Airport 1970

This film was based on the novel by Arthur Hailey. With considerable attention to the details of day-to-day airport and airline operations, the plot of the movie concerns the response to both a paralyzing snowstorm and to an attempt to blow up an airliner. Demolition expert D.O. Guerrero (Van Heflin), down on his luck, purchases a life insurance policy with the intent to commit suicide by blowing up an Rome-bound Boeing 707 Intercontinental jet from a snowbound Chicago airport. He plans to do this while he is on board, using an improvised bomb, while the plane is over the Atlantic Ocean. Guerrero does this in the hope that his wife will benefit from the insurance money. The explosion causes explosive decompression but only Guerrero is sucked out of the plane. The plane returns to Chicago where it makes a successful emergency landing – all while the airport is suffering from the snowstorm.

The film is characterized by ensemble acting in which many different personal stories interact, and by the emphasis on the decisions which must be made minute-by-minute by the airport staff, particularly Joe Patroni, and the pilots, to ensure the safe operation of the air flights in conditions of extreme weather and air sabotage.

The majority of the filming was done at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. A display in the terminal, along with stills from the field and from the film itself told the story thus: "Minnesota's legendary winters attracted Hollywood here in 1969, when portions of the film Airport were shot in the terminal and on the field. The weather remained stubbornly clear, however, forcing the director to use plastic 'snow' to create the appropriate effect."

The film won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Helen Hayes), and was also nominated for Best Picture.