night Guentro (VAN HEFLIN). whose many failures in life have turned him into a dangerous psychotic, decides to relieve his tortured ego in one grandiose gesture. He buys a ticket to Rome, on TGA's Flight 2, an accident insurance policy of $150,000 for his wife, lnez (MAUREEN STAPLETON). He carries a homemade bomb in an attache case and plans to blow up the plane once it is over water.
Warned about Guerrero and the bomb, Demerest, Gwen and Mrs. Ada Quonsett (HELEN HAVES), a little old lady stowaway, attempt to disarm him and the bomb explodes. Guerrero is killed, Gwen is seriously injured and a six-foot hole is blown in the back of the plane.
Demerest and Harris manage to bring the crippled jet back to Lincoln International Airport safely and land scant seconds after Patroni has successfully taxied the mired jet clear of the runway.


BUILD COMPLETE INTERIOR OF BOEING 707 ON STUDIO STAGE FOR SCENES IN Airport

Universal's awesome mock-up of a complete Boeing 707 interior, stretching 145 feet from its authentic flight deck along 110 seats to the tail section, became the five-week "off ice" of actors and actresses on a weird flight to nowhere.
Under the direction of George Seaton, they were portraying passengers enroute to Rome for some climactic scenes in Ross Hunter's Technicolor and Todd-AO production of the best-seller, Airport.
At the controls were Dean Martin and Barry Nelson. Attending the passengers as stewardesses were Jacqueline Bisset, Ena Hartman, Malila Saint Duval, Sharon Harvey and a real-life stewardess turned actress, Patty Poulsen. Among the passengers were such notables as Helen Hayes and Van Heflin.
"We tried to create an atmosphere of a jetliner in flight as much as was possible within the confines of a film studio sound stage," producer Hunter said. "Every one of our passengers was given an individual biographical sketch so they knew why they were on this jet flight."


Cast

Mel Bakersteld ....................... BURT LANCASTER
Vernon Demerest ....................... DEAN MARTIN
Tanya Livingston ....................... JEAN SEBEAG
Gwen Meighen ....................... JACQUELINE BISSET
Patroni ....................... GEORGE KENNEDY
Ada Quonsett ....................... HELEN HAYES
D.O. ....................... Guerrero ....................... VAN HEFLIN
Inez Guerrero ....................... MAUREEN STAPLETON
Lt. Anson Harris ....................... BARRY NELSON
Cindy ....................... DANA WYNTER
Harry Standish ....................... LLOYD NOLAN
Sarah ....................... BARBARA HALE


Crew

Produced by ....................... ROSS HUNTER
Written and Directed by .................. GEORGE SEATON
From the Novel by ....................... ARTHUR HAlLEY
Associate Producer ....................... JACQUE MAPES
Director of Photography ................ ERNEST LASZLO, A.S.C.
Art Directors ....................... ALEXANDER GOLITZEN and E. PRESTON AMES
Set Decorations ....................... JACK O. MOORE, MICKEY S. MICHAELS
Unit Production Manager ................. RAYMOND GOSNELL
Assistant Director ................... DONALD ROBERTS
Film Editor ...................... STUART GILMORE
Sound ....................... WALOON O. WATSON, DAVID H. MORIARTY, RONALD PIERCE
Make-Up ....................... BUD WESTMORE
Hair Stylist ....................... LARRY GERMAIN
Costumes Designed by ....................... EDITH HEAD
Music Composed and Conducted by ....................... ALFRED NEWMAN

A UNIVERSAL - ROSS HUNTER PICTURE.
Color by TECHNICOLOR
Produced in TODD-AO, Developed by The American Optical Company and Magna