The first Airport film focuses on a 12-hour period at a major airport where manager Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster) must deal with a powerful blizzard, a blocked runway and a mentally disabled passenger (Van Heflin) carrying a bomb. The sequel features Charlton Heston as Alan Murdock, an air traffic controller who tries to save a doomed 747 after the pilot of a private plane (Dana Andrews) has a heart attack and crashes into the 747's cockpit.