The third movie in the Airport series was titled Airport '77. Again, we have another star-studded cast. Jack Lemmon, Darrin McGavin, Christopher Lee, Brenda Vaccaro, James Stewart, and George Kennedy reprising his role as Patroni. Besides airplane disasters, the common denominator in these three films, so far, is the character of Patroni.
A wealthy philanthropist, played by James Stewart, is flying several friends to his Palm Beach mansion aboard his private Boeing 747. This private plane has everything you would want. Tables to play poker, a bar, a piano with a pianist to entertain, a fully stocked bar with bartender, shag carpet.....basically this plane would have been at home in the Playboy Mansion. The reason for this gathering of wealthy folk? The philanthropist is donating some of his art collection to a museum. An expensive reason to throw a shin dig, but hey, if you got it flaunt it.
Aboard the plane, is a group of art thieves, who believe the black market is better served by these paintings than some little old stuffy museum. The plan is to have the pilot called to the back and knocked unconscious. Sleeping gas is then doused into the plane via the ventilation system. The co-pilot, who is one of the thieves, dons a gas mask and flies the plane below radar range in the Bermuda Triangle. He flies the plane at virtually wave top altitude, changing course so they can empty the bounty on a remote island before everyone comes to.
The plan is going smoothly until they fly into a fog bank. With visibility hindered, the co-pilot doesn't see the offshore drilling platform in their flight path; until it is too late. He attempts to fly around it, but a wing strikes the structure, causing an engine fire. The fire is extinguished; however, this causes a loss of airspeed and a chance the plane will stall. As the crew and passengers come to, the co-pilot is not able to regain control and SPLASH we have a water landing. The plane floats for a tad, before it sinks into the ocean.
Thankfully, the water depth is fairly shallow, about 100 feet or so. This is above the plane's crush depth. Water pressure, however, begins to compromise the fuselage. The more the fuselage becomes compromised, the plane starts to develop leaks. With the plane now about 200 miles off course and no radio capabilities, how will the remaining passengers and crew be rescued?
Although the story is fictional, the rescue method they attempt is actually used by the U.S. Navy. If you have an opportunity to view any of the Airport films, you should definitely take advantage of it. As opposed to being action heavy, these films are more character driven. We definitely get a sense as to who the main characters are and reasons to root for their rescue. Although there are a few passengers and such that you may root against surviving.
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