Airport (1970)

Burt Lancaster: Mel Bakersfeld

Photos 

Quotes 

• Mel Bakersfeld : Joe, this is Mel. There's no more time. Stop all engines and get out. Repeat. Stop all engines.

  Cockpit qualified young man : Mr. Patroni, she won't take much more.

  Joe Patroni : Well anyway, she's gonna get it.

  Mel Bakersfeld : Joe, the plows are moving. Shut down and hold on! Joe Patroni! Do you read me? Acknowledge!

  Mel Bakersfeld : Joe! Shut down!

  Cockpit qualified young man : Mr. Patroni? Don't you hear him? Shut down.

  Joe Patroni : I can't hear a thing. There's too much noise. Hold on. We're GOIN FOR BROKE!

  Cockpit qualified young man : [after the plane gets out of the ditch]  The instruction book said that was impossible.

  Joe Patroni : That's one nice thing about the 707. It can do everything BUT read.

  [throws his chewed and soggy cigar over his shoulder] 

• Capt. Vernon Demerest : Sitting behind that desk made you think like a bookkeeper.

  Mel Bakersfeld : I didn't always fly a desk.

  Capt. Vernon Demerest : Well all right, Daddy. Now you tell me about when you were a war hero. You flew those pursuit jobs you could land in a parking lot. But when I'm setting down over 200,000 pounds of 707, I want something under my wheels that's plenty long and mighty dry.

• [discussing the effects of the bomb on a 707] 

  Joe Patroni : The sudden decompression at 30, 000 feet is something you gotta see to believe.

  Tanya Livingston : He'll get sucked out, won't he?

  Joe Patroni : So will anyone sittin' next to him. Until that pressure equalizes, everything within 20 feet to him that's not nailed down or strapped in is gonna get sucked right out of that hole.

  Bert Weatherby : Is it that powerful, are you sure?

  Joe Patroni : Humph! Yeah, I'm sure. When I was a mechanic in the Air Force, I was being transferred on a MATS plane, At 20,000 feet, one of the windows shattered. The guy sitting next to it was about 170 pounds. He went through that little space like a hunk of hamburger going down a disposal, and right after him coats, pillows, blankets, cups, saucers. Yeah, I'm sure!

  Mel Bakersfeld : Takes about 3 seconds, doesn't it?

  Joe Patroni : 3, 4 or 5, depends on the size of the hole. Everything fogs up just like that.

  [snaps fingers] 

  Joe Patroni : And THEN watch out! At that altitude, you can't breathe. So unless they get on oxygen in 45 seconds, it's good-bye!

• Tanya Livingston : Perhaps Mr. Bakersfeld could impress upon Mrs. Quonsett that this isn't a very nice thing to do. Mrs. Livingston hasn't been able to!

  Mel Bakersfeld : [timidly]  Yes, uh... Mrs., uh... Quonsett? Uh, what you've done is, uh... dishonest. You've broken the law. You've defrauded Trans Global.

  [Mrs. Quonsett smiles and keeps nodding] 

  Mel Bakersfeld : Don't you realize they could prosecute you?

  Ada Quonsett : But they wouldn't, would they? I don't think it would be very good public relations for a big airline to prosecute a little old lady just because she wanted to visit her daughter!

• Joe Patroni : Well, let's put it *this* way- You promised me a box of cigars if I pull this off, right?

  Mel Bakersfeld : Yeh-uh

  Joe Patroni : Well, whataya standin' *there* for? Go GET 'em!

• Mel Bakersfeld : They're having a conference now to decide what to do. But I need somebody who knows. A genius. Like Patroni.

• [an elderly woman walks by carrying her luggage] 

  Capt. Vernon Demerest : Hey, now, that's a good idea, Mel. Using little old ladies for skycaps. You keep that up. You're doing a good job.

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : [after Vernon leaves]  For my sake, be patient with him.

  Mel Bakersfeld : How you can live with that overage juvenile delinquent, I'll never know.

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : There's just the two of us. If I left him, what would I have?

  Mel Bakersfeld : Would you have any more if he decided to leave you?

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : He won't. The moment a girl gets too serious, he waves his wedding ring like a flag. I'm his disaster insurance.

  Mel Bakersfeld : More like group insurance!

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : Thanks for caring, Mel. Don't worry. Someday he'll come home for some other reason than to just change his clothes.

  Mel Bakersfeld : Well, I hope so.

• Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : Mel, for my sake, be patient with him.

  Mel Bakersfeld : How you can live with that overage juvenile delinquent I'll never know.

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : There's just the two of us. If I left him what would I have?

  Mel Bakersfeld : Would you have any more if he decided to leave you?

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : He won't. The moment a girl gets too serious he waves his wedding ring like a flag. I'm his disaster insurance.

  Mel Bakersfeld : More like group insurance.

  Sarah Bakersfeld Demerest : Thanks for caring Mel. Don't worry. Someday he'll come home for some other reason than to just change his clothes.

  Mel Bakersfeld : Well, I hope so.

• Cindy Bakersfeld : And we don't have a home anymore. We have a waiting room. A place where I can walk the floor and wonder whether you're going to leave this damn airport long enough to drop by for a few minutes.

  Mel Bakersfeld : Why you have to pick tonight, to come out here and fight with me...

  Cindy Bakersfeld : I came out here to tell you that Roberta left home.

  Mel Bakersfeld : I suppose I'm like a lot of men. A bigamist. Married to both a woman and a job.

  Cindy Bakersfeld : And I can't be number 2 wife any longer.

• Lincoln Tower : Mobil 1. Ground Control.

  Mel Bakersfeld : Yes Doug. This is Mel.

  Lincoln Tower : Cleveland just handed off flight two to Chicago Center. The transmissions from the aircraft aren't exactly regulation. The captain's blowing a fuse.

  Mel Bakersfeld : I'd like to monitor. What's the frequency?

  Lincoln Tower : 117.1.

  Capt. Vernon Demerest : We need answers! Not questions. Are you guys sleeping down there? Why aren't we getting any action? We need help!

  Chicago Center : Global 2. This is the Chicago Center watch supervisor. Please understand we're doing everything we can. We're holding other traffic and giving you priority. What type of approach do you wish?

  Capt. Vernon Demerest : Chicago Supervisor listen carefully! Any approach is no damn good if it lands on runway 2-2. We need 2-niner. We've got an unservicable stabilizer trim. Doubtful rudder control and structural damage. If we're brought in on 2-2 there'll be a broken airplane and a lot of dead people. So you call Lincoln, mister, and turn the screws and tell that Lincoln airport manager to get off his penguin butt and clear that runway!

  Mel Bakersfeld : Snowdesk, Mobil 1. Danny, listen carefully. Break the conga line. Send the heavy plows across to runway 2-niner. They're to head for stuck airplane and to wait instruction.

• Mel Bakersfeld : Don't talk to me about consequences! When Congress voted to cut airport appropriations, you never even sent in a letter of protest. And where were you when the airlines and the pilots and the rest of us were... were pleading for... for more airports and better traffic control? You were picking out the colors in the ladies' lounge. So now you've got your consequences!

• Mel Bakersfeld : If you're wondering if we had another fight, the answer is no. Just a continuation of the same one.

• Capt. Vernon Demerest : You better get this thing out of here 'cause I'm not taking off on 2-2.

  Mel Bakersfeld : You'll use what's available!

  Capt. Vernon Demerest : Well, if it's 2-2, I'm not using noise abatement and I'm not cutting back on power over those houses. So unless you want a big fat bill for cracked plaster and broken dishes, you'd better move this thing!

• Mel Bakersfeld : Joe, my neck's out about fourteen feet, sure it'll work?