02x11 - 404: Flight Not Found

[bunniefuu]

Argus Air 272, deviation has not been approved.

Please return to previously cleared route.

Do you read me? Are you still there?

(static crackling)

Argus Air 272, weather at current heading.

Return to cleared route. Do you copy?

(rumbling)

Washington Center, Argus 272.

We're experiencing some turbulence.

Please advise. Over.

All we're getting is static.

What, is it naptime down there?

(bell chiming)

Argus 272, if you read transmission, ident. Ident.

(staticky communication)

(alarms beeping) Whoa. Whoa. Whoa, whoa.

Wh-What is this?

I'll cross-check the instruments.

See what that was all about.

Washington Center, Argus 272.

(staticky): ...read... how do you read?

Argus 272, weather at current heading.

(alarm blaring)

I need a supervisor.

Looks like we've got an ADS-B malfunction.

I've got phantom planes here.

They're all Argus 272.

Argus Air 272, ident. Ident immediately.

Get the Domestic Events Network on the phone, ASAP.

We've got an emergency situation.

This is your captain speaking.

We are approaching a band of severe weather.

Fasten your seatbelts and remain seated. Thank you.

Transmission ident. Do you read me?

Sir, I have them on the line.

Argus Air 272, do you read me?

If you read transmission, id...

Sir?

Sir, the planes just disappeared. All the planes.

Argus Air Flight 272 is no longer on my scope.

Supervisor: What?

Flight 272 is gone.

Flight 272 took off this afternoon from Tampa, heading for Rhode Island.

We lost contact over Wilmington, North Carolina, an hour and a half ago.

Plane just disappeared.

Plane relay any indication of mechanical failure?

Technical malfunction? Not that I know of.

The flight was just off course.

I tried to contact the pilot, and suddenly, phantom planes appeared on the scope.

Supervisor: Our I.T. department couldn't explain the phantom planes, but they did uncover a cyber intrusion, which we told you about.

Someone assigned Flight 272 an unauthenticated flight plan right before takeoff. Pilot couldn't have known.

That's why the plane veered off course before it disappeared.

That plane wasn't supposed to be anywhere near that storm.

Any other planes reporting problems?

No, but we're double checking.

If the hacker already intruded into the system, it's possible he has a backdoor into the NAS, and every flight in the sky is vulnerable.

Nelson: Come on, Krummy.

Why walk when you can glide?

I mean, look at this.

Huh?

Ooh.

With that Agent Pierce?

Rosalyn is in town for a conference and I'm her only friend in DC.

Look at Krummy.

Making moves.

Yeah.

Huh?

(chuckles)

Nelson: Oh, snap.

That's Emmitt Smith.

That's Emmitt Sm...

Yo, DB is going to be so jealous he was out of town for this.

Hey, Emmitt!

Hey, Emmitt! Emmitt!

Oh, Emmitt!

Hey, man!

What's up? What's up?

Brody Nelson.

Brody? How you doing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Daniel Krumitz.

Daniel.

Diehard Redskins fan, but I can still appreciate the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

Thank you, man.

Man, I like those wheels.

Oh, thanks, man.

Self-balancing electric scooter.

How fast can that thing go?

Only one way to find out.

Think you still got that first step?

You know it.

But, uh... I am in my dress shoes.

Mmm, okay.

Go!

(whoops)

To the 40!

To the 30!

(whoops)

Emmitt: That's your friend, huh?

We work together.

But if you didn't have dress shoes on, would you have raced him?

You know, when you have the skills, you got to put 'em to use.

Hmm.

What about you and me?

What about it?

In socks.

Bad idea. Sorry.

(phone chiming)

Come on, man.

Nelson!

We gotta go!

Uh...

Okay.

Bye, Emmitt Smith!

Man: Hey, can I have your autograph?

Woman: Look, it's Emmitt Smith!

Reporter: An Argus Airline flight has been reported missing with 75 people on board. A spokesman for the airline has confirmed that search and rescue teams...

Reporter 2: ...friends and family have gathered outside the airport and are demanding answers.

Reporter 2: We're going live now to T.F. Green Airport.

The flight was traveling from Tampa, Florida, to Providence, Rhode Island, when it went missing.

Attempts to contact the plane have not been successful.

We are coordinating with the FAA, Department of Defense, Homeland Security and NORAD.

Director! Director! Director!

What about reports of a potential crash site in North Carolina?

Any rumors of a crash are false.

Deputy Director Ryan of the Cyber Division is prepared to fill you in with what we do know.

Our investigation has uncovered a cyber intrusion in the NAS flight plan database.

We're currently assessing if any other aircraft has been affected.

At this point, no one has come forward to take credit for the hack.

But we do know that the missing plane was intentionally diverted from its path.

But as of now, we simply have no idea where Flight 272 is.

(reporters clamoring)

Well, you need to find out.

Our children are on that plane.

My daughter Emily and her teammates.

What are you going to do to find them?

I know that this is hard.

I know you need answers and I wish I had them.

But our investigation is still in its preliminary stages.

But you need to know that it is everyone's top priority to find Flight 272.

Radar is searching.

Jets have been scrambled.

And I will do everything in my power to find that plane.

And to find your children.

Question. Question. Director...

Question! Director... Question.

Controller: Monument Air 625, Washington Center...

(sighs)

Krummy, this is crazy, man.

It's like Malaysia Air all over again.

I'm not finding anything that explains those phantom planes.

Equipment all checks out.

Yeah. Here, too.

Look, I don't think the scope is to blame.

I mean, the FAA would have figured that out themselves.

I mean, the fact that they needed to call us at all means that the intrusion's much more sophisticated.

I'm thinking that Flight 272's onboard GPS device may have been tampered with.

Okay, wait a minute.

One device can cause 50 separate phantom planes to appear?

Well, technically, if it can create one, it can create 50, and we both know that there's not 50 Flight 272s flying around up there.

The plane was flying directly into bad weather.

Could a lightning strike cause this kind of glitch?

No, I already ruled that out.

It had to be deliberate.

The plane's GPS device should be telling us exactly where the plane actually was.

Yeah. Instead, it created 50 phantom planes spread across a ten-mile radius.

And every one of the phantom planes is being broadcast by a single GPS device.

Okay.

I'm gonna triangulate the last known location of the GPS device and I should get the last known location of the real Flight 272.

Looks like it crashed right there.

Wilmington, North Carolina.

That elevation's low.

Too low.

(sirens wailing, horn blaring)

Director, I'm approaching the crash site now.

There's nothing here.

Elijah: Krumitz, I thought there was supposed to be a plane crash.

What, exactly, are we looking for?

Krumitz: I'm sort of hoping I'll know it when I see it.

I thought the aircraft's GPS device was broadcasting those phantom planes, but clearly, I was wrong about that.

What else could do that?

Whatever it is, it's in this field and we just need to find it.

Elijah: Tire tracks.

Somebody drove through here recently.

Last couple of days, I'd say.

Something was unloaded here, and all that's left are a bunch of cords and empty cases.

(rustling, clinking)

I think we just found our plane crash.

♪ ♪

Local units are running down the tire tracks we came across in North Carolina, but it's a long sh*t.

How are you guys coming along?

This is what you and I pulled out of that tree.

It's an inflatable antenna.

Like a GATR.

m*llitary uses them during ground combat for communication.

It's lightweight, portable, powerful.

What was this one being used for?

Software-defined radio.

He's a clever bastard.

Taking advantage of Air Traffic Control's reliance on GPS to monitor planes.

ADS-B.

It's the latest and greatest in air traffic surveillance.

Just like in your car or on your phone.

Tells the pilot where he's going.

Tells Air Traffic Control exactly where the plane is located.

Yeah, but the system was built for convenience, not security.

An SD radio, like this one here, can spoof GPS signals.

Nelson: It could tell Air Traffic Control that there's planes in the sky even when there are none.

And Air Traffic Control can't tell the difference between the real planes and these fake ones.

Nelson: Dot on the screen is a dot on the screen.

It's all the same to them.

It's a huge vulnerability and someone just exploited it.

Elijah: So first, our hacker assigned Flight 272 an unauthorized flight plan.

The pilot, unaware of the hack, did what he was supposed to do, and diverted the plane, per those instructions. Next, they spoofed a bunch of signals so Air Traffic Control couldn't keep track of the real plane, and in the chaos,

Flight 272 slipped away.

We're not just looking for a missing plane.

This is a cyber hijacking.

♪ CSI Cyber 2x11 ♪
404: Flight Not Found
Original Air Date on January 10, 2016

♪ I know you've deceived me, now here's a surprise ♪
♪ I know that you have, 'cause there's magic in my eyes ♪
♪ I can see for miles and miles ♪
♪ I can see for miles and miles ♪
♪ I can see for miles and miles ♪
♪ And miles... ♪
♪ Oh, yeah. ♪

Flight 272 has been missing for a little over three hours.

This is the distance a plane could've traveled during that time.

Krumitz: Current search area is half a million square miles.

Plane disappeared into bad weather.

There's no way of telling what direction it's heading now.

The SD radio created 50 fake planes in order to mask which direction the real Flight 272 was heading when it vanished.

It's like a "Zerg Rush"-- it's a gaming strategy, where you implement a swarm to overtake a stronger opponent.

But in this case, our cyber hijacker used spoofed signals to confuse air traffic control.

And because of the chaos, there's no way of knowing what the plane's final heading was.

Jets were scrambled, but with visibility so low, the plane was long gone.

Good news-- no plane crashes or signs of debris have been reported.

So as far as we know, Flight 272 is still airborne.

Bad news-- they now have less than two hours of fuel left.

And the pilot has no idea that the flight plan's been altered, so he'll be running out of fuel with no plan on where to land.

Mundo: Coast Guard search and rescue is out there.

Every plane in the sky is on the lookout, but time is not on our side.

How can a commercial airplane just vanish?

Ground-based radar can detect a plane flying over land or up to 200 miles off the coast, and they've come up empty, so we're guessing that this flight is out to sea.

Krumitz: The real weird thing is the plane's GPS signal should still work and it's not.

Along with half a dozen other communication devices used to talk to the ground, I mean, the plane went silent.

Could the pilot have turned that off?

GPS locators all come on when the plane does.

Pilot can't just disconnect them.

Our missing plane went completely dark.

It just, it makes no sense.

Is there some kind of object or-or device that could interfere with all those signals?

Possibly, yeah.

Something could be running interference, like a, like a signal disrupter.

It would have to be physically brought on board by somebody who's on that plane now.

Mundo: 71 passengers and four crew members.

That means we have 75 suspects.

We have a possible hijacker on that flight.

We need to single them out.

Pull up the flight manifest.

We're looking for outliers; anyone who stands out.

All right, how about the guy in 2F?

Edger Miller-- bought his ticket at the airport today.

What do we know about Edger Miller on social media?

"Edger Miller-- single."

Occupation listed-- mechanical engineer.

And he's worked at the telephone company for two years.

Well, an engineer might know a little something about hijacking a plane.

Think that it might be a domestic t*rror1st?

I'm not ruling anything out.

Okay, check out 12C.

Paul Lammers. He's on a one-way ticket.

No return booked.

Ramirez: Paul's ex-m*llitary.

Started working in the private sector two years ago. Married, three children.

Okay, recent post says that he was heading to Providence to bid on a new construction job.

Well, that explains the open-ended travel.

He's not sure how long he'll be there.

How about Erica Chan, seat 10D?

Flying on a Chinese passport.

Immigration has her visiting the United States on a student visa.

(thunder crashing)

Ramirez: No American social media presence that I can find.

I'll have Interpol check Renren, see if she posted anything at home.

Rows four and five.

Those are the high schoolers returning home.

Volleyball team.

Our children are on that plane.

My daughter Emily and her teammates.

There's eight students and two chaperones.

Ramirez: They can't possibly be involved.

Ryan: Right now, everyone's a suspect.

What do we know about our pilot?

Veteran pilot.

He's been with Argus Air for 12 years.

Personnel file is, well, spotless.

Okay, recent relationship status-- married to divorced to single.

You think Richard Reynolds cracked?

Maybe another German Wings situation?

You know, pilot kills himself along with everybody else on board?

Ryan: I don't know about that.

Look at all this support he's receiving.

Friends, family-- they're all commenting with love and support.

And changing his relationship status to single means that he is healing.

Richard's moving on.

And as far as we know, pilot's following protocol.

Lost radio communication-- he'll stick to his flight plan.

Our cyber hijackers thought this through.

This is meticulously planned, well-ex*cuted, but high-risk.

They have to be on board to make this work.

What would motivate someone to do that?

No one's taking credit for the att*ck.

Yeah, and no one's defecting from Florida to Rhode Island.

I doubt it's political.

Then what is so important about Flight 272?

Argus 272 at flight level 350.

How do you read, over?

(static crackling)

There's nothing.

No radio, even the datalink's a bust.

(thunder rumbling)

The storm's not letting up, is it?

Well, I've flown through worse weather.

Just stick to the flight plan, we should be fine.

We start diverting on our own, we're liable to end up in someone else's airspace, and that's how midair collisions happen.

You all right?

Yeah, yeah.

Just... heart's racing.

I feel like my blood sugar's a little low.

I'm gonna have a flight attendant bring me an orange juice.

Well, listen, without radio contact, we're virtually flying blind.

Do whatever you got to do.

I need you at 100%.

Artie: This is just a big misunderstanding!

Man: Sir, you're gonna have to calm down!

Talk to Agent Mundo, Agent Krumitz-- they can vouch for me!

You're gonna have to talk to me.

Oh, you're Deputy Director Ryan.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

I've heard great things about you.

All right, on your feet.

I'm-I'm, uh, Artie Sneed.

Artie?

Uh, has anyone mentioned me?

I think I've heard your name before.

I just didn't know that you were visiting us today.

Ma'am, this man was attempting to enter the building with doctored documentation.

No, no, no, no, no. That's my pass from the last time I was here, it just had the wrong date.

I changed the date, which was actually very easy.

Very, very easy.

Ryan: Mr. Sneed!

We're in the midst of a crisis. I don't have time for this.

If you want to speak to one of my agents, I recommend you call first.

No, no, wait, wait! Wait.

The missing plane? I saw it on the news today.

It just vanished?

I think I can help you figure out why.

And you stand right here.

Okay?

Everyone is in position, whenever you're ready.

Okay, turning it on now.

(blipping, low electronic squealing)

Mark, am I blocking your signal?

No, still green.

Amy?

All this to figure out how our missing plane went silent?

Oh, hey, Elijah.

I'll tell you, that boss of yours-- she is a hell of a woman.

She put me through the wringer before she'd even let me come up here.

She's not a huge fan of uninvited guests.

Oh, she is a force to be reckoned with.

Artie?

What is all this?

Oh, this is great.

What I have done is devised a way to bring the plane to us.

I reconstructed the entire plane, Flight 272.

If you look over here, this is the left wing, which stretches out across Pennsylvania Avenue.

And right now, I'm standing on the engine.

You kind of have to use your imagination.

And you'll notice that each one of these techs is holding various different pieces of communication equipment that will be found on Flight 272.

And I'm holding a signal jammer.

It can block a wide range of radio frequencies.

Take that thing to a movie theater, and no one around you will be getting any phone calls.

And that signal jammer explains why our plane is invisible.

Our hijacker has a device like this on board.

Well, anyone sitting in the first 15 rows of the airplane, with a signal jammer like this, is gonna block all the instruments in the cockpit.

Which would render all the radios useless.

But I'm sensing there's a bigger issue here.

Guys?

Amy, still nothing?

Mark, am I blocking your signal?

No?

Engine manufacturers equip their engines with self-diagnostic tools that wirelessly talk to the ground.

Air traffic control should be getting updates from them.

But that's just not the case with Flight 272.

Artie: You see, (clears throat) the plane's fuselage causes too much attenuation so that a common, um, signal jammer can't block these kinds of signals.

So that signal jammer's not strong enough?

Correct, no.

Artie, why do you know so much about airplanes?

Uh, Baltimore RC Aeronautics Club.

Charter Member.

We strive for accuracy, which, believe me, takes tremendous amount of research; planes schematics, etc.

You'd be surprised what you can find if you know--

Got it, got it.

Artie, did you bring anything strong enough to reach the engines through the fuselage?

Maybe. Um...

Let's see, uh...

I just got to find--

Aha!

(grunts)

This is what we call a white noise generator.

Uh, essentially, it's a-a, a signal jammer on steroids.

How do we know it's working?

(jammer beeping quietly)

(alarm beeping)

Woman: What's going on?

(staffers murmuring)

Oh, it's working.

It's jamming the signal right here in CTOC.

Man: What is this?

(murmuring continues)

This is the only thing strong enough to make Flight 272 become invisible.

So, how does someone get that through airport security and onto our plane?

We're looking for anyone on our flight traveling with a large piece of equipment.

Anything suspicious at all.

Just found the flight crew. I'm cueing it up now.

Ryan: Right there.

Our copilot set off the metal detector.

All right, TSA logs report that our copilot, Anthony Briggs, has an implanted insulin pump.

Now, Argus personnel file doesn't have any mention of diabetes.

Yeah, well that's 'cause commercial airline pilots aren't permitted to be insulin dependent.

My flying buddies talk about this.

Pilots with conditions that should ground them, they just simply don't tell the FAA about the diagnosis.

It's doctor/patient confidentiality.

But TSA doesn't know about those regulations.

So they just check the paperwork and let 'em through.

But keeping a secret from your employer does not make you a hijacker.

Yeah, well, he travels light.

He didn't bring that white noise generator on board.

Ramirez: Hey, I got Edger Miller.

Ryan: The guy who bought the same-day ticket.

Yeah, I did some more digging on his travel plans.

Turns out that he's flying home to Providence to surprise his mother for her birthday.

Mundo: He's clean.

Guys, I think I got something here.

Erica Chan, Chinese national.

Check this out.

According to the TSA log, Erica had a doctor's note approving her travel with her portable oxygen concentrator.

It's a breathing apparatus.

How many healthy-looking young women in their 20s suffer from emphysema?

Not many. This is our white noise generator.

And Erica Chan is our hijacker.

(thunder crashing)

All right, 68 minutes before that flight runs out of fuel.

That's less than a quarter of a t*nk left.

What the hell is Erica Chan after?

Well, she went to one of the top universities in China.

She majored in computer science.

Why come to America and hijack a plane?

Is she a t*rror1st?

A dozen major U.S. cities within her reach.

t*rror1st MO is to make a statement.

You hijack a plane to crash it.

You hold passengers hostage, then you make demands.

None of that's happened.

Erica Chan has something else in store for this plane.

Ramirez: I found another intrusion.

Tampa Bay dr*gs.

Pharmacy is near the airport.

Erica Chan prescribed herself 20 milligrams of liquid morphine.

That's powerful stuff.

Ryan: Take a little, it'll knock you out.

You take a lot, it'll k*ll you.

All right, so Erica Chan hijacks a plane and brings along a powerful sedative.

What's her plan?

The plane was just the first step.

I think Miss Chan is after someone on that flight.

Man: Thank you.

Hi. Is that seat taken?

Oh, um, here, take the aisle.

The window's always a little cold.

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

You know, no matter what flight I'm on, I somehow always end up next to the chatty housewife.

I've had my fair share.

(polite chuckle) I recommend a good pair of headphones.

(chuckles)

Oops.

Oh.

Sorry.

I got you.

Thank you.

Here you go.

Thank you.

Okay, this is a white noise generator, creates static across a wide range of frequencies, overpowering all other communications.

So this is why we can't talk to the plane and the plane can't talk to us.

Yeah, and we can't find the plane because of the white noise generator.

And we can't get rid of the white noise generator because we're not on the plane.

So we need to find something that's on the plane, and still operating, and allows us to communicate with Flight 272 despite the white noise generator.

All right.

(wheels squeaking)

Oh, sorry.

I-I guess I could use some WD-40.

I-I'm sorry.

Krumitz: Yes.

Wait a minute.

Artie, that's it!

It...

Okay, it's-it's a high-pitched squeak.

What-what-what did I miss?

I don't know, but I love it when he's excited like this, Artie.

(wheels squeaking)

Ah! Uh...

Ms. Ryan?

Ms. Ryan, I-I wanted to apologize again for barging in.

Oh, that's all right, Artie.

This time.

To the point, I was wondering if maybe, uh, I could offer you and your team my services on a more official level.

What I'm trying to say is: do you take on, um, civilian partners-- consultants?

Our budget's a little tight at this time.

Uh, I get it, I really do.

I'm very affordable; ridiculously so.

I was thinking maybe I could share some of my specialties and maybe pick up a few new ones.

You've got very smart people that work here.

We could think of it as a kind of a... um, an internship.

You see, I really just enjoy hanging around with you guys, and I was looking forward to maybe getting to know you better.

Ramirez: Avery?

There's a U.S. marshal that needs to talk to you.

Uh, I'll take the call in my office.

Actually, she's here.

She's coming up.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Deputy Director, my office found a complication with your missing plane.

I've got a U.S. marshal on board, Irvin Minkler.

Flying under a pseudonym, I assume, which is why a marshal didn't come up on the flight manifest.

I really can't disclose...

Ms. Stoller, I'm not interested in DoJ protocol right now.

Mr. Minkler is on the job, or you wouldn't be here.

So is it witness protection, or is it prisoner transport?

The nature of this particular case is very sensitive.

Witness protection it is.

We have reason to believe that this woman is targeting someone on our missing flight.

Erica Chan?

If this woman is on that flight, you can be sure she's there to k*ll my witness.

Stoller: Erica Chan's target is a 16-year-old girl named Natalie Roth.

She was taking out the trash in the alley behind her apartment and witnessed a m*rder.

Now, I'm breaking protocol here, but she's been living under the alias Rebecca Taylor.

Ryan: I know that name, Rebecca Taylor.

She's one of the girls coming back from that volleyball trip.

Stoller: Yeah, we reluctantly agreed to let her go on this trip for school. We thought we could keep her safe.

A young girl witnesses a m*rder, and she and her entire family end up in witness protection?

The m*rder*r in question is a lieutenant in the Chinese Triads.

They made sure three other witnesses turned up dead in the last year alone.

And Erica Chan's trying to make that an even four.

She managed to track down a witness, hijack a plane-- how far will she go to k*ll Rebecca Taylor?

The Triads don't like to be disappointed.

She will k*ll her mark or die trying.

Like Artie's squeaky cart, the missing plane's in-flight entertainment system communicates at a very high frequency.

We should be able to hear that frequency over the white noise generator.

All right, so the plane's squeaking.

We just need to listen.

Krumitz: Exactly. And using ground stations and satellites, (radar pinging) we should be able to hear it.

Well, what exactly are we listening for?

Anything transmitting at 30,000 feet.

Wait a minute, guys, we have a bigger problem here.

Anthony Briggs, the copilot-- he's got an implanted insulin pump.

It communicates with a receiver using radio frequencies.

Krumitz: You're right.

The white noise generator would interfere with that.

Which is definitely not good.

I mean, his device could just decide to empty its contents.

We're talking a lethal dose of insulin for the copilot.

Would the copilot even know what was happening?

I mean, could he stop it?

Not until it's too late.

We need to find that plane and get that man to a hospital.

Avery, I have more bad news.

Wait, we're on course, but this can't be right.

They've got us hundreds of miles off the shoreline, when we should be heading in for a landing.

I need a...

I need...

Anthony. Anthony.

I need a sh*t.

(syringe rattles onto floor)

Anthony! Anthony!

(syringe clatters onto floor)

(sighing heavily)

(radar pinging)

Krumitz: We got it.

We've located the plane's entertainment system's frequency.

We found Flight 272.

Nelson: All right, pulling up a live satellite image of its location now.

It's confirmed, Colonel, send them out.

Pentagon's scrambling fighter jets.

They should make contact with the airline pilot within minutes.

Something's troubling you.

What is Erica Chan waiting for?

She's on that plane, she's within striking distance of her target.

If she'd already k*lled Rebecca Taylor, she'd want that plane to land as soon as possible.

Why is that plane still airborne?

You're right, the longer she's in the air, the higher the chance she gets caught.

Erica must know that.

Okay, I uncovered several failed attempts to hack the WITSEC database.

That's not how Erica got the flight info.

Instead, she found a weak link: a low-level marshal fell victim to a classic spearfishing campaign.

Mundo: Leaked the flight number and the U.S. marshal transporting the witness.

What about the witness's name?

I don't see it anywhere here.

Wait, that's what Erica's waiting for.

She doesn't know who the target is.

That's why she diverted the plane with the flight-plan hack.

She wanted to make sure she had enough time to locate her target.

Rebecca Taylor is traveling with her volleyball team.

The marshal would keep his distance tailing, rather than draw attention.

Marshal's not sitting with the witness.

And if Erica has identified the marshal, he's in danger.

We need to find a way to warn him.

I may have a way to do that.

The same in-flight entertainment system we used to track the plane is equipped with passenger-to-passenger texting.

Yeah, those things do way more than just show movies.

You can use those to chat with friends, order drinks...

Can use it to send the marshal a warning.

Nelson: I'm on it.

Checking the manifest.

All right, I got it. He's in seat 7C.

Yeah, wait a minute, though.

We don't know what's going on up there.

And instead of warning the air marshal, we might be alerting Erica to the fact that we're on to her.

That's a risk we have to take.

(bell chiming)

(blipping)

Krumitz: We got a response.

"Give me the witness's name, or I'll drop this plane out of the sky."

(sighs) Erica got to the marshal.

We're too late.

This hijacking just turned into a standoff at 30,000 feet.

Fighter pilot: Negative comms with aircraft. Utilizing flashlights at this time.

Yes, sir, I'll pass that along.

Fighter pilots have made visual contact with Flight 272's pilot.

They're escorting him in for a landing.

Make sure they're aware of the situation.

Report any change in status.

We don't know what Erica Chan is capable of.

She said she could drop that plane out of the sky.

We know that she's a proficient hacker, but can she do that?

Mundo: Air Force pilots are reporting that Flight 272 is falling, fast.

She saw the jets. This is her counterattack.

Mayday, mayday. This is Argus 272.

If anyone is reading me, we are losing thrust.

(alarm blaring)

Throttle not responding.

My first officer is in need of medical attention.

We are losing altitude. Repeat, we are losing altitude.

Can anyone read me?

(passengers gasping, murmuring)

(gasping) Oh, God!

Girl: Are you all right?

(everyone talking at once)

(keypad blipping)

How did Erica just do that?

The only thing I can think of, uh... hard-wire in through the plane's entertainment system.

She must be issuing commands through the thrust-management computer.

Erica has control of the engines!

Artie: (clears throat) A security researcher claimed to have done it successfully, but the airlines are all denying that it's possible.

Typical big business: Deny the problem and hope that it goes away.

How do we stop Erica Chan?

We're already in communication with the in-flight entertainment system.

I should be able to kick Erica off.

And if that doesn't work, what's our backup plan?

(clears throat) Uh, well, worst-case scenario, the pilot might be able to pull the onboard computer, but that would leave the plane with only partial hydraulics.

But... he should have full control of the engines again.

That would make the plane tough as hell to fly.

It'd be like a school bus with wings.

You'd need to be an incredibly skilled pilot to bring that plane down safely.

Ryan: With the copilot sick, he would have to do it all by himself.

That doesn't help his chances.

Krumitz: Artie's right.

The only way to ensure Erica Chan can't take control of the aircraft is to pull that computer.

Artie, I need to know exactly what happens if you unplug a commercial airliner's onboard computer in flight.

If we go this route, I don't want any surprises.

Yes, ma'am.

Raven, try to kick Erica off.

I'll buy you time.

Okay.

Krumitz, compose a message to Ms. Chan.

This is Deputy Director Avery Ryan. FBI Cyber.

It's time to negotiate.

(typing rapidly)

Krumitz: Give me the name and we all go home.

Doesn't sound like she's interested.

She sounds in control, but she's panicking.

Talking to the FBI couldn't have been part of her plan.

"Give me the name."

That means the she didn't get the witness's name from the marshal.

She is out of options; she needs an out.

Let's see what happens if we push her.

Erica.

It's over. You've failed.

(sighs) "Either I k*ll the witness or I k*ll us all. Your choice."

The fighter pilots have been given sh**t-down authority.

If the plane gets too close to a metropolitan area, while still under Erica Chan's control, the fighter jets will fire.

At the speed they're traveling...

That's less than ten minutes!

(sighs) Raven...

I'm working as fast as I can.

Even if I do succeed, there's a bigger problem: Once I kick Erica off the plane's system, there's no way of stopping her from hacking back in.

We need someone on board to get her computer away from her.

(blipping)

Ma'am...

I'm gonna need that computer.

Okay.

(passengers screaming)

(alarm blaring)

Reynolds: Somebody! Anybody!

Can anybody hear me?

(passengers shouting, screaming)

Mayday! Mayday! This is Argus 272.

If anyone is reading me, I have lost the engines.

I'm gonna do my best to maintain glide speed.

Fighter pilots have taken tactical positions, armed with short-range air-to-air missiles.

They will fire on that plane to save lives on the ground.

Tell them to hold off as long as they can.

Raven, why is that plane still falling?

Looks like Erica Chan's final act of vengeance was to zero out the plane's thrust.

Pilot won't be able to overpower the autopilot.

We're out of options.

Artie!

(alarms blaring)

Artie, how safe is it for the pilot to unplug that computer?

From what I can tell, if the pilot disconnects the onboard computer, he should be able to regain full control of the engines without any undesirable side effects, but-- he'd have to readjust fast.

That's our plan.

How do we get the pilot that message?

The entertainment system can't communicate with the cockpit.

The jets may have a way to pass that along.

Reynolds: What the hell was that?

That pilot is sending a distress signal.

We're gonna have to pull the computer.

What've we got to lose?

Oh!

(passengers screaming)

Is this gonna work?

If this doesn't work, nothing will.

Fighter jets are prepared to fire.

Reynolds: Come on!

Pilot has regained control of the plane.

(all cheering, whooping)

That's what I'm talking ' about!

Krumitz: Oh, yeah!

(gasping)

(sighs with relief)

Yeah!

Yes!

Good work, Mr. Sneed.

Well, good guessing, really, but... thank you.

(sirens wailing)

(low, indistinct conversation)

All right, ma'am.

You're gonna need to come with me.

Reynolds: ...and, most importantly, I'd like to thank everybody who brought us home today.

I couldn't have done it alone.

It was nice to know we had a great team on the ground, watching our backs.

They're the ones who helped me land my aircraft safely.

(applause)

Should I get you a cot?

Oh! No, no, no, no, no, no.

Uh, uh, I was leaving.

I promise. I was just, uh... just finishing up.

It's a patch for the in-flight entertainment system.

Get that to the FAA, and air travel will be safe once again.

Thanks, Artie.

(laughing softly)

It was a hell of a day.

I'm still buzzing from that victory.

(laughs)

Whew! I'm, uh, I was gonna go grab a bite.

Um... can I buy you dinner?

Are you asking me on a date?

Well, you're a powerful, beautiful woman.

You bet I am.

Artie...

I don't date our consultants.

I get it.

I understand.

Wait.

(laughs) Does this mean I'm a consultant?

But you have to promise that you'll call first, 'cause I can't guarantee that the agents in the lobby won't see you or your... cart as a thr*at and sh**t you.

I understand. Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

Artie, we're the FBI-- we just handshake.

(laughs): All right.

Good night.

Good night.

(whirring)

(indistinct chatter)

Hey.

Raven: Who!

Ah. (laughs)

(sighs) How do I look?

Sharp. Nice wheels.

Mundo: Big date?

Uh, sort of. Sort of. Yeah.

Is it cool if I borrow the drift board?

Yeah, man, no problem-- but I thought Rosalyn couldn't make it.

Well, she couldn't, but we... made other arrangements.

Figured who needs patience when we have technology.

So I'm taking her on a video chat tour of DC at night. (chuckles)

Nice!

Ah!

(electronic dinging)

Oh... ah!

(chuckles)

Okay, she's ready.

Shirt... good?

Aw, you got this, Krummy.

Yeah. Okay, okay, okay.

Hey!

Hey, how are you?

Okay, ready? Ready to get started?

All right, this is CTOC.

You remember CTOC. Okay.

These are my friends.

Hey.

Krumitz: Say hi.

Hey, there! Coop!

That's, uh... this is Artie.

Um... Artie's just leaving.

Oh, hey. You want me to walk you out?

Mundo: Our little Krummy went and got himself a video chat date. (sighs)

Nelson: Charm her from afar, then go in for the k*ll!

That boy, Krummy.

See, that's my... that's my, that's my dawn!

Come on.