Mayday At 40,000 Feet (1976)

A convicted murderer (Marjoe Gortner, recycling his EARTHQUAKE performance) is being transported on a passenger airline and overcomes the Federal Marshal (Broderick Crawford) accompanying him, takes his gun and goes amok, shooting several passengers and disabling the plane's hydraulic system. Based on JET STREAM by Andrew Ferguson and directed by Robert Butler (NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER). This telefilm is an attempt to ride on the coattails of the AIRPORT movie franchise though not nearly as fun. It lacks production values and glamour and the "all star" cast is far from Star laden. The film espouses the usual cliches in the genre and the poor actors can't do much with their stereotypical parts. The one exception is Shani Wallis (OLIVER!) who brings some vigor to her flight attendant. The rest of the cast includes David Janssen as the pilot, Christopher George as the co-pilot, Jane Powell, Ray Milland, Lynda Day George, Margaret Blye and Philip Baker Hall.