The original Airport film premiered in 1970, launching a decade of disaster films- with exploding buildings, sinking ships, falling bridges and natural disasters of all kinds. The people of the 1970's seemingly couldn't get enough disaster films, encouraging the major studios to make them by the dozens. By the end of the decade, however, disaster films became as passé as polyester, disco dancing and Charo.
Hootchie cootchie, remember me?
But Charo's appearance in the final Airport film isn't the curse we're talking about, however. Sadly, two of the airplanes used in the franchise were involved in deadly accidents. The Boeing 707 used in the first film found itself in Brazil, being used by TransBrasil as a cargo plane. In 1989 the plane crashed as a result of pilot error, crashing 2 kilometers from the airport, killing 25 people and injuring 100.
The final film in the series- Airport '79: The Concorde was the one that ended Universal's golden franchise. The film was so bad that Universal Studios tried to salvage things by marketing the film as a comedy after its disastrous first weekend. The film's original tag line was "Fasten Your Seatbelts- The Thrills Are Terrific!" This was changed to "Fasten Your Seatbelts- The Thrills Are Terrific... And So Are The Laughs!" in the film's second week. This change was made after unintentional laughter greeted the film in its first weekend. And how could anyone not laugh when viewing ridiculous scenes like this one, in which George Kennedy opens a window on a still flying Concorde to fire off a flare gun?
Science?!? Who needs science?!?
Sadly, the Concorde used in the film was also involved in a crash in 2000. This time, it was a higher profile accident in France. Operated by Air France, the plane crashed in the town of Gonesse, France, killing 113 people and ending the use of the Concorde.
