You know how dangerous it is?
Arnold's been complaining
for years that it's a disaster
waiting to happen.
Let's not start making
premature accusations.
Thousands of people are flying
in hundreds of planes every day
carrying that stuff,
or something like it.
I keep thinking about
people like you may die
because we don't warn them.
Look, they're strangers.
We have a very powerful lobby and
our own attorneys to insure our position.
You mean it was sabotage?
How else could that toxic
waste have got in there?
Gentleman...
Flight 788, do you
read? If you read,
squawk one-four-zero-zero
and ident.
Flight 788, do you read?
We're not receiving
your transponder.
No altitude read-out.
Oh, no. Where is he?
About zero-two-five
degrees, thirty miles out.
Okay, I'll request an
aircraft confirmation.
Here come the results, Quince.
What does it say?
Well, there are definitely
two different kinds.
I knew it, Sam!
He's been mixing those cheap
brands with the good coffee again.
Please, everybody, I need your
attention, something terrible has happened.
He tasted the coffee.
It's a major disaster
- an airplane crash.
Oh, no...
The plane went down
about forty miles from here
with 121 aboard.
We don't know how bad it is yet,
but they have
located the wreckage.
Now the entire
staff will be on alert.
Quincy, Sam, I'll have a
helicopter waiting for you on the roof
in five minutes.
Start rounding up
the equipment, will ya.
Okay.
There it is, Sam.
That's it.
What a terrible crash.
Set her down over there.
Get those people
behind the rope.
C'mon, move, move,
move... get all that stuff...
Listen to me... get those people over
there... give them a hand, all right...
Get on the double, okay...
Any survivors?
Yeah, we got two. A stewardess
and one of the passengers.
Medevac already
took 'em to the hospital,
but they're both in
pretty bad shape.
I don't think they're
going to make it.
Only two out of a
hundred and twenty-one?
Yeah but it could
have been worse.
We're lucky the
plane wasn't full.
Yeah - lucky...
We're cordoning off the area.
This kind of thing brings out
looters and souvenir hunters.
I don't want anybody touching
anything until we're finished.
And I don't want anybody
around here who doesn't belong.
That goes for
the reporters, too.
Yeah... we've got
some here already
but we're keepin'
them behind the ropes.
The coroner's office will
be sending out a team
to help us with the
equipment, okay?
Okay, fine. I can set
you up over here, Doc.
The outer perimeter is fine.
All right, all right, let's
start moving these bodies
out of here as
quickly as possible.
Wait a minute!
What are you doing?
What's going on here?
We're moving the victims.
Put it down...
don't touch a thing!
Who are you?
I am Frank Wilson.
I represent Columbia Airlines.
They've put me in charge here.
The medical examiner's
office sent me down here.
They've put me in charge here.
Nobody touches
anybody until I say so.
What do you mean? What for?
Have you ever been involved
with an air crash before?
No.
This is the first time that we've
ever had an air disaster like this.
Look, I'm concerned about
the families of these people.
Their relatives are
waiting in agony.
Believe me, we're all
concerned with them.
Three and a half years ago
there was a crash right near here.
The firemen trying to help
gathered all the valuables together
for safekeeping
put it in one place.
We didn't know
what belong to whom.
Then they put the
bodies out of sight,
removing the most valuable
means of identification that we had
and destroying all the
evidence concerning the crash.
The dead can identify
themselves if we handle it properly.
That's the way we
should help the families.
All right. What's the procedure?
First, we number everything,
then we photograph it.
Then we mark the positions.
Then all these bodies will
be sent down to the morgue
and identified
through autopsies.
Autopsies?
That's right.
Look, I just don't understand
the additional delay.
Isn't the cause
of death obvious?
They died in the crash?
Of course.
But sometimes an autopsy can
tell us what caused the crash,
or show us some safety
procedures that will prevent it
from ever happening again.
All right. We'll wait.
Thank you.
Let's relax.
Quince, the team from
the department's here.
Mark, include the entire area in
front of the plane and the grid pattern.
How far out?
- At least two hundred yards.
- All right.
Ed, I want you to take your
pictures from all four sides
and make sure you get a
reference point for each body.
- I'll get right on it.
- All right,
let's go with those bags.
Come on, Sam.
C-4.
This one's C-2.
How's it going, Quince?
Okay.
How many bodies
have we located so far?
Oh, 55 complete bodies.
At least we're half way there.
All right. Are these
the last of them, Sam?
Just about.
We'll follow them in.
Doctor Quincy...
There's a fellow over there named
Riggins who needs to see you.
- John Riggins?
- Yeah. That's what he said.
- Thanks.
- You know him?
Johnny Riggins... yeah,
we worked together a lot.
He's a little gruff but
he knows his business.
Sounds just like you.
- See you later.
- Right.
See anything interesting?
- Hey, hi ya, Quince.
- Hi, Johnny.
- How long have you been here?
- Oh, a little over an hour.
The "Go" team and I hopped
the first jet out of Washington.
- The "Go" team?
- That's what they call us now
because we're always packed
and ready to go at all times.
I was just going to walk
through the rest of the crash.
- You want to come along?
- Sure.
You know something, those
engines did not explode in flight.
How do you know that?
Well, because there weren't
any hot spots or metal spatter
indicating trouble before
they crashed into the ground.
Now from the sheared off
trees, it looks like they came in
at a shallow angle, rather
than a spiral or a tailspin.
Which means they were probably
under some degree of control.
Looks like they just
flew right into the ground.
It always amazes me how
you can tell all that from this.
You do the same thing all
the time, Quince, with people.
Tommy, anything?
No, sir... nothing yet.
It's just, you know,
training and experience.
You got any clues yet?
Well, actually there
are only four possibilities
human error, mechanical failure,
a force of nature, or sabotage.
You see,
there wasn't any emergency
call from the plane,
so something must
have surprised them.
But I haven't found any
signs of an expl*si*n.
And it still could
be pilot error, too.
I don't know, I think
it's still too early to tell.
But we'll know better after
we go over the wreckage
and find the flight recorders.
You know, in the meantime,
you might be able
to tell us something.
Something that'll prevent
this from happening again.
We'll do everything we can.
Nice seeing you,
Johnny. Take care.
Doctor Astin, we're finished
out there. How's it going here?
I've got the extra crew on.
We'll work around the clock
to finish up the identifications
and post-mortems.
Is anybody pressuring you?
No, no. You know how I feel.
Look, look, seven years old.
Now the sooner we can release
the bodies for funeral and burial,
the sooner the families can get over
the shock, pick up their lives again.
You know, Quincy, airline
disasters are the worst.
Identification is
almost impossible.
The airlines didn't
have any information?
Well, sure, they've sent
over the flight manifest
and seating chart for all
the passengers, also these
questionnaire forms
filled out by the next of kin,
but how does that help us?
When will the government learn to
file dental records like fingerprints?
I know that.
The relatives will be in soon to
try and identify the personal effects.
Could I have the
personal effects for E-5.
What about the flight crew?
Well, we're only able to identify
a few of the flight attendants
and the co-pilot so far.
Quincy, I want you to do
those autopsies personally.
You know how important they are.
I'll get Sam. We'll
start right away.
One of the stewardesses.
Notice the damages to her leg.
Compound fractures
of the tibia and fibula.
Yeah.
Those types of breaks
could only have been caused
if she was walking at the time.
Were there many seat belt abrasions
on the passengers you posted so far?
Just about half.
Well then, Johnny was right.
Something must have
happened so suddenly
it took them unaware.
Which one's next?
The co-pilot.
What about the pilot
and the flight engineer.
They haven't
been identified yet.
Get me a gurney, will you.
Right.
Sam, do you think we'll
ever get used to this?
Never.
Quincy... hey, Quince, wake up.
I've got the results of the
lab tests from the co-pilot.
Huh?
I've got the results of the
lab tests on the co-pilot.
Oh.
I really was corking
it off, wasn't I, Sam?
Well, we've only been going
for the last eighteen hours.
Has anyone ever told you how
peaceful you look when you're asleep?
Not since I was five.
What have we got?
No unusual alcohol, drug or
medication levels in the tox screens.
And there wasn't enough brain
lactic acid to indicate hypoxia.
But there were elevated
levels of carbon monoxide
and cyanide in the blood.
That's not strange in
cases like these, Sam.
Plastics and fabrics, in an airplane
often give off cyanide gas when they burn,
and the sooting in the trachea
and hemorrhages indicate
he lived long enough
to absorb some of it.
Oh, there was something else
and I got it purely
by accident...
a trace substance I haven't
been able to identify yet.
It's only a trace.
You better find out what it is.
Me, too, Quince.
Back to the drawing board.
We'll have to run every test
we can and keep running them
and keep running
them until we isolate it.
Stay amber, baby.
Eureka, Sam.
What is it, Quince?
We found the trace chemical.
Do you think it could have
anything to do with the crash?
It could have everything
to do with the crash.
It was acetal.
Acetal, huh?
As you know, it's a
highly volatile liquid
whose vapors give
off an anesthetic effect.
Now it could have
gradually overcome the pilot
and co-pilot without
them knowing about it.
That could explain why
there weren't any distress calls,
and it looked like they
flew into the ground.
It sure would but
the big question
is how did it get
into their system?
You know, if somebody
wanted the plane to go down
and wanted it to
look like an accident
or pilot error, he couldn't
have picked a better way.
Wait a minute, Quincy.
You think it was sabotage?
How else could that toxic
substance have gotten into them?
Well, there is
another possibility.
Yep, there it is.
Acetal.
What's that?
The cargo manifest
from Flight 788.
Cargo! You mean they
were carrying that stuff?
That's right.
Under current regulations,
the airlines are allowed to ship
up to fifty pounds of acetal in
each of the two belly cargo holds.
Well, look, I know this
isn't the entire plane
but how could the acetal
get from there to here?
Well, when the pilot
starts his descent,
he would have to cut
back power on the engines.
Now that reduces the
ventilation and gives the fumes
a chance to build up from below
and concentrate towards the cockpit.
The gas is heavier than air,
so it flows downward like water.
What about oxygen masks?
Well, the masks
might have helped,
if the crew knew
they needed them.
But like you said,
it could have gradually crept up on
them with a subtle drugging effect.
They know how dangerous it is...
why do they carry that stuff?
That's not all.
It's extremely flammable, too.
It can burn or explode like a
b*mb when it mixes with air.
There have already been a
number of near mishaps with acetal
and a thousand other substances
that aren't even allowed
on buses or trains.
Then why do the
airlines carry it?
Believe me, Quince, pilots
have been complaining for years
that it's a disaster
waiting to happen.
Well,
maybe now it has.
I sure hope the airline
executives can tell me why.
I'll see you later, Johnny.
That's a very serious charge
you're making, Doctor Quincy.
How can you say
a thing like that?
You haven't proven it, have you?
Are you sure?
Not yet.
But we did find traces of
acetal in one of the flight crew.
When we find the rest,
we'll be able to determine whether
there was a high enough concentrate
to have caused the crash.
Then let's do that first.
There still could be a
lot of other reasons, too.
Let's not start making
premature accusations
until the final
investigation is completed.
Premature?
Thousands of people are flying
in hundreds of planes everyday
carrying that stuff,
or something like it.
- Doctor Quincy...
- Please, Frank.
It's not our fault.
We have to carry it.
We're subject
to fines, lawsuits,
or we can lose our
operating certificate
if we refuse to carry materials
the Department of Transportation
has classified as an
"acceptable level of risk".
So we're caught in the middle.
It's constraint of trade to ban them.
Well, maybe it's time
somebody stood up to them.
Doctor Quincy, this
is very difficult for us.
There could be huge lawsuits
it could ruin us, not to
mention the terrible publicity.
Is that your main concern?
Lawsuit, bad press?
Every single one of the crew members
on that flight was like family to us.
Do you think we'd put
them in danger knowingly?
We are not one
of the big airlines.
We have not been
around for thirty years.
We're trying to grow
expand our routes,
we cannot afford to make waves.
And we will not become the
whipping boy for the argument
of shipping hazardous materials.
All right.
But will you at least
refuse to carry acetal
until the investigation is over?
Now I'm only
talking about acetal.
I'm sorry, I can't do that.
But I give you my word,
if you and the N.T.S.B. find
that acetal did cause the crash,
then you won't have to fight
the Department of Transportation.
I'll take it to them myself.
Okay,
but I'm still gonna try and
stop it from being transported.
Thank you.
- Hi, Sam.
- Hi, Quince.
Anything on the rest
of the flight crew?
Well, the flight engineer's still
missing, but we've found the pilot.
Good.
Now if there's a high enough
concentration of acetal in him,
that'll prove what caused the
crash once and for all. Where is he?
Right here.
Sam.
This body's too badly
dismembered and burned.
We'll never be able to
prove anything with this.
I know.
Ah, you're back.
You filed your report
with the N.T.S.B.?
Yeah, but they can't move until I
give them something more conclusive.
The pilot's not
going to help us.
We're gonna have to find the flight
engineer and run some tests on him.
Well, until you do, you can help Sam
with the little 'problem' that's come up.
What little problem?
Well, we've almost
finished the identifications,
except for the ones that
have been most damaged.
Now, there's a complication
with two of them.
According to the passenger list, a
Mr. and Mrs. Goff boarded the flight,
and were assigned
to seats 33A and 33B.
We found the badly burned bodies
of a couple strapped in those seats.
The problem is, Mr. and
Mrs. Goff don't seem to exist.
What?
Well, no one's been able to
locate any relatives of anyone
by that name on the flight.
No one's called to ask
about them or missed them,
and there's no
trace of identification.
Nothing?
No. But there was a
woman named Dunlap
who was expecting
her husband, Andrew,
back from a business
trip on that flight.
She said he called from the airport
and told her not to bother meeting him,
and that he'd take a taxi.
But there wasn't any Andrew
Dunlap on the flight manifest,
and she hasn't
heard from him since.
We did find the strap of a briefcase
with the initials "A.D." on it though.
Did she fill out a
questionnaire form?
Yeah... just in case.
No known dental records?
Apparently not.
And there aren't any scars,
bone breaks, operations...
anything that would help us?
No.
Then how are we
suppose to identify him?
That's impossible.
It can't be done.
Well, Astin knows
you like a challenge.
Don't schmaltz me,
Sam. He does it enough.
Let's see what we
have to work with.
From the long bones of the legs, we
can use the anthropological formulae
to approximate his
height and weight.
What are the measurements, Sam?
Fifty-one centimeters.
Okay... that would make him
about five-foot ten, 175 pounds.
How does that compare to Mrs.
Dunlap's description of her husband?
Five-foot ten and
a half, 180 pounds.
Not bad.
You think it's him, Quince?
It could be.
It also could be six
million other people.
But why would he be flying
under the name of Goff?
Who is Mrs. Goff?
Sam, you really are naive.
You've gotta start
watching soap operas,
learn about the
birds and the bees.
A man tells his wife he's
going on a business trip,
he takes along another woman...
It's America's favorite pastime.
You gotta get out more, Sam.
Is there anything
else we could use?
Yeah.
There's a partial bridge that
looks pretty unusual here.
What good is it without any
dental records to compare it to?
Maybe I better go see his wife.
Yes, that's from his brief case.
I bought it for him
last Christmas.
So Andrew was on that plane.
Oh, we can't be sure.
This is so little to go on.
Did he wear this bridge?
- Yes, I think so.
- Where?
Right here.
And that metal, it always showed
and he was always embarrassed by it.
I really could confirm it
if I had dental records.
Andrew hated dentists.
He hadn't seen one
since we were back East
and then we moved out here.
Well, is there anybody I
could contact for the records?
I don't know who.
We've been married
for eight years,
only I don't know
anything about his past.
Do you have any
pictures of your husband?
Yes, right here in
the photo album.
Right here.
Thank you.
There's not many of him.
He was always taking
pictures of me and the children.
I figure if I could find a
picture that shows that bridge.
It's unique enough to
use as legal identification.
Didn't he ever smile?
He always felt he had
nothing to smile about.
He's a very insecure man.
Well, then this is going to
be very difficult to identify.
You see, if it was your husband,
he was traveling under
an assumed name.
With another woman?
Well...
I always knew. But he loved me.
Believe it or not, he loved me.
As I say,
he was very insecure.
We'll do everything we can.
Thank you.
I can't sign Andrew
Dunlap's death certificate.
Why not?
For your sake as well
as the department's sake.
What about for Mrs.
Dunlap's sake and her kids?
They need the insurance money.
Well, we're not paying
off on what you've got,
an approximation of
his height and weight,
and a piece of luggage
with some initials on it.
And this,
a removable partial denture.
But without dental records
to prove that it was his.
Look I'm sorry, millions
of people wear these,
but this is not
sufficient legal proof.
People are not
wearing one like this.
This has an eye-bar clasp which is visible
on the distal portion of the bicuspids.
It's his just like
his wife said.
Look, come on, Quincy,
it isn't that simple.
This could have all sorts of
legal and financial ramifications.
Such as?
If we issue a death certificate
without absolute proof,
we could be a party to
defrauding the company.
I don't believe this!
You think her
husband is lying low
until she collects the
insurance money, is that it?
Not necessarily, but it
has been known to happen.
The fact is we must
demand legal proof.
If we have to pay
off in this case,
it will set a terrible
legal precedent.
But without the
death certificate,
you're not going to be the
only one that won't pay off.
The government won't come
through with the veteran's benefits,
the social security...
If her husband doesn't turn up,
she can petition the
courts to declare him dead.
Yeah and wait seven years.
What do she and the kids are
supposed to do during that time?
Look, Quincy,
we're not the monsters
you've got us painted to be.
Look, I'll tell
you what I'll do.
If you can prove
that this was his,
we'll pay her the money. But until
then, there's nothing we can do.
Sam...
Hi, Quince.
You find out anything
about the Goff woman, yet?
Nope.
How about the flight
engineer? Anything on him?
Not yet. He still
hasn't been identified.
That's terrific. I'm
batting a thousand.
You know, I've discovered
something else though.
The bodies have
been released for burial,
but it's the strangest coincidence,
something even Ripley wouldn't believe.
Well, there were three guys
sitting in seats 28A, B
and C, all in the same row.
Yeah?
And they were all industrial
chemists working for the same place.
A chemical company
called Montreaux Industries.
Yeah?
Well, all three of them were
suffering from the same thing.
What?
Lung cancer.
I think we'll have more room in here.
Why don't you sit over here, Doctor Quincy.
Thank you.
It's a terrible tragedy
about that plane crash.
Those men were three
of our best workers.
We've declared a
week of mourning,
and the company is giving
them a funeral later today.
That's very
considerate of you, sir.
Has the cause of the
crash been determined yet?
No, but we've got a
pretty good idea what was.
That's not why I'm here.
Oh?
What can we do for
you, Doctor Quincy?
I need some information.
I'd like to know what those men
were working on for the past few years.
Research.
What kind of research?
Well, I'm afraid we prefer
to keep that classified.
It's company policy not to
give out that kind of information.
We have enough problems
with industrial espionage
without giving away
secrets voluntarily.
Okay, let me put it another way.
Do you have any idea why these three
men might have developed lung cancer?
- Cancer?
- Yep.
- Are you sure?
- We found it in
all three of them.
Well, I don't have any idea
how that could have happened.
What makes you think it was
caused by something here?
Well, this is a chemical plant,
isn't it? It's not a health spa.
The chances of three unrelated people
developing the same type of cancer
and it being at the same stage in
each of them, is a million-to-one,
unless there's a
common causal factor.
And you are that factor.
I don't find that so
incredible, Doctor Quincy.
After all, we have more than
three thousand employees
in our various departments.
I'm sure that a great number
of them have bad hearts,
and others will develop cancer,
or will have strokes, or even
die in an automobile accident.
Well, if you can't tell
me what the material is,
will you at least test the researchers
to see that they're not in danger?
Doctor Quincy, we strictly enforce
health and safety regulations.
And there hasn't been one
incident of job-related illness.
There are now.
Doctor Quincy, this
is a large corporation,
not a cheap restaurant where you can
come nosing around for health violations.
We can't just open the doors on
your say-so or vague suspicions.
Is there anything else?
If there is, believe me,
you'll be the first to know.
Good day.
Could you tell me where I
can find the widows please?
Thank you.
Excuse me, I'm sorry to
come at a time like this,
but may I talk to you?
- Who are you?
- I'm Doctor Quincy.
I'm with the coroner's office.
I did the autopsies
on your husbands.
What's it about?
Did you know that your
husbands were dying from cancer?
The same type of cancer?
Yes.
Was it related to their jobs?
Yes.
- What were they working on?
- A new type of
insulation material.
And the company is
about to start marketing it.
And they're franchising it in plants
to be made all over the country.
Well, I can see why they
didn't want to cooperate.
It could cost them a fortune if
they had to deal with safety factors.
Our husbands went to the union
leaders and asked them to do something.
But now it's too late.
There's no one to testify.
Except for George Myers.
Who's he?
That man over there. He
worked with our husbands
in the same research group.
Then why wasn't he
on the plane with them?
Why don't you ask him?
Thank you very much.
- Mr. Myers...
- Yes?
I'm Doctor Quincy.
I'm with the coroner's office. I did
the autopsies on your colleagues.
It was a terrible tragedy.
You knew they were
dying from lung cancer?
No.
Have you been examined recently?
Yes. I'm as healthy as a horse.
You mind telling me the name
of the doctor that examined you?
Yes, I do mind. It's
none of your business.
If we can prevent thousands of people
from working with a dangerous material,
I think it's all our business.
Good day, sir.
I didn't do any better here
than I did with the acetal.
Great dinner, Mom.
I've gotta get going.
- Have fun.
- I will.
- Drive carefully, Bobby.
- I will.
Talk to you later, Pop.
Bye-bye.
Come on,
you promised not to cry.
I know, but I can't stop thinking
about it. Are we doing the right thing?
Of course we are.
Look, do you want to be like
those other ladies, without a penny?
Just social security and
pension, is that what you want?
Look, for our silence,
they're paying us $250,000,
so that you can go
on living in dignity,
and Bobby can
continue his education.
But it's blood money.
I keep thinking
about people like you
who may die because
we don't warn them.
I can't live with that.
Look, they're strangers,
they're nameless and faceless.
Those three men who were buried
this morning, visited in this house.
They ate at our table.
I've only got one concern,
that's you and Bobby.
Look, I don't
want to die in vain.
I don't want all of
this to be for nothing.
I don't know, I don't know,
I... I just can't stop crying.
Give me one, Danny.
Quincy, you workhorse.
How are you?
Starved is what I am.
- Whaddya got?
- The usual gourmet dishes.
It's usual all right.
The only time you change the menu
is when you want to raise the prices.
Oh, stop complaining
about the menu.
But your meat loaf has been
the 'special' for a week now.
Isn't it about time you
gave it to your dog?
Or are you going to keep
serving it until it runs out?
Sometimes you go too
far. You know that, Quincy?
That's my mother's meat loaf...
- Oh boy, there we go again!
- Yeah... oh, boy!
Nobody complains about
my mother's cooking.
Give me a break, will
you, go eat someplace else.
All right, now don't
be so sensitive!
I didn't mean to insult
your mother's cooking!
All right, m'sieur.
What are you going to have?
The special. Your
mother's meat loaf!
We're out!
Max.
Doctor Quincy.
Your service told
me I'd find you here.
Sit down, please.
Would you like a drink?
No, thanks.
Well, this is gonna be the most
expensive talk I've ever had.
How much do you know
about this whole situation?
Just what I told you, your
three colleagues had cancer.
And you suspect
that what we've been working on for
the past few years is the cause of it?
Yes I do.
Well, you're right, it is.
Now I want you to know
that I wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for my wife.
She's a wonderful woman.
She's been through hell.
It's funny, I've been
married thirty-five years
and it still breaks my
heart to see her cry.
What do you want to know?
What kind of
research you're doing.
It's a new type of insulation
material for the homes.
It's very inexpensive!
Synthetic fiber with the same
high-quality insulating properties
as mineral insulation.
Yeah, very profitable
for the company
and it appears
safe, but it isn't.
After a while the oxidation
of the fibers causes
a carcinogen
and if you're exposed to
the carcinogens long enough,
it causes lung cancer.
Well, isn't there any way
to protect the workers?
Yes. Under no circumstances
is anyone to be exposed
to the fibers
during manufacture.
The final product must
be coated with a polymer
to prevent the
formation of carcinogens.
But this procedure is expensive
and the company won't
do anything about it.
Will you help me to
present this to O.S.H.A.?
Yes.
This is the research we've
been doing for the last nine years.
This is my doctor's report
on my terminal cancer.
You wanted proof, there it is.
A direct cause-and-effect relationship
between the cancer in those men
and the materials
they were working with.
Cause-and-effect?
I don't believe
it, Doctor Quincy.
No one knows what causes
cancer, or what triggers it.
I read the newspaper every
morning with my breakfast,
and it looks like every day
they condemn something else
that's been around for years.
Soda.
Coffee sweetener. Bacon.
And you're telling
me this causes it?
I'm not talking about theories,
I'm talking about facts.
Facts that can be tested.
Facts that can be proven.
How?
By government-funded studies
that justify their budgets
feeding massive and
concentrated doses to laboratory rats
and then declaring them hazardous
to humans in normal amounts?
No, Doctor Quincy.
In other words, you want
to ignore this danger?
We're not ignoring
anything, Doctor Quincy.
We do everything
within the strict legal limits
as prescribed by the government.
Come on, your company develops
new substances all the time.
How can the government
make regulations
about things that
don't even exist?
If they don't exist, aren't
you being a bit premature
in saying that it causes cancer?
Cancer is not an
immediate, overnight thing.
It develops gradually over
many years of exposure.
Now in your case, up till now, it has
been confined to those four chemists,
but once those plants
open all over the country,
who knows what's going to happen in
the next five, or ten, or twenty years?
We're only learning now about
mistakes we made a generation ago.
I don't know what you're
talking about, Doctor Quincy,
but I'm going to tell you
something I do know about.
We already have 450 franchises
sold all over the country.
Each plant will
employ 2,000 people.
We're talking about 90,000
jobs and that's only the first year.
You're also talking about
90,000 potential cancer victims.
Oh, you're just
being an alarmist.
There are plenty of
other people these days
who are ruining the
economy of this country.
By asking you to install some extra
safety factors to protect the workers?
Yes. It would be
prohibitively expensive.
Tell me, what is the cost of
people's lives these days?
That's not a very fair
question, Doctor Quincy.
We're in the chemical business,
and we have one very
fundamental law for survival:
to show a corporate
profit to our shareholders.
That is our first concern.
Along with your six-figure
salaries and your expense accounts.
We earn every
penny, Doctor Quincy.
Take your best shot.
Oh, I fully intend to.
I'm gonna take this to the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration.
And then the wives
of those chemists.
They are going to pay a visit
to some competent attorneys
about a whopping damage suit.
I hope you understand that
you could upset a lot of people.
We have a very powerful lobby
and our own attorneys
to insure our position.
Well, maybe, just maybe,
your policy has run out.
Those flight recorders
must have been thrown clear.
We're still looking for them.
And we can't find the flight
engineer among the victims.
He had to be on the plane.
How could he have disappeared?
I don't know. We're about to
move the last of the wreckage.
Now if he doesn't turn up, I
don't know what happened to him.
I think they're ready.
All right, I want everybody
back. Come on, move, everybody.
All right, back... back!
Anchor away!
There he is, in there, in the
hell-hole under the cockpit floor.
What was he doing there?
There's a lot of electronic
equipment in that compartment.
He may have gone down
to check on something.
When you get him out, have him
brought to the morgue, will you?
I want to test him for acetal
to see if that caused the crash.
Whoa. Wait a minute, Quincy.
Let's not get our jobs confused.
Now you do the tests, find out
what's there and make your report.
But me, I've got to be objective
and weigh all the evidence. Okay?
Sounds fair enough.
I'm gonna call Sam.
All right.
Jim! Over here, give
me a hand, will you?
Sam, we found
the flight engineer.
When they bring him in, I want you
to run some tests on him for acetal.
Okay, Quince.
Oh, by the way, Mrs.
Dunlap called for you.
What about?
Well, she thinks she may have something
that can help identify her husband.
I'll get right over
there. I'll see you later.
This is some home films that I
had tucked away in the hall closet
and I thought there might be
some sh*ts of Andrew there
that could be some help.
It's worth a try.
And this is my son's
seventh birthday party.
That's Andrew with the kids.
Freeze the frame, will you?
There it is!
There it is! The eye-bar clasp.
There's no doubt about it. It
was him and we can prove it.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
Hi, Sam.
Hi, Quince. How'd it go?
Well, I don't want to brag but
I identified Dunlap last night.
One tiny frame from an eight
millimeter film did the trick.
What about the flight engineer?
Did you finish the tests?
Yeah. Here's something
to dampen your enthusiasm.
Not a trace of acetal in him.
- Are you sure?
- Uh-huh. Positive.
I'll get into my greens.
Severe crushing injuries of
the cranium and cerebral area.
No sooting in the trachea or
lungs... no hemorrhage, Sam.
Well, that explains why there
wasn't any acetal in his body.
The flight engineer must have
died immediately on impact,
the co-pilot lived
a little longer.
If acetal had been
the cause of the crash,
they both would have
had it in their bodies.
Yeah. I guess the containers for the
acetal must have broken open in the crash
and the co-pilot absorbed enough
fumes to throw us off the track.
But the flight engineer wasn't
affected since he was already dead.
Maybe the flight engineer
was dead before impact, Sam.
What do you mean?
These burns, Sam,
from the palm of his
hand and forearm.
What do they look like to you?
Electrical burns.
That's right, electrical burns.
I need tissue sections with
stains from these burned areas.
How long will that take you?
About an hour.
Where are you going?
To call Riggins to see if
he can get here right away.
Hi, John. How's it going?
We found the flight recorders.
But they cut out about three
minutes before the crash.
They did? How'd it happen?
Well, went dead. Zero.
Stopped functioning.
The flight recorders? Do
you know what happened?
Mechanical problems
or internal damage,
but we checked for
those and didn't find any.
About the only other thing
would be a power surge
causing some
electrical problems.
Power!
That's why I was
calling you. It fits.
How fast can you get over here?
Right away, if
it's that important.
Why, what's going on?
I think I've got the answer.
I'll tell you when you get here.
Some of the burns on the
flight engineer's body are
different than the others.
That's because they were not
caused by flames, but by electricity.
I suspect lightning.
Lightning?
Is that what you brought
me down here for?
Do you know how
far-fetched that is?
What, that a plane is hit by lightning?
Doesn't that happen all the time?
Sure, but it doesn't
do any harm.
The planes are so well-grounded,
there are spark arrestors,
all kinds of insulation.
Ah, but...
there isn't as much insulation
between the metal hull
and the interior of the
plane up front, is there?
There are a lot of
exposed metal surfaces
where a lightning charge could be
dangerous to anyone touching them.
Yeah, but tests have shown that the crew
is pretty well protected in the cockpit.
Yeah, but what about
under the cockpit?
That's where the flight
engineer was found, wasn't he?
You said he might have gone down
there to check on some minor problem.
Yeah. So?
So he could have been down
there when the lightning struck.
And if he had any of the
electronics equipment open,
he might have been electrocuted.
All right, lightning
could have caused
a short or power overload that
tripped out the flight recorders, too.
The power failure would have
knocked out the navigational instruments
and the pilots would have been
flying blind because of the cloud cover.
By the time they broke out of the
clouds and saw the ground, it was too late.
They tried to recover
but they ran out of altitude.
That's some scenario.
It's possible, isn't it?
Possible, yeah.
Theoretically, maybe.
But so is a meteorite
hitting the plane,
they both have about the
same chance of happening.
Come on, where did you
pick up such a crazy idea?
A curious thing happens
to the tissues of the body
when they're exposed to a
powerful electrical current.
Yeah, the nuclei of the
cells tend to polarize,
unlike anything
that occurs in nature.
Let's take a look
through the microscope.
Yeah.
All right.
Is it all set up, Sam?
Yeah.
These are some of the tissue sections
from the flight engineer's forearm.
Take a look.
On the right you see normal tissue
of the characteristic round nuclei
and on the left is tissue
from one of the burns.
The nuclei has been
polarized and elongated,
stretched out by
the electrical current.
It's typical of an electrical burn
and, believe me, it was a powerful jolt.
I'll be damned. It
sure looks like it.
I'll go back and check it out.
Now once we know
what we're looking for,
we ought to be able to find
evidence of a lightning strike
or an electrical
fire in the system.
Oh, uh, you know, you're
not so crazy after all, Quincy.
Thanks.
What's the matter?
Don't you know how to take a
compliment when you get one?
Is that what it was?
I guess so.
Oh by the way, Astin told me to
tell you as soon as you're finished,
you can go home and
catch up with your sleep.
I'm going to get a
twenty-hour nap. See you later.
As a matter of fact, he
said to take an extra day off.
Hey, isn't that
considerate of him?
Considerate, nothing.
He's trying to cut down on all the overtime
that piled up in the last few days.
If you take the day off, Quincy,
he can deduct the hours
from your weekly total.
He never misses
a trick, old scrooge!
The Occupational Safety and
Health Administration shut down
the research just like that.
O.S.H.A. did that?
Yeah, they're going to have to put in all
those safety factors, I'll tell you that.
What about Mr. Myers and the
wives of those other men, Quincy?
They've filed a
three-million-dollar damage suit.
The company wants to
settle out of court already.
Listen, they're not stupid.
They know when they're licked.
Well, it's nice to know
the government is still looking
out for people every now and then.
Johnny... here.
- What do you want to drink?
- Scotch on the rocks please.
What did you find out?
Well, it checked out just
the way you thought, Quince.
It was a one-in-a-million shot,
but you hit it right on the nose.
What about the acetal?
Well, since it wasn't
the cause of the accident,
they're still allowed
to transport it.
But we're fighting
it. Thank you.
Gentlemen, here's to it
never happening again.
Amen!
And a hallelujah to you before
you turn this place into a church.
04x16 - Aftermath
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Series follows Dr. Quincy, a resolute, excitable, ethical and highly proficient Medical Examiner (forensic pathologist) for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, working to ascertain facts about and reasons for possible suspicious deaths.
Series follows Dr. Quincy, a resolute, excitable, ethical and highly proficient Medical Examiner (forensic pathologist) for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, working to ascertain facts about and reasons for possible suspicious deaths.