Flight 714
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Flight 714 (originally Vol 714 pour Sydney) is one of a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero.
Flight 714 is the twenty-second in the series.
An active island volcano and friendly aliens figure in the plot. Indeed, the story does appear to have been influenced by the "ancient astronauts" literature in mode at the time. In addition Laszlo Carreidas, a business and aircraft tycoon who refuses to shake hands ("it is extremely unhygienic," he says) brings to mind Howard Hughes.
Storyline
Tintin and crew happen upon their old friend Skut, who is now the chief pilot for eccentric millionare Laszlo Carreidas, while changing flights in Jakarta on their way to Sydney.
Unable to politely refuse Carreidas's offer of a ride on his prototype private jet, Tintin and friends are thrown into a devious plot to steal the millionare's fortune by the evil Rastapopoulos.
Hergé's error
Hergé made an error when drawing the story. It was only meant to be 62 pages long, but when he finished, it was found to be 64 pages long. Two pages were removed. The two omitted pages were meant to have appeared toward the end of the story, and covered the rescue of Tintin's group from an erupting volcano.
The omission meant that the reader now sees a cliffhanger. At the bottom of one page a seaplane-set reporter watching the raft holding Tintin's group exclaims (in the English translation), "They'll be boiled alive like lobsters! We've got to do something." On the next page ("Thousands of miles away, several days later"), the story switches to Jolyon Wagg's living room as his family watches a TV interview of Tintin and associates.
Template:Tintin booksfr:Vol 714 pour Sydney id:Penerbangan 714 sv:Plan 714 till Sydney