The visual effects were supervised by Albert Whitlock most famous for his skill as a matte painter. There are a number of those in evidence in this movie along with some spectacular miniature work both large and surprisingly small.
The opening shot is entirely a matte painting with a model 747 in motion across the frame.
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| The original opening shot matte painting photographed when it came up for auction. |
All of the night time flying shots are done with a small model kit plane manipulated in front of rear projected backgrounds (possibly painted) and painted foreground cloud elements. In some shots the foreground clouds look like dimensional cotton wool elements that have been matted into the shot and you can clearly make out the matte lines around them.
When the aircraft interacts directly with water both above the surface and below a large scale model was used. The crash into the sea and the underwater miniature shots are all very well done. The pictures below show the large 747 model under construction. The miniature sequences were under the supervision of Cleo E. Baker.
One of the large scale engine pods was rigged for a fire and extinguisher effect.
I saw this movie in the cinema as a teenager. I found the drama a little turgid but the miniature action more than made up for it.
Source: Fortune Magazine November 1976
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