Air America

A young pilot finds himself recruited into a covert and corrupt CIA airlift organization operating in Vietnam War Era Laos.

• Director: Roger Spottiswoode
• Genre:Action / Comedy
• Runtime:113 minutes

Cast

Mel Gibson : Gene Ryack
Robert Downey Jr.: Billy Covington
Nancy Travis : Corinne Landreaux
Ken Jenkins : Major Donald Lemond
David Marshall Grant : Rob Diehl

In late 1969, Billy Covington (Downey) works as a helicopter traffic pilot for a Los Angeles radio station, and loses his pilot’s licence after breaking FAA regulations. His piloting skills, bravery and disregard for the law are noticed by a mysterious stranger, who tells Billy that he can get his licence back if he accepts a job in Laos working for a “strictly civilian” company called Air America; the stranger insists that “there is no war in Laos, you can take that to the bank”.

Billy, unemployed and unable to find work, takes the job and flies to Laos. By the end of his first day in Laos, he learns that fellow Air America pilot Gene Ryack (Gibson) is an arms merchant who uses official flights to buy black-market weapons for his private cache. His dream, which he refers to as his “retirement plan,” is to make a sale big enough so that he can afford to quit his job at Air America.

The next day, Senator Davenport (Lane Smith) arrives in Laos on a “fact finding mission” to determine if Washington D.C rumors are true about Air America’s drug smuggling business. Major Lemond and Rob Diehl, CIA leaders of Air America, have a cover-up in place. Senator Davenport is shown around refugee camps, shrines & temples, and major cities in a careful deception to keep him out of the loop. At the same time, Billy and Jack Neely are shot down in their C-123 cargo plane while airdropping livestock into rural villages. Air America stages a large rescue effort, which turns out to be nothing but a cover for the transport of opium; when General Soong’s plane arrives at the crash site, his soldiers load the plane with bags of opium, but leave Billy and Jack behind, stranding them in hostile territory. As Communist forces move in, Gene and another pilot arrive. Billy’s crew evacuates in the other plane while he boards Gene’s helicopter. Read more

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