Banacek (TV Series) Fly Me- If You Can Find Me (1974) User Reviews

Jumbo Jet Disappears

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 November 2015]

How do you make a jumbo jet disappear? That's the question that Thomas Banacek has to answer if he is to collect his usual fee.

On its way back from Los Angeles with only the crew on board an airline jet develops trouble. It sets down in a small airport and the crew heads off to a motel with one staying behind to watch the airplane. In the morning the plane has vanished and the crewman is found shot to death.

Now there's a puzzle, thousands of square miles of desert and a jumbo jet is not easy to hide.

I have to say I had the how figured out fairly early, maybe even earlier than George Peppard did. The why is something else and I won't reveal. But it has to do with a feud between two former partners, Jack Kelly who owns the airline that the plane is one of and Sterling Hayden the crippled multi-millionaire who owns nearly all the land around the location of the disappearance. Both Kelly and Hayden turn in some stunning performances.

In today's world....not too far fetched!

[TheMaxMachine · 9/10 · 8 December 2023]

I really enjoyed this episode. It will be tough for Banacek to collect his fee for this one. How do you hide a large passenger airline in the dessert? Not really spoiling anything as it's already written the in the synopsis.

George Peppard, as usual, plays his part too a tee but.... Victoria Principal is terrific in this episode. (Not to mention she looks great).

Excellent chemistry in this show. It's really too bad Banacek didn't run for a few more seasons. There were a few weaker episodes but I pretty much enjoyed the entire series...

....many, many years after it aired. Highly recommended.

The Missing Plane

[AaronCapenBanner · 8/10 · 2 March 2016]

Thomas Banacek(George Peppard) is called in on a seemingly bizarre, perplexing case involving a charter jetliner that runs into trouble over the Nevada desert at night that makes a forced landing with six blown tires on an airstrip in a small town named Hangston that somehow goes missing the following morning! One of the three pilots who stayed behind to watch the plane is found dead, and the man who drove the other two pilots away that night also goes missing. Sterling Hayden plays a wealthy landowner named Tony Fowler who is the chief suspect, though there are others, including Victoria Principal as an alluring stewardess. Where did the plane go? Entertaining mystery creates a good atmosphere leading to the surprise twist ending. One of the best from this brief series.

Victoria Principal Steals The Show

[angelsunchained · 9/10 · 26 March 2022]

Sort of an off-beat episode about a missing plane. Forget the plane, a gorgeous and witty Victoria Principal plays a "gold-digger" with a heart of gold. She could act and had great on screen chemistry with everyone in the episode.

It's hard to believe the logistics in this one.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 24 January 2021]

A charter airliner has an emergency when two of its four engines go out in mid-flight. Although they could potentially land in Las Vegas, there's an ex-Air Force runway much closer, so they land it there instead. The place is practically deserted and the airliner barely manages to land...blowing its tires in the process.

The next day, the crew returns to find that the DC-8 is gone....and the crew member they left behind with the aircraft has been murdered. Banacek soon arrives to find out what happened to the plane. After all, it seems impossible for the plane to have been repaired and flown away so quickly.

Guest stars in this episode are Sterling Hayden and Victoria Principal. Both are a bit hard to recognize at first, as Hayden sports a huge beard and Principal's hair is black, not the usual red.

So is this a good episode? Well, it's enjoyable but far from the best in the series. It has one glaring bad chiche....the guy who asks Banacek to meet him because he has important information about the crime....only to have Banacek show up and find him dead! Additionally, the crime itself is simply too difficult logistically to believe. See the film...see what I said about this. Still, it is entertaining.