SST: Death Flight
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | David Lowell Rich |
| Produced by | Ron Roth |
| Written by | Robert L. Joseph (Teleplay) Meyer Dolinsky (Teleplay) Guerdon Trueblood (Story) |
| Starring |
Lorne Greene Peter Graves Susan Strasberg Doug McClure Barbara Anderson Bert Convy Burgess Meredith Tina Louise Robert Reed Billy Crystal John de Lancie |
| Music by | John Cacavas |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Pembroke J. Herring |
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Production
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| Distributed by | American Broadcasting Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
SST Death Flight (aka SST: Disaster in the Sky, Flight of the Maiden and Death Flight) is a 1977 made-for-television film, directed by David Lowell Rich. Produced by ABC Circle Films, the film featured an all-star ensemble television cast. SST Death Flight capitalized on the popularity of 1970s aircraft disaster films, this time with a crippled supersonic transport (SST) aircraft that is refused permission to land due to the threat of spreading a deadly strain of influenza.
David Lowell Rich who went on to direct The Concorde ... Airport '79, was the most successful director to exploit the disaster formula in both television and film. Dating back to The Horror at 37,000 Feet, a television movie made for CBS Television in 1973, the "popular Airport-style brand of group-jeopardy epic was exploited by Rich more than any other filmmaker."
On the flight of Maiden 1, the first American supersonic transport, Captain Jim Walsh (Robert Reed) is the assigned pilot on an attempt to set a world speed record from New York to Paris. The flight crew includes the navigator (Robert Ito), stewardess Mae (Tina Louise) and steward (Billy Crystal). The select group on the ceremonial first flight include passengers and executives. On board is Willy Basset (Burgess Meredith), the designer of the SST, Tim Vernon (Bert Convy), the Cutlass Airlines head of publicity who is having an affair with "Miss SST" Angela Garland (Misty Rowe), the model who is the public face of the new aircraft. Hank Fairbanks (Doug McClure), an ex-pilot who now works for an airline group in South America as an aircraft buyer, accompanies the other VIPs, and wants to renew an earlier romance with Mae.
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Wikipedia