Year: 1966

Important Characters: Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Rastapopoulos, Allan, Laszlo Carreidas, Mik Kanrokitoff

French Title: Vol 714 pour Sydney

In the book that began in Tintin magazine on September 27, 1966, Hergé seemed to be returning to adventure with a story that involved a hijacking, a truth serum, treachery, fights and explosions galore. But it is certainly not a traditional adventure. Hergé continues the debunking process begun in the previous stories and this time it is the villains who are the object of the parody. Rastapopoulos is the first to go in this great settling of scores, as if Hergé had long wanted to get even with this character. "When all was said and done, I realised that Allan and Rastapopoulos were pathetic figures. I discovered this after giving Rastapopoulos the attire of a de luxe cowboy; he appeared to me to be so grotesque dressed up in that manner that he ceased to impress me.", he told Numa Sadoul.

One of the most interesting features of Flight 714 is the invention of the billionaire Laszlo Carreidas, the man who never laughs, the maker of Carreidas aircraft and Sani Cola, as well as many other products. Like Wolff from the Moon adventures, Carreidas is an ambiguous character. "With Carreidas," explained the author, "I departed from the concept of good and bad. Carreidas is one of the goodies of the story. It does not matter that he is not an attractive personality. He is a cheat by nature. Look at the discussion between him and Rastapopoulos when, under the truth serum, they both boast of their worst misdeeds.....A good example for small children: the rich and respected man, who gives a lot to charity, and the bandit in the same boat!....That's not very moral."

But in these attempts at reform, Hergé was destroying the very foundations which he had created. His approach had considerable repercussions on The Adventures of Tintin. This self-destructive tendency, already obvious in Flight 714 was to become very explicit in Tintin and the Picaros. After The Castafiore Emerald, Hergé's world begins to crumble.

Toward the end of the story, we meet Mik Kanrokitoff, who is in telepathic contact with other beings. Hergé's interest in parapsychology had been known for some time, and at the end of the story he questions the existence of extra-terrestrial beings. However, he avoids being too fantastic. While he allows a flying saucer to appear, he does not show its occupants. The only trace we are left with is the small piece of metal which Calculus finds in his pocket.