Christ.
Hey.
Yeah?
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Wait a minute, slow down.
Slow down.
Hold on.
Yeah.
No, I've been up since the crack of dawn.
What tuition?
How much does it cost?
No.
No. No, no, no.
That's not true. That's not true.
You're the one that wanted him to go to private school, not me.
Well, put Knuckles on the phone.
Then tell him it's a two-way street.
I call him, he's gotta call me.
Oh, he's my son now?
Because you want him to go to...
You want a fucking tuition check.
That's great, Deana. That's great.
You call me, 7: 00 in the morning in Orlando
to shak e me down for fucking money. That's great.
Does he even want to go to the fucking school?
All right, look, just... I got a 9:00 flight.
Sit tight. I'll be in Atlanta in a minute.
And how am I a liar?
Yeah, but how does that make me a liar?
How...
All right.
All right, bye.
Was that your wife?
My ex-wife.
But you, Trina, you could be my second wife.
Don't jok e about that, papi.
- Our flight's at 9:00. - Flight's at 9:00.
Let's get to it.
Yes, let's get to it.
I'm feeling a little lightheaded. I should have...
I should have ate something.
I'll figure that out for you
after all the passengers get on board. Is that okay?
- Okay. - Good morning, Trina.
Good morning, Captain Whitaker.
I'm sorry, sir, you're going to have to check that bag.
Margaret.
- Captain Whitaker. - Good morning.
That sky gonna hold?
You're not gonna mak e me spend another night in Orlando.
Don't worry, I will get you to your prayer meeting on time.
What is it, Jesus Christ Superstar,
First 27 th Baptists?
That's right. Christ the King First Baptist Church
on Hazel and Ninth.
And I'm still saving a seat for you, right next to me.
- Save two. - I will.
- Good morning. - Good morning, Captain.
Walk around is complete.
Margaret!
Yeah, could you get me a cup of coffee, black,
lots of sugar and a couple of aspirins, okay, sweetie?
- Okay, you want something? - No, ma'am, thank you.
Have we flown together before?
- I don't think so, sir. - You sure?
Yeah. Ken Evans.
Whip Whitak er.
- N ice to meet you. - My pleasure.
Oxygen check.
That checks. You want a hit?
- No, thank you, sir. - You sure?
- Yes, sir. - Okay.
Sir, it's 8:50.
Is it? All right, well, let's push.
I got a great on time record.
Yes, sir, you got it.
How are you feeling today, sir?
A little tired. A quick turnaround for me,
10 turns in three days. Off tomorrow.
- Here's your coffee. - Oh, thank you.
- And your aspirin. - Thank you.
And the manifest with 102 souls on board.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Let's get them tuck ed in. We're ready to push.
You got it.
Oh, please don't pick up.
Don't pick up.
Yo.
Hi, it's Nic. Do you have any?
Kip.
Hey, baby, come here. How are you?
It's good to see you. Nicole, this is Tiki Pot.
Tiki is my partner in this new series.
He knows a lot about porn.
I need two grams.
We are putting the narrative back into porn, baby.
Desdemona.
You could totally play Desdemona.
- Look at you. You're perfect. - Desdemona? What the fuck?
Fuck, yeah! You're perfect. Look at this. Beautiful.
She do anal, $2,000, one hour.
All right. I don't do porn, Kip.
- Okay. Listen, listen... - Just let me see the H.
It's an Othello theme, okay?
The Moor comes in, finds you in bed with one of his nurses.
And he fucks me in the ass, huh?
College student. Very clean. Brett!
We're putting a whole new spin on the beast with two backs, baby.
In fact, that's what it's called, The Beast With Two Backs.
I don't understand why you told me you had some but you haven't.
Or "Holethello" or "Butt Holethello. "
Show her the pipe.
Tiki, that's your name?
Why don't you shove that in your ass and you call me in the morning?
Hey, N icole! Nicole! Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Slow down, slow down. Hey, I'm sorry, all right?
We're tweaked. Okay? I'm sorry.
Hey, stick around. It's not a big deal.
Sit down and take some stills for me or something.
What's going on with you? I thought you were clean.
Now you're, like, freaking out on me and...
Oh, come on.
Don't cry.
I... I just want to get faded, Kip.
- I have $ 100. Please. - I don't want it. No, keep it.
Keep it. I don't want it. Okay?
Listen.
This is the Taliban, okay? Very heavy. Okay?
I can handle it.
I don't want you shooting this shit. It's too heavy, all right?
I won't. I promise.
I'm just going to smok e it.
I haven't used needles in weeks.
Okay. No needles.
And if you get a little too low,
you just do a little cok e, okay?
Get yourself back up, all right?
- Right where you need to be. - Okay.
- All right? - Yeah.
- Okay, baby. - Thanks.
All carry-on items are safely stored
in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you.
Also, all electronic devices must be turned off at this time.
Our flight time to Atlanta is approximately 52 minutes.
Flight attendants, take your seats.
So what did you do last night?
I crashed, went straight to bed.
All right, here we go.
Engine instruments are in the green.
Airspeeds alive, both sides.
Eighty knots, crosscheck.
It's lik e a video game, right?
Oh! Nothing like a little 30-knot crosswind
to exercise the old sphincter muscle.
V1,
and rotate.
We're at a positive rate.
Gear up.
Yee-hah, ride 'em, cowboy.
SouthJet 227, Orlando departure, radar contact.
Turn left, heading 170. Climb, maintain niner thousand.
Roger that. Left 170, climb and maintain niner thousand.
Don't want autopilot. I'm flying today.
SouthJet 227, Orlando departure, what's your ride like?
Departure, this is SouthJet 227.
We've got some rough chop, I'd say moderate to...
I'd say severe turbulence, definitely severe turbulence.
No meal service today.
Feeling all right, all right
Feeling all right
I'm not feeling too good myself
Damn it, I'm tired of this shit.
- What are you doing? - Leveling off.
- What? - You see that little sliver of black
between those two ugly clouds?
That's a pocket of smooth air squatting right over Kissimmee.
We're gonna thread the needle.
Turn us right, 30 degrees.
Departure, SouthJet 227, we need to deviate 30 degrees right.
For weather.
SouthJet 227, 30 degrees right approved.
Report back on course.
Oh, Lord.
He can't help you now, brother.
SouthJet 227, say altitude.
- What should I say? - Tell him we're climbing.
Departure, we're leaving niner thousand for flight level 180.
Roger, 227.
We're approaching our maximum airspeed.
You're damn right. We need the speed to punch through this crap.
Just work with me.
You're over speeding, sir.
Trying to get out of this shitty air, if that's all right with you, junior.
SouthJet 227, Orlando, you need to check your Mode C.
Your transponder indicates you're descending.
Departure, this is SouthJet 227.
We're experiencing some rough air, encountering some severe downdrafts.
We're in our climb now. Over.
Roger, 227.
Sir, look at your airspeed.
You're way too fast for this rough air!
I'm right on the line. Settle down.
Come on, sweetheart, show me the sun.
Yeah!
Daylight.
Thank God that's over.
All right, turn us north. Tak e us home. Your plane.
My plane.
Margaret, I'm coming out.
Shit, Fran!
Hey, Nicole.
That's a nice camera.
You know, you're lik e a little ghost.
'Cause I never know when you're here.
Don't ever fucking touch my camera! Now get out!
Hey! Now, as the building manager,
I got a legal right to enter an apartment,
especially if I feel the occupant to be unwell
and the occupant is not current on her rent.
Just give me a minute.
All right. I have your rent.
I will bring it down to you, okay?
Just let me tak e a shower.
You shower at my house.
You know, bring that money down, we can shower together.
I got that good water pressure.
You know that.
You're in the perfect light there, Franny.
Yeah?
- Back up a little. - Okay.
A little more.
All right. Okay. That's tricky, tricky, girl.
So you just shower up and come on down.
In your fucking dreams.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Captain Whitaker.
If you look up, you'll see me here in the forward galley.
I'll wave to you.
I want to apologize for the bumps this morning.
Evidently, Florida doesn't like us Georgians.
Maybe it has something to do with
the beating the Bulldogs put on the Gators last fall.
I'm going to ask you just to stretch out and relax.
The air might get a little cranky,
so we're gonna ask that you remain in your seats
with your seatbelts securely fastened around you.
We won't have beverage service today,
but the flight attendants will be going through the cabin
with water and with snacks.
We'll have you on the ground in Atlanta in 40 minutes.
Thank you.
Hey, N icole, open up!
Oh, fuck, Nicole, I know you're in there!
I can smell that shit cooking!
You better not be burning down my fucking building!
How can anybody sleep like that?
I don't know.
And how long has Sleeping Beauty been out?
Twenty-six minutes.
We're gonna start descending any second now.
Well, looks lik e you'll need to wak e him up.
SouthJet 227, Atlanta Center.
Descend and maintain flight level 300.
Descend and maintain flight level 300, SouthJet 227.
What is that?
The elevator feels really stiff, sir.
All right, don't force it.
All right. Margaret, get everybody strapped in.
That came from the back.
Get everybody strapped in tight.
Ladies and gentlemen...
It's pulling left hard, sir.
Power back. Power back!
Sink rate. Pull up.
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts now.
Fasten your seatbelts securely now!
I have no control on my side.
No control at all, sir.
We've lost hydraulics.
Center, this is SouthJet 227.
We've lost our hydraulics and it feels lik e our pitch control.
SouthJet 227, Atlanta...
Turn on the backup pumps. The backup pumps.
That is affirm. We are in an uncontrolled...
SouthJet 227, Atlanta. Say your intentions.
Are you declaring an emergency?
Everybody's belted in. Are we going down?
Get belted in.
We need everybody in brace positions.
Yes. That is affirm. We are in a dive!
We are in a dive! We have lost vertical control.
We're gonna need drag.
I want you to throw out everything you got,
the speed brak es, the gear, everything.
Gear! Speed brakes!
Brace position.
Head down! Bend forward! Head down, bend forward!
Gear's down.
I don't think hydraulics is the problem, sir.
We need to dump the fuel. Do it!
All right.
Atlanta Center, this is SouthJet 227.
We're in an uncontrolled dive descending out of 21,000 feet.
We're declaring an emergency.
We've dumped our fuel.
We've got a jammed stabilizer or something.
We need a block of altitude to work the problem
and a heading to the nearest airport.
SouthJet 227...
I can't hold it. Dump the flaps.
- Dump the flaps. - We're still fast.
Just do it. Do it. Thirty degrees.
Turn left, heading 315.
315, we'll try our best.
All right, that bought us a little time.
That bought us a little time.
Now we got to revert to manual control.
Your side first.
Okay, got it.
Nothing. No control.
Oh, no, we're diving again!
Pull up. Sink rate.
Damn it.
All right. Okay, okay, look.
I can't let go of my side. See if you can reach my side.
I can't reach it, sir.
Just... No, stay strapped in. Stay strapped in.
Margaret! Margaret!
Oh, God.
We're out of 15, 000.
God, Whip, what's happening?
Calm down, calm down, calm down.
Get strapped into the jump seat there.
I need you to do something for me.
We're at 129!
SouthJet 227, Atlanta.
- Fuel dump is approved. - Thank you.
Cami!
Cami! Sit back down!
No, Cami, sit down!
I see you're going below 10, 000.
- How are you doing? - Not good. Not good.
Margaret, there's a red lever right there next to my seat.
It says "manual control. " You see it?
- Yeah. - Okay.
On the count of three, I want you to pull it up,
turn it clockwise, push it back down.
Ready? One, two, three.
Oh, God.
That's okay, it's okay.
Come on.
All right, okay, okay, okay.
Here we go. We got something.
Shit!
Cami! Cami!
Margaret!
Oh, Lord, we're coming out at 7,000!
I see nothing but houses!
Evans! Listen to me.
When I say I want you to retract the flaps,
retract the gear, trim us nose down, okay?
But everything's gonna be opposite,
so mak e sure you trim us nose down.
Wait, trim down? What are you going to do?
- Margaret. - Yeah.
When I tell you I want you to push these forward,
full power, full throttle. Can you do that?
Yeah. Okay.
- Okay, when I tell you. - Wait, wait, sir.
What are we doing? Why would I trim down?
We're going to roll it, okay?
What do you mean "Roll it"?
We gotta do something to stop this dive.
Margaret, what's your son's name?
- Trevor. - Say, "I love you, Trevor. "
- What? - Black box.
Say, "I love you, Trevor. "
I love you, Trevor. You be a good boy. Mommy loves you.
Okay, here we go. I've got control.
Oh, Lord Jesus!
- All right, Evans, flaps. - Flaps!
- Speed brakes. - Speed brakes!
Margaret! Power!
- Gear up. - Gear up!
Jesus, fuck!
Shit!
Oh, Lord Jesus, we're inverted!
We're flying. Listen, we're level.
We can maintain altitude lik e this.
SouthJet 227, Atlanta Center. I see your position.
Four and a half miles southeast of the airport at 1, 800.
Are you okay?
Atlanta Center, this is SouthJet 227. We are inverted.
I repeat, we are inverted.
SouthJet 227, did you say inverted?
We're losing oil pressure!
Pump failure, both engines!
We're all right. We're flying.
Come on, baby.
Oh, my God. Please.
- Fire in the left engine! - Put it out.
I'm right here. Look at me, I'm right here.
Atlanta, SouthJet 227, where's that airport?
227, it's one o'clock, three miles.
All right. We're not gonna mak e that. Our engines are burning up.
I see a field and a road ahead of us.
We're gonna set it down there.
Roger, 227.
Oh, no, fire in the right now!
Evans, we're coming back around.
Margaret, I want you to hit full power.
Full throttle, you understand?
Here we go.
Evans, speed brakes.
Speed brakes!
- Flaps full. - Flaps full!
Cami!
Oh, my God.
We're losing the left engine.
SouthJet 227, I see you descending through 1, 000.
Do you concur?
Margaret, full power.
We lost the left engine!
Let it roll.
We're losing power in the right!
We lost all power!
Too low. Terrain.
Are we gliding?
Too low. Terrain.
We're gliding. Pitch for glide.
Too low. Terrain.
One hundred.
Fifty.
Forty.
Thirty.
Twenty.
- Brace. - Ten. Minimums.
- Brace for impact. - Minimums.
I got the pilot!
Somebody give me a hand here!
Oh, my God!
Charlie Anderson?
- Hey. - Hey.
How you feeling, Whip?
Initial reports look lik e you pulled some kind of move up there, man.
You saved a lot of lives.
How many?
The 102 souls on board, including the flight crew,
96 of them survived the crash.
Six people died.
Two crew, four passengers.
Who on the crew?
Listen, the protocol is...
Who on the crew, Charlie?
The protocol is that the NTSB has to be the first
to mak e contact with you. I can't...
And that agent's here, so
let me go get him. It's a bit of a show.
So, just... There's half a dozen of them.
All right?
Hey, Craig, come on in.
Captain William Whitaker?
Nod if you can hear me and understand me.
I'm Craig Matson from the NT... NTSB.
And I am required as the lead on the Go Team
to mak e initial contact with you
after a major incident lik e the one you had today.
You are in a hospital in South Atlanta.
Are you aware that the plane you were piloting went down?
I have a doctor here who can explain your medical situation.
I'm Dr. Kenan.
And the good news is you're in good condition.
You did suffer a concussion,
you have numerous lacerations around your left eye.
We're going to keep the patch on for a few days.
Just as a precaution.
Your eye seems to be okay.
Now, the MRls show that you have some strained tendons
in your left knee and ankle,
and you have no brok en bones.
But you have some deep bruising in your left thigh
and some torn ligaments in your left wrist.
Nothing serious.
So, as soon as we clear your concussion
and you feel well enough, you can go home.
That may tak e a day, maybe three. Okay?
I won't ask too much of you tonight,
but as I said, the NTSB is required to make initial contact.
How much do you remember about the flight?
I remember...
I remember everything up till the crash.
Okay.
Mr. Whitak er, that's fine.
I am required to inform you that this incident
did result in the loss of life.
The current information states that
of the 102 souls on board, we lost six.
Two crew members and four passengers.
Fifty-nine people were treated and released,
37 people remain...
Who did we lose on the crew?
The two flight attendants,
Camelia Satou and Katerina Marquez.
The rep from your pilots' union,
Mr. Anderson, will be our contact for you.
It's important that you follow your union's guidance
on press and media.
The pilots' union works closely with the NTSB.
So, I'm going to head out.
I'll turn this off.
- Good luck, Mr. Whitaker. - Thank you.
I knew Trina Marquez. She was...
We spent some time together.
Yeah, apparently, she wasn't strapped in.
A survivor reported she was assisting a kid.
Margaret Thomason, how's she doing?
Brok en collarbone, just, I mean, cuts.
I mean, she's banged up, but she's...
She's here, too. She's fine.
And Ken Evans, your copilot,
he took a bad shot to the head.
And they're k eeping him in a coma just to let the brain swelling go down,
but we feel good about him.
He's going to be okay.
What are you doing here, Charlie?
I'm flying a desk now.
I'm a rep for the pilots' union.
You're the rep for the pilots' union?
Yeah, I'm one of them. When your plane went down,
all the reps got a page and I just shot up my hand,
'cause I know you, said I wanted to come be the first face you'd see.
I'm glad you're here.
The union's gonna release a statement on your behalf,
condolences to the families who lost loved ones,
gratitude to the brave men and women of the flight crew.
That's... You don't have to worry about that.
And I know you and Deana have been divorced for a while now,
but maybe she and your son, Will, wanna...
Yeah, Knuckles...
How old is he now?
Too old. Fifteen.
- Fifteen? Wow. - Yeah.
When we were flying for Delta, you weren't even married.
We're dinosaurs, Whip.
Do you want me to reach out to Deana?
And see if she and Will want to come down...
No, no. I'll... I'll call them.
All right.
Well, speaking of which, I got your phone.
And a whole bunch of other personal effects from the plane.
Your clothes are toast.
Do you...
Do you need me to get you some stuff, or...
I'm okay.
Charlie, I'm...
I'm glad you came.
Me, too. I'm happy to be here.
All right, well, I'm going to...
I'll let you get some rest. But I'll come back.
I mean, you're going to see plenty of me.
I'm sure you will.
The plane was fucked, Charlie. It was doomed.
I know.
And the way you landed that plane was nothing short of a miracle.
Know that.
Okay, man?
All right, cowboy.
God. Damn.
God damn it.
I'm on the list, baby girl. Mr. Mays.
Harling.
If this is going to turn into a sponge bath,
I'll come back later.
- Sir. - It's okay.
That's all right, honey, I'm on the list. Harling Mays.
Some say they "Harling" knew me.
Honey, could you hustle us up a couple of daiquiris
and a cocktail weenie?
On second thought, just bring the booze,
I brought my own weenie.
Oh, she's offended and she should be.
I'm a pig. And I hate me.
That's what we have in common, Nurse Ratched.
We both hate me.
Harling Mays.
Whip, what the fuck, my man?
They're saying, "Sweet Jesus, what a stud that pilot is. "
You're a hero, man.
You will never pay for another drink as long as you live.
There is all kinds of crazy news people out here.
It's a fucking circus, man.
Come on, check this shit out, man. It's all for you.
Look at this shit.
Classic hero worship shit.
You're a rock star, man. Oh, check out this video.
This is outside your condo. It's a zoo.
It's crawling with reporters.
Let's see. Check this out.
So you do know Captain Whitaker. You are friends.
Oh, yeah. Yes, he's my brother.
That's me and that's Mark Mellon,
you know, that douchey talking haircut from local Atlanta Channel 12.
I said a few words, you know, mostly straight talk.
You okay, Captain Whitaker?
The meds they're giving me, they're messing me up.
I'm all shaky and dried out, I can't sleep good.
Meds? What the hell kind of meds are they giving you?
Alprazolam?
That's generic Xanax.
Hydrocodone, that's generic Vicodin. It's shit.
Probably Canadian. We don't want this shit.
We want the premium stuff, the blue label,
not this fucking well shit.
I mean, where's the dihydromorphinone?
Or at least some fucking Palladone, for Christ's sak e.
Is this amateur hour? Get that doctor in here.
You just saved 100 people...
Harling!
- You bring my smok es? - Yes, I did.
I got your fucking message,
and, yes, I got your fucking smok es right here.
Here's a fresh carton.
You smok e your nuts off, champion.
Hell, if I was you, I'd fire up right here in the goddamn room.
Here. I got you a pint of vodka,
I got you some Red Bulls. You know what I'm saying?
I know my customer.
Tak e the vodka with you.
What... Take the vodka? What are you...
I'm not drinking anymore. Tak e it with you.
I'll just tuck it...
- Tak e the fucking vodka with you. - Okay. All right.
Listen, but you got to come get me tomorrow. Okay?
And...
I want you to go by my condo,
pick me up some clothes and my phone charger.
Look in my refrigerator
and pick up a package that says "veal" on it.
- It's mark ed "veal. " - Veal.
In the freezer. It's marked "veal. "
Done and done. What time do you want me here?
I'll call you.
Okay. You give a mayday,
you're out of here in seven minutes. Oh!
Oh, I almost forgot. I got you some stroke mags.
I've been in the hospital before, I know what you need.
I got Juggs, Hot MI LFs in Heat, AssMasters.
You just stroke it all day, you're a hero.
If I was you,
I'd just lay here pulling on that thing all day long.
You know what I'm saying? There's a smile. Yes, sir.
Damn it.
Devious minds think alik e.
Don't go.
I'll be quiet and just...
It's nice to
just sit and smok e with somebody.
Were you on that plane?
Yeah, I was.
You?
You must have been sitting at the back.
Yeah, way in the back.
Tobacco's but an Indian weed
Grows green in the morn Cut down in the eve
Shows our decay 'cause we are but clay
I love the smell of nicotine in the morning.
It smells lik e victory.
Can I bum one?
I should quit.
My cancer might get cancer.
Jok e.
Were you in the plane crash?
He was.
Holy shit, man! You're the fucking pilot!
What happened up there?
Okay. Yeah. I'd...
Tough deal, man, but you walk ed away.
Or you limped away.
Yeah, I'm lucky. Going home tomorrow.
Home?
Home for me is the basement.
They k eep cancer treatment in the basement.
What kind of cancer you got?
Fibromyxoid sarcoma. Soft tissue sarcoma.
Very rare. God chose me.
You believe that?
Fuck, yeah, bitch.
You're a stupid fuck er if you don't believe in God.
Once you realize all the random events in your life are God,
you will live a much easier life.
We spend all our time trying to control all these things
that happen to us, it's bullshit.
The plane you're flying goes down?
Out of your control.
God gives you cancer? I got no control over that.
Did God give me cancer?
You bet your ass God gave me cancer.
You know, do you think
God would have given me cancer if I'd asked for it?
I don't think so,
'cause I begged him to tak e it away and guess what?
No control over that, either.
What are you doing here, honey?
You're beautiful, you know that?
Do I scare you?
People are either drawn to me, or they pretend lik e they can't see me.
It's a trip.
They think because I'm close to the other side,
I got some sort of power or wisdom.
Lik e I got all the answers.
I don't know, maybe I do.
Death gives you perspective. It all makes sense, somehow.
And I just can't get over how beautiful you are.
I can see your arm. Are you an addict?
Yeah.
What's your name?
Nicole.
What do you do in the world, Nicole?
Not much.
I was a photographer, and then I was a masseuse,
and now I sometimes wash hair in a salon.
Oh, yeah? Where is it?
I'm gonna come by. I'm real easy, you just wash my head.
You think you're going to die?
Don't you just love her?
Don't know her.
Bullshit. I do.
Random act of God? I don't think so.
You survive a plane crash to meet a beautiful woman in a stairwell.
Fuck you, man.
Probably looking for me.
My family just flew in from Utah.
You know it's bad when they start flying in.
It's a trip.
'Cause every morning is special now.
I'm grateful for that.
I wish I could bottle this feeling that I have
about how beautiful every last breath of life is.
You think I could get one more, just for the road?
Here. Take the pack.
Thank you.
I'll pass these out in the cancer ward.
Nicole. You're going to be okay.
Chemo brain.
Mak es you pretty foggy.
Oh, yeah?
They call it chemo brain.
My momma, she used to slur her words and get all chatty.
Your mom had cancer?
Breast cancer. She was only 54.
Is that why you think you're going to die?
Heroin addicts who use needles, they tend to die.
Especially women, for some reason.
I read that in a pamphlet.
A woman from AA, she just came to see me whilst I was in rehab.
That guy was a trip, huh?
Yeah.
He made it feel lik e, I don't know.
Like you and me were the last people left on this planet.
And together we'll save the world.
Where do you live, Nicole?
Why? You want to come visit me? It's luxurious.
I live in Bankhead, near the bus station.
I'll come visit you.
- You're sweet. - I will.
What's your address?
I live at the Georgian Terraces, on Taylor Street.
Okay.
And you say you're a masseuse? What kind of masseuse?
I've been every kind of masseuse there is.
Good luck, Nicole.
I couldn't find any suitcases.
I put all your shit in garbage bags.
No, thanks.
You're staying with me down on University, right?
It's nice.
A lot of young people. Good vibe.
No, I'm going to the farm.
Farm?
I can't stay at my condo.
I thought you sold your dad's place.
Not yet.
I'm not sure I want to stay at the farm.
You're not. You're just gonna drive me to the airport
so I can pick up my car.
"Veal"?
Really.
Captain Whitaker, this is Jim Court, I'm with CNN. We'd like...
This is the NB C affiliate in Athens. We're looking to...
In the wake of the deadly crash of SouthJet flight 227,
we have more questions than answers
as to what ex actly happened that day.
And like many, we are out looking for answers.
Looking here at the home of pilot Captain William "Whip" Whitaker.
We still have no sighting and no comments
from the Captain himself.
This is Mark Mellon, still on the hunt, from midtown Atlanta.
You've reached the Whitaker Crop Dusting Company,
flying lessons and plane rides.
Please leave a message and it will be returned. Thank you.
Hey, cowboy. It's Charlie again.
Listen, I'm back in town and I stopped by the hospital tonight,
but they said you'd gone home,
so you must be feeling pretty good.
Listen, I went out to your condo
and the manager said you had not returned,
so you may be with relatives, which I understand,
but I know you have a doctor's appointment
early in the morning for your eye,
and I was just hoping that you could meet us for breakfast.
About 10: 00 at the St. Regis, there's an executive buffet there.
And we'll be covering some pretty important stuff,
so it'd be nice to have you there.
All right. Be good.
Oh, there he is.
Hey, Whip. Hey, buddy. Man, you look good.
I feel good.
Thanks for coming. Glad you got my message.
- How's your eye? - Good, good.
This is Hugh Lang, he's an attorney from Chicago.
- Pleasure to meet you, Captain. - My pleasure.
- Sit down. You want a coffee? - Yes, I do.
- Could we have some fresh coffee? - Yes, sir.
We were just talking about your copilot's wife.
Told a newspaper that "God landed that plane. "
Yeah? Oh, God landed that plane?
Well, I do believe God landed the plane.
Same way I believe God should hit the buffet,
the turkey sausage is excellent.
I'm fine with coffee, thank you.
So, Len Caldwell really wanted to get here this morning.
Len's the president of the pilots' union.
He wanted to be here to meet with us and you,
but they need him at the crash site.
As you know, when a plane goes down,
the NTSB sends a Go Team to the crash site immediately.
They find the flight data recorder?
They did. It's perfectly intact.
Oh, great. Great, great, great.
Then that solves everything.
So why do we need a lawyer from Chicago?
Well, Hugh specializes in criminal negligence.
Criminal negligence?
Death demands responsibility.
Six dead on that plane, someone has to pay.
Yeah, but that's a plane that fell apart at...
Thank you. Fell apart at 30,000 feet.
The airline will try to prove equipment failure,
which is gonna make the manufacturer responsible.
The manufacturer in turn is gonna try and prove
poor maintenance of the equipment by the airline.
Or pilot error.
I flew the plane inverted, that means upside down, Hugh.
You get the picture? A hundred people, upside down, 500 feet off the ground.
Do you have any idea what that's lik e?
I do. I heard the black box recordings last night.
Oh, you heard. Are you a pilot?
No, I'm not.
You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, do you?
Hugh's on our team, Whip.
- Is he? - Yeah, he is.
- He doesn't act lik e he's on our team. - Well, he is.
Asking me questions about fucking pilot error.
Listen, it's the NTSB's ball game.
They run the investigation.
And they will ultimately rule on the cause.
And that's why we need him.
Well, they interview the entire flight crew.
They interview the passengers. They hold public hearings.
All right, let's cut to the chase.
Just tell me what it is I need to know, Charlie.
The NTSB Go Team also collects blood, hair and skin samples
from the entire flight crew for the purposes of a toxicology report.
Okay. When do they want to do that?
They've already done that. In the hospital.
It's the first thing they do.
You don't remember having your blood drawn the night of the crash?
- No. - No.
They get the results of this test?
Yeah, they do.
Anything else for you gentlemen?
Yeah. You had warm cinnamon buns over there, right?
Yes, sir.
- Could you get me one of those, please? - Sure.
In fact, get me two of them.
- Yes, sir. Coming up. - Thank you, sweetie.
Now, an initial report shows that
you had alcohol in your system
at a level of. 24.
Now in the good old U.S. Of A.,
one of the most lenient drunk driving countries in the world,
you go to jail for driving with anything above. 08.
And by driving, I mean a car.
Thank you.
So... That doesn't mean anything.
I had a couple of beers the night before the flight.
That made the tail of the plane explode?
- A couple of beers? - Yeah, a couple of beers.
You know, I need a lawyer, Charlie.
- Hugh is your lawyer. - I need a bigger lawyer.
I need a lawyer that understands that someone put me in a brok en plane.
Without me up there, there would have been 102 funerals, not six.
We're not talking about funerals right now, Captain.
Well, then what are we talking about?
We're talking about prison time.
- What? - Lawsuits.
- Somebody has to pay. - What, write a check?
It's not gonna be me, I promise you that.
As long as they're writing checks, tell them to write one for me, too.
Because someone put me in a brok en plane.
I'd love a check, Charlie.
This toxicology report states that you were drunk
and high on cocaine.
Felonies punishable by up to 12 years in prison.
And if it is proven that your intoxication
was the cause of the death of the four passengers,
now we're gonna look at four counts of manslaughter.
That could be life in prison.
Now can I please do my job on your behalf
and kill this tox report?
He's gonna get it done, Whip. He'll get it done.
It's what his whole life's about.
Trust me. Trust him.
You don't have to worry, you'll walk away from this the hero.
I'm not worried, Charlie.
I promise you that I'm not worried.
No one could have landed that plane lik e I did.
No one.
- Thanks for coming. - Yeah.
Excuse me.
- Excuse me. - Yes.
Yeah, let me have an orange juice.
Large orange juice.
Just orange juice?
Yeah. No.
Double Stoli. Neat.
It paints a picture to me anyway
of a real American hero. Is that your reading of it?
Absolutely. However, remember, every situation is different.
And the actions of the pilots on SouthJet 227
will be heavily scrutinized.
Are you suggesting that there may be more to this than meets the eye?
There always is.
You don't have all the answers.
You do have a lot of questions.
We're gonna have to wait until some of those answers come in
before we can say much more.
Are you hinting here, I don't want to put words in your mouth,
but are you hinting that this is suspicious?
This accident is not like any other accident.
And the next one will be
Taylor Street.
What the fuck, Nicole?
Get out!
The guy in unit 1 just told me you stayed here last night!
Franny, just relax.
I just want to get my shit out of here.
What about my rent? You owe me money, bitch!
Don't touch me, Franny!
Fran, get off me. Fran, get your hand off me!
What the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck off her!
Keep your fucking hands off her!
You okay?
Is this all the rest of your stuff?
Yeah.
She still owes me $ 1, 100!
- Plus damages! - Shut up!
What, you want to sue her?
Spend 1,000 bucks, or you want to make a cash deal with me?
Mak e up your mind.
Mak e up your mind!
I'll take 700 cash.
You're a hairy little creep, aren't you?
Some baseball bat bullshit.
Seven hundred, my ass.
There's 400 cash.
Now be a good boy,
grab that box and put it in her car.
My car, it don't run.
It didn't start this morning. I'm taking all this with me.
Your car doesn't run?
Well, what were you going to do?
Why...
I don't know what I was gonna do.
What's your name?
Whip.
What?
That's funny?
Thank you,
Captain Whip.
Hey.
You okay?
- Yeah. You? - Yeah.
- You want a drink? - No, thanks.
You sure it's all right that I stay here?
Yes, it's all right that you stay here.
I want you to stay.
That knee hurting you?
Yes, it is. Yes, it is.
Oh. Thank you, Doctor.
- It's throbbing a little bit. - Yeah.
The blood's having a hard time getting back to your heart.
Feels good, though.
You going to shoot me? Or can I come inside?
Yeah, come on inside. I'll shoot you inside.
Listen, I thought we'd tak e a ride.
There's something I need to show you.
Okay.
There it is.
You can see on initial impact, the left wing hit the ground.
Think if it would have sheared off completely,
everybody would have walk ed away from this plane.
The wing snapped off and drove the engine cowling into
- the rear fuselage. - Yeah.
If you were sitting in the last six or seven rows,
it was like being hit by a train.
Who are they?
The John the Baptist Pentecostal Mission.
They helped pull survivors out of the wreckage.
Now, they come out here every day.
And that is Ellen Block.
She's the head of the NTSB investigation.
She's the one that's gonna be asking you the tough questions.
I drank the night before the flight.
I drank that morning, too.
I used cocaine to help straighten myself out.
I know. It's in the toxicology report.
But that is not the reason why this happened.
No, it's not.
Listen.
Clearly, there was a mechanical issue with the plane.
Yeah, clearly.
Yeah, but what you and I know, this was an act of God.
And I'm going to fight to get the NTSB to add "Act of God"
as one of the probable causes.
Whose god would do this?
Okay.
So,
here's the deal.
Avington Carr, he's the owner of the airline, he's on our side.
He's got big friends in Washington, too.
He wants to have a sit-down with us tomorrow morning at 10:00.
- Good. - Yeah.
You can't drink, Captain.