Dominic Santini

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Dominic Santini is a fictional character on the U.S. television series Airwolf, which ran from 1984 to 1987. Veteran actor Ernest Borgnine portrayed the character during the series' first three seasons.

Santini is of Italian-American descent, and was born and raised on the fictional Caribbean Island nation of San Remo. His wife Lila, from whom Santini had been long estranged, was murdered by San Remo's criminal element during the Season Two Airwolf episode "Sins of the Past." Dominic and Lila had a daughter, Sally Ann, but Sally Ann died of a drug overdose shortly before the beginning of the same episode. Santini's other known relatives include his younger brother Tony Santini and Tony's daughter (Dominic's niece) Jo Santini, who becomes an important supporting character on the series during its fourth and final season. Dominic also has another niece, Holly Mathews, who suffers from a delusional emotional illness and nearly causes a disaster for her uncle and his friends during the episode "The Truth About Holly."

Santini is a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, serving as a combat aviator for the U.S. Army in both conflicts. During his wartime experiences, Santini becomes a good friend of fellow American military aviator Alan B. Hawke. After Hawke and his wife are killed in a boating accident, Santini takes it upon himself to raise the Hawkes' two young sons, Saint John Hawke and Stringfellow Hawke, to manhood. A gruff, but loving father figure, Santini teaches both Hawke brothers the art of flying, and both grow up to become excellent aviators under his tutelage.

After Saint John goes missing in action during the Vietnam War, Santini and Stringfellow dedicate themselves to the operation of Santini Air, a Van Nuys, California-based air charter service founded and owned by Santini that specializes in performing aerial stunts for Hollywood film productions. As Santini Air's chief proprietor, Dominic was known for his willingness to take on even the most difficult flying stunts and for being very budget-minded.

In 1984, Santini helps Stringfellow to recover the high-tech espionage helicopter Airwolf from Libya, where the sophisticated aircraft had been taken by its insane creator Doctor Charles Henry Moffet to serve the needs of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Over the next two and a half years, Santini would serve as flight engineer on Airwolf, with Stringfellow as pilot and aircraft commander. When necessary, Santini would also occasionally take Hawke's place as Airwolf's pilot and aircraft commander. On such occasions, the flight engineer's duties would be transferred to Caitlin O'Shaunessy, a former Texas Highway Patrol officer whom Santini and Stringfellow had befriended and whom Santini had hired as an employee for Santini Air.

Santini and Hawke would fly Airwolf on a number of national security missions in cooperation with the government intelligence agency known as the Firm, which had supplied funding for Airwolf's construction. Santini and Hawke would also periodically use Airwolf to help friends and innocent people in dire peril, to conduct humanitarian missions, to aid in scientific research, and to correct injustices. Santini has great admiration and fondness for the elegant and sleek espionage aircraft, which he affectionately dubs "the Lady" and to which he often speaks as if the machine were alive.

In 1987, Dominic is killed in a helicopter explosion that also severely injures Stringfellow Hawke. This explosion was caused not by an accident, but by an act of sabotage by Santini and Hawke's enemies.

After Dominic's death, his niece Jo becomes the new chief proprietor of Santini Air. Following the rescue of Saint John Hawke from Southeast Asia, Jo also takes her late uncle's place as an Airwolf crew member, as does Saint John for his wounded brother Stringfellow.