David Letterman has opened up on his rather forgettable audition for the 1980 comedy, Airplane!

In a new book titled Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True History of Airplane!, the former Late Night host reflected on his terrible screen test for the role of Ted Striker, who went on to be portrayed by Robert Hays.

“I get out there, and they had set up a cockpit for the aircraft with chairs,” Letterman recounted of his audition. “I had a chair, and there was another chair where the co-pilot would be. We did the scene once, and then they came in and gave me some notes, and then we did it maybe two more times.”

David continued, “And I kept saying all along, ‘I can’t act, I can’t act, I can’t act,’ and then one of them came to me after the audition and said, ‘You’re right: you can’t act!'”

Despite what could have been a potentially embarrassing situation, the comedian recalled the experience as “good natured”.

“I just laughed my way back to the car,” he quipped.

The book, written by the filmmakers David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, will be released on 3 October.

Airplane!, a 1980 comedy, tells the story of Ted (Robert), who finds himself burdened with the responsibility of landing a plane after the crew falls ill, despite his fear of flying.

© Cover Media