark as Helen Patroni
* Helen Reddy as Sister Ruth
* Linda Blair as Janice Abbott
* Dana Andrews as Scott Freeman
* Myrna Loy as Mrs. Devaney
* Sid Caesar as Barney
* Roy Thinnes as First Officer Urias
* Ed Nelson as Maj. Alexander
* Nancy Olson as Mrs. Abbott
* Larry Storch as Glenn Purcell
* Martha Scott as Sister Beatrice
* Norman Fell as Bill
* Jerry Stiller as Sam
* Conrad Janis as Arnie
* Beverly Garland as Mrs. Freeman
* Augusta Summerland as Winnie
* Jim Plunkett as himself
* Guy Stockwell as Col. Moss
* Erik Estrada as Flight Engineer Julio
* Christopher Norris as Stewardess Bette
* Irene Tsu as Stewardess Carol
* Alan Fudge as Salt Lake ATC Danton
* Laurette Spang as Stewardess Arlene
* Sharon Gless as Stewardess Sharon
* Aldine King as Stewardess Aldine
* Kip Niven as Lt. Thatcher
* Austin Stoker as Air Force Sgt.