“Airport” (1970) Starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Lloyd Nolan. Directed by George Seaton. Written by George Seaton, based on the novel by Arthur Hailey. The film credited with instigating the disaster movie trend of the early 70’s, Seaton’s film actually takes it’s model from the soap opera, with the dialogue advancing plot exposition rather than exploring character. The “all-star” cast is an interesting mix of genuine stars, fading screen personalities and eclectic hangers-on and the whole film is approached with the earnestness of an industrial instructional short which should minimize dramatic interest, but strangely makes the blatant hokum far more appealing than it has a right to be. Oddly, the least sympathetic characters in the roster are the ones chosen for possible doom and it’s more a credit to the sturdy conventions of the genre than to filmmaking cleverness that the film manages to maintain a moderate level of suspense.
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CHANDLER SWAIN REVIEWS 
In 1970, I had never flown on a plane. (That came late for me, in 1975) I did go to see this though, seduced by the casting. I thought it was awful, and further put me off flying. By the time I had arranged to fly abroad, they released the sequel, ‘Airport 75’, and I imagined a trip to Tunisia on a plane that was populated by a bunch of neurotics, and likely to crash.
Best wishes, Pete.
This was the first of the 70’s “disaster” flicks that included “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno” – and of course the “Airport” sequel, “Airport 1975” – with the legendary line “The Stewardess is Flying The Plane!” – here is a great book that looks at all 70’s cinema like this! – https://johnrieber.com/2018/05/16/the-stewardess-is-flying-the-plane-why-i-love-70s-cinema-the-decades-biggest-hellraisers/