| The Concorde ... Airport '79 | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | David Lowell Rich |
| Produced by | Jennings Lang |
| Written by | Jennings Lang (story) Eric Roth (screenplay) |
| Starring | Alain Delon Susan Blakely Robert Wagner |
| Music by | Lalo Schifrin |
| Cinematography | Philip H. Lathrop |
| Editing by | Dorothy Spencer |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 17, 1979 |
| Running time | 123 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | US$ 13 million |
The Concorde ... Airport '79 is a 1979 American disaster film (in the UK, it was released a year later as Airport '80: The Concorde). The film was the fourth and final installment of the Airport series. Panned by critics, the film made only US$13 million[1] at the box office.
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Kevin Harrison (Robert Wagner), an arms dealer, attempts to destroy an American-owned Concorde on its maiden flight after one of the passengers, Maggie Whelan (Susan Blakely), learns of his weapons sales to communist countries during the Cold War.
The Concorde takes off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Captain Paul Metrand (Alain Delon) makes conversation with Isabelle (Sylvia Kristel), the purser. They land at Dulles Airport.
Maggie Whalen (Blakely) recaps the arrival of the Concorde and reports on the "Goodwill" flight on the Concorde the following day, which leads to a story of future boyfriend Kevin Harrison (Wagner) and his Buzzard missile project. Carl Parker shows up at Maggie's house with a claim about documentation of illegal arms deals. Carl is shot before a passerby triggers a fire alarm, scaring the assailant away.
Capt. Joe Patroni introduces himself to Captain Metrand. The next morning, Maggie tells Harrison about her ordeal and the rumor of documents. Kevin claims someone is framing him. He sends Maggie off in a limo while he waits for his business partner Willie Halpern to arrive. Kevin tells Willie that Parker is dead, but they do not have the documents. Kevin asks what time the next launch of the Buzzard is. Willie replies 6:30; Kevin wants it delayed until 8:00 and the drone test reprogrammed.
Paul and Joe board the Concorde. It is difficult to determine the Pilot-in-Command as both of them are captains. Peter O'Neill (David Warner), the 2nd officer and flight engineer, is living with a controlling girlfriend.
Kevin surprises Maggie at the airline check-in desk to see her off. He asks if the documents showed up, but they have not. As he is walking away, Carl Parker's wife delivers the documents to Maggie as she steps on the mobile lounge. She looks them over on the lounge and realizes that Kevin lied to her.
The Concorde takes off from Washington/Dulles enroute to Paris where, unbeknownst to the flight crew, an off-course SAM is headed straight for them. At company headquarters, Kevin tells his controllers to alert the government. The USAF scrambles F-15 fighter jets to intercept the missile just as it locks onto the Concorde. An F-15 shoots down the missile before it collides with the Concorde.
As the Concorde is approaching the European coastline, an F-4 Phantom sent by Harrison engages the Concorde as French Air Force Mirages scramble to help the Concorde. The Mirages shoot down the F-4 and the Concorde continues to Paris, although to Le Bourget instead of Charles de Gaulle. The Concorde reaches the French coastline, landing with a damaged hydraulic system and just barely stopping at the last safety net. Captain Metrand and Isabelle invite Joe to dinner. Kevin arrives at de Gaulle, where an associate meets him, stating that he has another plan.
Joe, Paul and Isabelle meet for dinner with a date for Joe as promised by Paul. Maggie meets Kevin for dinner. He promises to go public with the documents but attempts to bribe Maggie into "polishing" his statement. After being paid by Kevin, a mechanic, Rollie, places a device in the Concorde's cargo door control unit, timed to open during flight.
As the passengers board the Concorde, a well-dressed woman (played by Charo) attempts to smuggle a dog aboard. She is caught by an alert Isabelle and leaves the aircraft. Inside the terminal, Rollie is in line at the security checkpoint when his money falls out of his pant leg. The x-ray technician attempts to return it, but Rollie pretends not to hear and runs off. The security guard tells his partner to call security before chases Rollie. Rollie runs onto the runway where the Concorde is taking off. The aircraft's wake scatters the money he received from Kevin.
The aircraft is en route to Moscow when the automatic device opens the cargo door. When Captain Metrand investigates, he sees the carpet tear down the middle of the aisle, signifying the fuselage is under tremendous stress and the aircraft is about to break apart. The cargo door is ripped off, extensively damaging the aircraft and ripping the floor of the cabin from the aircraft as it spirals toward the ground. The airline founder's seat lodges in the hole, acting as a plug. The pilots attempt to fly to Innsbruck for an emergency landing, but realize they do not have enough fuel. Paul realizes they are flying towards a ski area he used to go to in the Alps; they could make a gear-up landing on a mountain-side.
The aircraft approaches the landing site while the ski patrol marks a runway. The aircraft lands successfully. Maggie gives a report of the accident to a news reporter and gives details about a major story she is about to release. Kevin hears the newscast and commits suicide. At the crash site, the last of the crew leaves the aircraft shortly before fuselage caves in and explodes from leaking fuel.
The Concorde aircraft used in the film first flew on January 31, 1975, and was registered as F-WTSC to the Aérospatiale aircraft company. It would be re-registered by Aérospatiale as F-BTSC and leased to Air France in 1976. In 1989, this Concorde carried Pope John Paul II.[2] On July 25, 2000, F-BTSC would crash as Air France Flight 4590 in the small French town of Gonesse, killing all 109 passengers and crew on board, as well as 4 on the ground. At the time of the accident, F-BTSC had logged 11989 hours and 4873 cycles.[3]
When ABC aired the movie in 1982, several new scenes were added to the film:
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