FINAL APPROACH

by Peter Griffiths ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 3, 1978

Slice-of-life melodrama about the flaming lives of stewardesses and pilots aboard a British VC-10 on a charter flight to the Far East. The captain, Hugh Scott-Kirkwood, is well over the hill after nearly 30 years as a pilot, and his reflexes are fading fast. What's more, he's a snob and refuses to admit his shortcomings. Copilot Gus is a drunk, getting drunker from Singapore to Delhi to Hong Kong. The chief steward's a homosexual, the flight engineer's very young, and senior stewardess Annette (known as ""Hotpants"") is a raving nymphomaniac in full bloom and a star piece of gossip throughout Eagle Charters. Nothing much happens until the last chapter: the crew lands at each port and drinks its way through musical beds. Aloft, the reader faces endless printouts of the pedantry of flight, a padding that in no way makes up for the plot shortages. Then come three attempts to land in a monsoon at Hong Kong, with the copilot wresting command from Scott-Kirkwood. Some lively chatter, but a dull and choppy flight.

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION