Dominic

Dominic

Background

Dominic Santini owns Santini Air which he runs out of Van Nuys Airport and has a commercial pilot license for helicopters. He is a veteran of World War II and served alongside Stringfellow Hawke's father. Dominic is fluent in Italian. He had a friend named Milo when he was young. In the 1960's he was sent to train Cuban nationals in preparation for the invasion of Cuba.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 1-2 Shadow of the Hawke played by Ernest Borgnine

On the set of a movie, Dominic is arguing with Blaze and tells Mitch-Director that he won't let Blaze fly Dominic's helicopter by himself. Dominic and Hawke are fired from the movie set when Hawke embarrasses Blaze and Hawke tells Dominic he was offered a job with the FIRM. He asks Dominic to help him and to fly into Libya. Dominic and Hawke make plans for Libya and he takes Hawke to the Valley of the Gods and shows him a place inside of a mesa, where he can hide a large object. Dominic flies into Libya and Hawke and Dominic enter an airbase posing as Mirabelle Oil workers. They bluff their way past Libyan Officer #1 posing as Italians and see Airwolf. They steal the flight suits and helmets of Chuck Gordon and Co-Pilot-Mark and as they are walking to Airwolf, they are stopped by Major Kamal. Dominic gets into Airwolf, while Major Kamal orders Hawke to lift his visor. Hawke and Dominic use Airwolf to escape after killing a group of Libyan soldiers including Libyan Officer #1. They see tracks in the desert and are spotted by Dr. Moffet who drives in his jeep away. They find Gabrielle and land and Hawke runs to her. They get back into Airwolf and chase after Dr. Moffet. Dr. Moffet thinks Airwolf has been shot down by a missile and drives towards the explosion. Hawke then fires a missile at him, killing Dr. Moffet who pointed his revolver at the fuel intake. Dominic drops off Hawke and then flies away.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 3 Daddy's Gone a Hunt'n played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic and Hawke fly Airwolf to try and learn more of its capabilities. He is recruited by Hawke and Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, code name Archangel to help identify a pilot that is planning on giving the Soviets a top secret plane. He goes undercover as a janitor at the airbase and is asked by Hawke to gather information on Nhi Truong. Hawke tells him to get Airwolf ready and Dominic pops smoke to let Maj. Sam Roper know where to land to drop off Hawke. They go to get Airwolf and then fly into Soviet territory. They attack a Soviet radar site and Dominic goes inside to get Ho Minh Truong. They then return back to the United States.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 4 Bite of the Jackal played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic invites Hawke to come with him to Acapulco to make a delivery to Queenie May Shapiro, but Hawke declines. He leaves and eventually flies in one of his helicopters. As he is flying he sees a hand grabbing for his sandwich and finds Phoebe Danner stowed away in his chopper. She tells him she wanted to go to Acapulco to meet her father and then smoke starts to come from the engine. Dominic crash lands the helicopter and is knocked unconscious. He is woken up by Phoebe and they jump out of the helicopter. After he secures the helicopter and Phoebe brings him a tire that fell off, they see two helicopters on the horizon and Dominic fires a flare. The helicopters shoot at them and Mitchell Bruck tells them that they must stay within a perimeter he has made or they will be shot. They see Hawke trying to save them, but he is forced to fly off after Airwolf is hit with a rocket. At night, Phoebe asks Dominic if he thinks they will be shot and then she shows him a photo of her parents and a dress she plans on wearing when she meets her father. Dominic repairs the engine of his helicopter and tells Phoebe his plan of escape. Airwolf returns and after blowing up Mitchell's helicopter and the other helicopter, Dominic and Phoebe leave in his helicopter. They return to Hawke's cabin and Phoebe tells Dominic she is afraid to meet her father in case he doesn't like her. Phoebe runs to meet her father and Laura Archer tells him how much it cost the FIRM to find Phoebe's father.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 5 Proof Through the Night played by Ernest Borgnine

Hawke tells Dominic the plan to rescue Vladimir Rostoff and his family Natalya and Tanya Rostoff without weapons, which Dominic doesn't like. They fly Airwolf into Europe and refuel on Tanker Plane Pilot's plane over the Baltic. They arrive at Vladimir's farm and land. Hawke follows Vladimir into his cabin, and Vladimir tells him they have to pick up his family in a different location, where he has also left the vial with the biological weapon he stole. They fly to Kirivitz and land Airwolf some distance away from the house where Tanya, Natalya and her brother, Ivan Turgyev are staying. They walk towards the house, but stop so Dominic can check inside where he finds 1st Russian Soldier and another soldier with Ivan and Vladimir's family. They wait until the morning when 1st Russian Soldier and the other soldier leave. They then go inside and Vladimir tells his family he is a spy for the Americans and they are leaving to America. A helicopter arrives and yells at Hawke who had run outside to get the vial back from Ivan. Dominic shoots at the helicopter and Hawke is able to run back inside. He then leaves again to get Airwolf, while Dominic stays with the family. Hawke returns to the house and uses the speed of Airwolf to cause the helicopter and a Soviet army vehicle to crash. He then picks up Vladimir and his family and they return to Hawke's cabin. Dominic has a dinner with Hawke, Archangel, Marella and Vladimir and his family while Dominic mentions the Russian food his friend's mom used to make.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 6 One Way Express played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic asks Hawke to help him perform a stunt for a movie, but Hawke tells Dominic he thinks Dominic is too old to perform the stunt, which angers Dominic. Dominic meets with Simon Sayes and Phillip Maurice and promises that if he can't perform the stunt then he will pay the films production costs. Hawke goes to Dominic and tells him he will help him if he does the stunt instead of Dominic, but Dominic gets angry again and tells Hawke to leave. Simon tells Dominic that Hawke has taken his job as the stunt pilot and Dominic goes to Hawke's cabin and punches him for stealing his job. Hawke refuses to fight back and Dominic leaves. Hawke goes to Dominic's air pad and asks him to fly Airwolf while he flies the stunt helicopter. Dominic gets into Airwolf and flies it towards the stunt location. He sees Hawke flagging him down and then lands. They then fly towards where Vinnie and Phillip were flying. Hawke forces Vinnie to land and when Vinnie tries to escape, Hawke fires Airwolf's guns at him. Hawke then blows up the stunt helicopter and contacts Archangel. Later at his cabin, Hawke and Dominic saw a log together

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 7 Echoes from the Past played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic goes to the location where the helicopter he lent to Hawke was found. Archangel tells him the helicopter was found without any damage and then motions him inside of a building. Marella and Archangel tell him that an East Berlin spy ring was seen entering the United States and they think it may have something to do with Hawke's disappearance. Archangel then asks Dominic where Airwolf is hidden, but Dominic refuses to tell him. Dominic goes to Airwolf and hides inside. After Hawke flies Airwolf into the plane being used by the spy ring, Dominic sneaks outside and points a gun at "Saint John", while Hawke takes away the gun from Nurse Frida Simmons. After putting them in straight jackets, they leave in Airwolf with Susan Hill. They fly Airwolf away and avoid being blown up by MiG's while also causing the plane to be hit by a missile. Dominic then flies Archangel and Marella to Hawke's cabin.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 8 Fight Like a Dove played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic and Hawke test the maximum altitude of Airwolf and after reaching 86,000 feet, they return to their base. Hawke senses someone is also inside the base and orders Sarah Lebow to step out. She introduces herself and tells them she wants to use Airwolf to help her get justice against Helmut Kruger who murdered her father Harry "Dove" Lebow. After Hawke initially refuses, she offers to help him find Saint John. Dominic and Hawke decide to help Sarah and he, Hawke and Sarah leave in Airwolf. Dominic and the others arrive at the Kruger Estate after noticing that their scanners are jammed and they see Archangel standing next to Kruger. They then fly off and land. Sarah angrily tells Hawke that he is giving Kruger time to prepare, but Dominic tells her Archangel has a plan. Hawke is called by Archangel and then they fly Airwolf to rendezvous with Archangel. Dominic detects a pair of F-4 Phantoms heading their way and Hawke uses Airwolf to shoot them out of the sky. Dominic and Hawke then return where Archangel and Sarah are and Archangel explains to all of them that he sold the Thor weapons system to Kruger so that the nations that bought them wouldn't buy from the Russians. He then explains how there is a device that can be used to cause the missiles to self destruct. Dominic and Hawke leave to get Kruger, and Archangel tells them that he doesn't have the device on him. They attack Kruger's estate and Kruger has Minter fire the Thor missiles at Airwolf. They manage to destroy three of the missiles and use the fourth missile to blow up the balcony Kruger and Minter are standing on. Kruger survives and Sarah arrives and points her weapon at him. She then shoots Kruger in the earlobe. Back at Hawke's cabin, Dominic, Hawke and Marella wonder how Archangel was wounded in the earlobe. Sarah then tells them a sniper shot at them.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 9 Mad Over Miami played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic uses his helicopter's radio to navigate to Cuba. He arrives in Cuba and gives Colonel Fernandez a briefcase full of two million dollars in exchange for two prisoners. A helicopter suddenly appears and starts shooting at everyone. A crew member on the helicopter then grabs the briefcase of money and it flies away. Colonel Fernandez accuses Dominic of being in on it with the helicopter crew and demands three million for the prisoners. As Dominic is flying away, he needs to quickly land his helicopter due to the helicopter's fuel tank being ruptured. He is sitting in a bar when Hawke walks in. Dominic tells him he was bringing money to Cuba to exchange for prisoners that he trained and who fought in the Bay of Pigs incident. As they are talking, Stella Rivera and two men walk into the bar and she points a weapon at Hawke and Dominic. She takes them to her grandfather Ivan Rivera's house and Dominic tells Ivan he was double crossed. Dominic and Hawke fly Airwolf to Sanchez's camp. Sanchez fires a heat seeking missile at Airwolf and they attack Sanchez's camp. Sanchez and his men surrender and Hawke asks him where he got the money for the weapons. Sanchez then shows Hawke a phone with a direct line to Archangel. Archangel and Marella arrive and tell Hawke that they were training Sanchez and his men to fight Communists. Hawke then threatens to tell the newspapers that the FIRM is funding criminals unless Archangel gives him three million dollars and Archangel agrees. Dominic and Hawke return to Ivan's house and Stella tells them that only Cubans will deliver the money this time. Hawke then threatens to withhold the money unless Dominic goes and Ivan agrees. Dominic and Stella then fly to Cuba. They give Colonel Fernandez the money, but he decides to double cross them. They are saved when Hawke arrives in Airwolf and he escorts them back to Florida. At a bar in Florida, Dominic buys Hawke a drink.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 10 And They Are Us played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic and HAwke are briefed by Archangel and Marella on the situation in Limbawe, Africa. Before they can finish, Hawke tells them he is not interested in helping them, but then they show him a slide of Colonel Vidor, who was Hawke's commanding officer in Vietnam and who was shot down in the same location as Saint John. Dominic and Hawke fly to North Limbawe and land Airwolf near President Seko Logana and Lea Logana. Seko dismissively asks how much Dominic and Hawke are being paid, and Dominic angrily tells him it is not costing him anything. He rides with Lea in her jeep back to camp, while Hawke takes Seko in Airwolf. He and Hawke go the the camp of General Ali Butami and Hawke tells Colonel Vidor that he wants to work as a mercenary for General Butami. Dominic is standing next to Airwolf when Butami and a Sniper that attempted to shoot President Seko hold him at gunpoint and bring him into Butami's office. Dominic and Hawke manage to fight off Vidor, Butami and the Sniper. As they are leaving, Vidor tells Hawke he will have to fight him and to take Harold Ngomo with them. Seko's base is suddenly attacked by Vidor and Lt. Reed in their helicopter and Lea is injured. Dominic and Hawke get into Airwolf and chase after Vidor and Reed. They fall into their trap, but they shoot all but Vidor and Reed's helicopter out of the sky. They then destroy the missile silo in South Limbawe. Vidor flies his helicopter towards Airwolf and tells Hawke he knows the location of Saint John, before purposely crashing his helicopter into the ground. At Hawke's cabin, Archangel tells Hawke, Vidor was lying and didn't know where Saint John is. He then gives him Bo-Dai's helmet Lea gave him to give to Hawke and Hawke makes a toast to those who survived and those who didn't.

During the events of Airwolf: Season 1 Episode 11 Mind of the Machine played by Ernest Borgnine

Dominic and Hawke are flying Airwolf in some canyons when Hawke complains the controls feel mushy. Dominic warns him to pull up and Airwolf crashes. Archangel opens the door and Dominic tells Dr. Robert Winchester he almost forgot it was a simulation. Dominic then is shown how the simulation works by Diana Norris. While Dominic and Hawke are getting Airwolf ready to fly, Dominic tells Hawke it is important to leave something behind and how great it would be to have future generations wondering who this Hawke and Dominic are that they are competing against in the simulator. They return to the lab and a telemetry pod is placed in Airwolf's nose. At their camp, Dominic tells Hawke he shouldn't take the tests so personally after Hawke gets upset when Diana and Winchester tell them their score for the day and then they compete on who can make the best coyote sound. During a simulation competition between Hawke and Winchester, the security alarms go off and Winchester tells Hawke to leave with Airwolf. As Dominic and Hawke take Airwolf to the sky, they shoot at Alexi Provov and his men, who are assaulting the lab. The next day Archangel shuts down the project due to the security breach. Dominic and Hawke land Airwolf next to Archangel and Marella's limo and they are able to identify Alexi from some photos they show them. As they are flying away, Archangel asks them for help and tells them Diana and Alexi stole tapes with information on Airwolf's specifications. They fly back and order Alexi to land his helicopter. Alexi starts firing at Airwolf and Dominic tells Hawke their weapons are off line. Archangel calls Hawke and tells him to stop using the computer and Hawke and Dominic manually use the weapons to shoot Alexi's helicopter out of the sky. They then return to pick up the wounded Winchester to bring him to the hospital. Hawke notices Winchester grabbing for the controls and Hawke lets him fly Airwolf until Winchester succumbs to his wound.