"Christ." "Hey." " Yeah?" "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." "Huh?" "That's great, Deana." "That's great." "You call me, 7:00 in the morning in Orlando to shake 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." "All right, bye." "Was that your wife?" "My ex-wife." " Mmm." "But you, Trina, you could be my second wife." "Mmm-mmm." "Don't joke about that, papi." "Oh." " 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." "Ahhh!" "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 make 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 27th 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?" " Mmm-hmm." " 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 Whitaker." " Nice to meet you." " My pleasure." "Oxygen check." "That checks." "You want a hit?" " Uh, 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 tucked 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." "Huh?" "Mmm?" "Mmm?" "Tiki, that's your name?" "Hmm?" "Why don't you shove that in your ass and you call me in the morning?" "Hey, Nicole!" "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." "Um, I'm just going to smoke it." "I haven't used needles in weeks." "Okay." "No needles." "And if you get a little too low, you just do a little coke, okay?" "Get yourself back up, all right?" " Right where you need to be." " Okay." " All right?" " Yeah." " Okay, baby." "Mmm-hmm." " Thanks." "All cany-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 like 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?" "Uh, 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." "For weather." "SouthJet 227, 30 degrees right approved." "Report back on course." "Oh, Lord." "He can't help you now, brother." "Uh, SouthJet 227, say altitude." " What should I say?" " Tell him we're climbing." "Uh, Departure, we're leaving niner thousand for flight level 180." "Uh, 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." "Uh, 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!" "Aha!" "Daylight." "Thank God that's over." "All right, turn us north." "Take us home." "Your plane." "MY plane." "Margaret, I'm coming out." "Shit, Fran!" "Hey, Nicole." "That's a nice camera." "You know, you're like 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 take 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?" " Mmm-hmm." " 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." "Uh, 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." "Uh, 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, Nicole, 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?" "Um, twenty-six minutes." "We're gonna start descending any second now." "Well, looks like you'll need to wake him up." "SouthJet 227, Atlanta Center." "Descend and maintain flight level 300." "Descend and maintain flight level 300, SouthJet 227." "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "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." "Oh!" "Power back." "Power back!" "Sink rate." "Pull up." "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 like 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 brakes, the gear, everything." "Gear!" "Speed brakes!" "Brace position." "Head down!" "Bend forward!" "Head down, bend forward!" "Uh, 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..." "Ah, 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?" " Uh, not good." "Not good." "Margaret, there's a red lever right there next to my seat." "It says "manual control." You see it?" " Uh, 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." "Ahhh, come on." "All right, okay, okay, okay." "Here we go." "We got something." " Ahhh!" " 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 make 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 like 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, uh, 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 make 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." "Too low." "Terrain." "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 like 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?" "Uh, listen, the protocol is..." "Who on the crew, Charlie?" "The protocol is that the NTSB has to be the first to make 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 make initial contact with you after a major incident like 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 MRI's show that you have some strained tendons in your left knee and ankle, and you have no broken 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 take 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?" "Um, I remember, uh..." "I remember everything up till the crash." "Okay." "Mr. Whitaker, 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, um..." "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?" "Broken 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 keeping 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, uh..." "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." "Uh, do you..." "Do you need me to get you some stuff, or..." "Uh, 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." "Whoa." "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 sake." "Is this amateur hour?" "Get that doctor in here." "You just saved 100 people..." "Harling!" " You bring my smokes?" " Yes, I did." "I got your fucking message, and, yes, I got your fucking smokes right here." "Here's a fresh carton." "You smoke 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." "Take the vodka with you." "What..." "Take the vodka?" "What are you..." "I'm not drinking any more." "Take it with you." "I'll just tuck it..." " Take 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 marked "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 MILFs 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 daylong." "You know what I'm saying?" "There's a smile." "Yes, sir." "Damn it." "Devious minds think alike." "Don't go." "I'll be quiet and just..." "It's nice to just sit and smoke 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 like victory." "Can I bum one?" "I should quit." "My cancer might get cancer." "Joke." "Hmm?" "Were you in the plane crash?" "He was." "Holy shit, man!" "You're the fucking pilot!" "Ha!" "What happened up there?" "Okay." "Yeah." "I'd..." "Mmm." "Tough deal, man, but you walked away." "Or you limped away." "Yeah, I'm lucky." "Going home tomorrow." "Home?" "Home for me is the basement." "They keep 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 fucker 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?" "Uh, I don't think so, 'cause I begged him to take 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 like 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." "Like 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." "Hmm." "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." "Mmm." "You think I could get one more, just for the road?" "Here." "Take the pack." "Mmm!" "Thank you." "I'll pass these out in the cancer ward." "Mmm." "Nicole." "You're going to be okay." "Chemo brain." "Makes 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 like, 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 NBC 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 exactly 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." "Uh, 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?" " Uh, 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?" " Mmm-hmm." "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." " Hmm." " You get the picture?" "A hundred people, upside down, 500 feet off the ground." "Do you have any idea what that's like?" "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 like 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." " Mmm." "Thank you." "Uh..." "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 broken 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 broken 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 like 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, uh, no." "Uh..." "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." "Ah." "And the next one will be" "Taylor Street." "Ah, 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!" "Oh." "You okay?" "Is this all the rest of your stuff?" "Uh, 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?" "Make up your mind." "Make 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." "Uh, my car, it don't run." "It didn't start this morning." "I'm taking all this with me." " Your car doesn't run?" " Mmm-mmm." "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." "Hmm." "Ooh." "Feels good, though." "Hmm." "You going to shoot me?" "Or can I come inside?" "Yeah, come on inside." "I'll shoot you inside." "Listen, I thought we'd take 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 walked 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." "You're under the microscope right now." "You can't be seen buying liquor." "That means no bars, no drugs..." "I understand." "I won't drink, I promise you." " Look, we can get you help..." " I don't need help." "I won't drink, I promise you." "I can stop." "On my own." " Okay." " Okay." " Till 10:00." " 10:00, I got it." "Avington Carr." "I never wanted that fucking airline." "Neither did my brother." "It was my father that wanted it." " I like baseball." " Oh, I like baseball." "Everybody in Georgia likes baseball." "The whole country likes baseball." "Cut the crap." "So, what's the deal, Lenny?" "Is your union going to survive this one?" "More importantly, how big a check you think I'm gonna have to write?" "Oh, you had six fatalities on board your aircraft." "No, no, it's four, Lenny." "Uh, the two crew members don't count." "I don't mean they don't count." "They don't get settlements like the passengers." "Okay, that's a workman's comp claim, part of the union contract." "They do a dangerous job." "They know it." "You the lawyer for the pilots' union?" "No, sir, this is Hugh Lang, he's the attorney we brought on to handle the criminal side of Captain Whitaker's situation." "Yes, and what is Mr. Whitaker's situation?" "The NTSB is up my ass with a flashlight." "We had to give them access to everything." "Everybody's curious about Captain Whitaker." "Well, I flew with him in the navy and he is a great pilot." "Huh." "Is he a drunk?" "He's a heavy drinker." "But maybe I should bring him in..." "In a minute." "All right, so let's get down to it, Lenny." "What does the union plan to do about this blood test saying" "Whitaker was high on booze and coke?" "This guy's a real peach." "I'm going to kill the toxicology report." "The testing was done incompetently." "The toxicology equipment they used was last calibrated in June of 2009." "It's already 18 months past code." "Their log, that should clearly state who labeled the blood vials, and when, is very incomplete." "And they used a preservative in the blood that has been known to cause fermentation, and in some cases, register higher in an alcohol test." "Now, I've done all this, I've only been here a few days, so I wouldn't worry about it too much." "I can handle this." "I like this guy, Lenny." "Makes me want to go out and sniff a few lines and fly a jet." "Mr. Carr, we're going to fight to push all the fault onto the manufacturer, Jackson Ridgefield." "And you think they're gonna just open their checkbook and buy us all lunch?" "Good fucking luck." "What's my exposure, Jim?" "Well, the awards to the families could kill the airline." "Fuck the airline." "The insurance companies can have the goddamn airline." "I just don't want them to come sniffing in my other pockets." "Speaking for the pilots' union, sir, we don't want to see your airline go away." "We enjoy the contract you have with us." "We're gonna protect Captain Whitaker, and in turn, we're gonna protect your airline." "Does Whitaker know he's going to jail?" "My clients don't go to jail, Mr. Carr." "Oh, he's going to jail." "He belongs in jail." "You bet your ass he's going to jail." "The only question is, is he going to die in jail?" "You're wrong, Mr. Carr." "Last time I checked, six counts of manslaughter is life in prison." "Life in prison." "What we in Georgia call "all day long."" "I hear you're some kind of pilot." "To the 40, to the 50!" "And touchdown!" "And Grandpa throws it, picks it up..." "Oh, Grandpa, what, are you going to chase him now?" "Pick it up, Pop." "Pick it up." "Run it back!" "Run it back!" "Come on, Knuckles!" "Let me see you cut." "There she is, there she is." "You back..." "To the meet?" "At the nice meeting." "I know, it's okay." "Yep." "That shit ain't..." "See?" "This shit..." "And my..." "Knuckles, he's my boy." "He can play a game." "He can play that game." "You want to run the ball!" "You want to be a quarterback!" "Let me see you run it back!" "Fake Dad out!" "Fake Grandpa out!" "Oh, Dad, where'd you get that arm?" "You must've got that from Grandma's side." "There's a flight." "We're gonna miss the flight." "And he picks it up!" "Tell him, Dad." "When are we going to go flying, Dad?" "Soon?" "Soon." "You still want to get up there?" "Sure." "Any time, son." "All right." "Say hi, son." "All right." "Where's little man Knuckles?" "What's up, Knuckles?" "Don't get shy." "Don't act like you don't know me." "I'm your father." "Say, "Hi, Dad."" " Knuckles." " What's your name?" "Will." " What's your nickname?" " Knuckles." "What are you gonna be when you grow up?" " A pilot." " There you go." "You taught him well, Dad." "A pilot." "Wait, wait, let me get that." " Say hi to Mom." " Hi, Mom." "What do you wanna tell Mom?" "Tell her you love her." "I love her." " Morning." " Good morning." "You were in pretty bad shape last night." "Yeah." "Just tired." "Oh!" "I drank a little bit too much." "A bit?" "What, you want to count the fucking beers?" "I threw them out." "They're in the garbage." "Vodka, too." "That okay with you?" " More than okay." " Good." "I've been watching the sky change since the sunrise." "Beautiful." "I went out there, I took some great shots." "It's just so beautiful here." "You grow up here?" "No." "My dad did, though." "It's my grandfather's farm." "Was." "Dad was a pilot." "He was 332nd Airborne." "He was Tuskegee." "Built that landing strip out there." "Crop dusting." "EPA shut him down." "He traded in the crop duster for the old Cessna sitting out there in the barn." "Flew that damn thing all over the place." "He died." "I got a divorce and..." "I've been trying to sell the place ever since." "What about your mom?" "Dead." "You?" "What about your dad?" "Well, I'm pretty sure he lives in Colorado." "Yeah?" "No relationship?" "It was my mom that raised me." "She was incredible." "She held it together for so long, I couldn't even tell how sick she was." "We spent those last seven months together" " like we were teenagers." "We'd trade stories about boys and whatever." "Ah, she loved me." "My name's Trevor." "You saved my mom." "It's great to see you, Whip." " It's good to see you, too, Margaret." "The service was so nice." "I mean, all these people who wanted to say goodbye." "Trina looked so beautiful in there." "Didn't you think so?" "I mean, like she was just going to wake up and smile." "I didn't go in." "I..." "I just couldn't." "Trevor, find Daddy, baby." "He's over there by Mr. Benton." "You really should come to the counseling group." "The union has great people for us to talk to." "I can't." "Really." "I..." "I will." "Well..." " You take care, okay, Whip?" " Okay." "Listen, Margaret." "Uh..." "You know I'm in the middle of this, uh, investigation." "The NTSB is investigating the crash." "Yeah." "I'm gonna talk to them next week." "Yeah." "Well, I'm..." "I'm a little nervous because I was out the night before the crash, at dinner." "Yeah." "With Trina." "Right." "And I had two glasses of wine, and they're probably going to ask you about my condition that morning, or whether you thought I had anything to drink." "What?" "I've known you 11 years, Whip." "Right." "You want to tell me that you and Trina went to dinner" " and you had two glasses of wine?" " No." "Sounds like a nice restaurant." "Now, which one was it?" "You have to say that it was an ordinary day, Margaret." "I mean, it was an ordinary day." "You know me." "I was in shape to fly." "You have a problem with saying that?" "It's a lie, Whip." "It's a lie." "Trina told me you two hadn't been to sleep." "Well, my lack of sleep had nothing to do with that plane falling apart, Margaret." "I'm just trying to get this thing straight." "Now you think any other pilot could have landed that plane and saved more lives?" "I didn't say that, Whip." "I can't imagine another..." "All right, then." "Well, imagine your son, Trevor, in this church, looking at you in that box." "Or my son visiting me in prison." "And..." " Please, Whip, enough." "Enough, Whip." " And for the next 40 years..." "Don't you think we've all had enough?" "I need this, Margaret." "What do you want me to say?" "I just... it was an ordinary day." "The storm, after we took off, was very severe." "But as far as the flight crew was concerned, it was a perfectly ordinary day." " Hey." " Hi." "Ah..." "You Okay?" "Uh..." "Yeah, yeah." "So?" "Well, I got through my first day." "They didn't fire me." " So..." " Good." "Good." "And they need someone to work the night shift and they asked me." "It's time and a half, so..." "I got a vest." " And a little name tag." " Nice." "I got you something." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Oh..." "It's a P-51 Mustang." "I know it's a P-51..." "Your daddy fly one of those?" "Yes, he did." "It's cause for celebration." "Oh, well, I promised Sheila that I'd go to this AA meeting now." "She's my sponsor, the one that's been helping me." "Can we celebrate tomorrow night?" "Yeah." "Yeah, sure, come on." "You know, you could come with me." "To the meeting." "It's an open meeting, meaning that anyone can come." "Even you." "So the cops got a ﬂashlight on me behind the dumpster." "I'm wearing nothing but my girlfriend's panties," "I got vomit all down the front of my chest." "And I say to them, "Uh, I might have had two beers."" "So that's how I got the nickname "Two Beer Barry."" "I'm getting the stink eye from Ed over here." "Have I gone off format?" "My name is Barry and I am an alcoholic." "Hi, Barry." "Are there any other alcoholics present?" "I always love a meeting where we all have to identify at the top, because it forces me to be honest about who I really am." "And I never told the truth out there, obviously." "I lied about everything." "I was taught in these rooms that I would never get sober if I kept lying, but that's what I was best at." "If I knew anything in this world it was how to lie, especially about my drinking." "But, whatever." "I would lie about the name of my dog," "I'd lie about the color of my own hair right to your face." "And my whole life just became a series of lies strung together by me," " one after the other." " I'm going to go, okay?" " Sure." " You got a ride home?" "Uh, yeah." "Sheila, she can give me a ride." "This is Sheila." " How you doing?" " I'm Sheila." "...that my lies would kill me." "Left to their own devices, my lies would walk me out that door." "Is it safe to say that Captain Whitaker remains a bit of a mystery?" "Those are your words, sir, not mine." "I've been speaking to some people who are very close to the NTSB investigation." "They are confident they will soon be able to determine exactly what brought this plane down." "I'm sure they will, sir." "Well, Ken and Vicky Evans, thank you both very much." "Thank you, sir." "And God bless you." "How you feeling, Ken?" "Happy to be alive." "Blessed to be alive." "I'm Captain Whitaker." "I was flying with..." "I know who you are." "Excuse me." "Could you give us some privacy, please?" "Thank you." "So, uh..." "How long have you been out of..." " Out of a coma?" " Yeah." "Two days." "Good." "Well, uh, look, I don't want to disrupt your whole day." "And God knows you've been swamped by interviews and..." "You were brilliant on CNN, by the way." "Both my legs are crushed." "My pelvis is snapped." "I'll probably never walk again, at least not without a walker or braces." "I'll certainly never fly again." "I'm very sorry, Ken." "That plane was doomed the moment you sat in that cockpit." "You reeked like gin or something." "I called Vicky from the plane before we took off." "That's when the rain kicked up." "Well, I don't know how much you remember, but that plane, it started falling apart, Ken." "I remember everything until we crashed." "I know what went on." "What are we trying to say, Ken?" "What are we talking about?" "I don't know, Captain Whitaker." "What are we talking about?" "I'm just trying to get a sense from you about what you thought caused the crash." "Was it the fact that you got on the plane still drunk from the night before?" "The NTSB is coming back tomorrow to finish taking a deposition from me." "About the events on that flight." "Do you think you'd be alive if I wasn't flying that plane?" "No." "We'd all be dead." "But are you going to argue with me that your physical state was tip-top?" "Wait." "Sit." "Please." "I never shared my opinion about your physical state the morning of the flight." "I never said a word." "Okay." "That crash was preordained." "I prayed on it, Captain." "Vicky and I both prayed on it." "There is only one judge, sir." "Praise Jesus." "And he's got a higher plan for you." "This event, although it's tragic in its loss of life, it's also a celebration of life." "Nothing happens in the Kingdom of the Lord by mistake, sir." "Praise Jesus." "Captain." "Will you pray with us?" "Jesus, our savior, we thank you for blessing Captain Whitaker." "For guiding his hand on that fateful morning." " Bye." " Bye-bye." " Thanks for the ride." " Okay." "Hi." "Hey, hey." "How you doing?" "Oh, hey." "Look." "Great, right?" "It's kind of beautiful." "It is beautiful, isn't it?" "Like you." "Does it work?" "Yes, it works." "I learned how to fly on this baby." "Me and my friend Harling, we flew it to Jamaica." "Jamaica?" "In this?" "Yeah." "In this." "We went on an overnight fishing trip about two hours south of here." "Next thing you know..." "Bethel, Jamaica." "You're insane." "Yes, I am." "It was beautiful." "It was like a postcard, you know, like one of those picture postcards." "White sand, beautiful, sky-blue seas." "It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw." "Was the water warm?" "Yes, it was very warm." "That's my kind of place." "Let's go." "Sure." "Why not?" "Yeah." "Let's go tomorrow." " Oh, you're serious." " I'm dead serious." "We'll go in the morning." "You know, we'll just get out of here." " Start over." " Whip, we can't." "No." "Yes, we can." "It'll be beautiful." "Bright sand beaches..." " I'm worried about you." " It's..." "Don't worry about me." "I'm fine." "Thank you." " You're not." "You're really not." " Yes, I am." "Yes, lam." "You need help." "You need rehab, Whip." "You think I need rehab?" "So, you go to two AA meetings and I need rehab?" "Okay." "Hey, look, who are you, Jesus Christ?" "Don't worry about me, okay?" "You just worry about yourself." "Don't worry about me." "We're the same, you and me." " No, we're not the same." " Yeah, we are." "We are not the same." "I don't suck dick to get high, okay?" "And don't give me that your mother died..." " I never!" " ...and your father..." "I never in my life..." "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit." " That why you shot dope?" " That's not fair." "That's why you get high?" "There's a whole lot of people out there whose mothers die and they don't fucking drink." " You're sick, Whip." " Yeah, well," "I embrace it." "Shit!" "I choose to drink!" " You do?" " Yes, I do." "You choose it?" "Well, I don't see a whole lot of choice going on here!" "I choose to drink!" "And I blame myself!" "I'm happy to!" "And you know why?" "Because I choose to drink!" "I got an ex-wife and a son I never talk to!" "And you know why?" "Because I choose to drink!" "No." "I got to go." "Nicole." "Hey, listen." "All right, look." "I was loaded when the plane crashed." "With this investigation, I don't know what's going to happen." "I could go to jail for the rest of my life." "I got to get out of here." "And I want you to come with me." "Whip." "I'm afraid that I'm gonna use again." "Do you understand?" "Then come with me." "Just come with me." "I need help, I do." " I'd like it if you got help." " I'll get help." "We'll go straight to Jamaica, we'll go right to the local hospital." "I'll do it." "For you." "Any..." "Anything you want." "I don't want to use again." "I can't." "I won't make it back, Whip." "I won't force you to stay." "If you don't like it, if I don't sober up, then you leave." "I promise you, you can leave." "We can leave before noon." "I'm a great pilot." "So many beautiful things to see." "I just want you to come with me." "Everything okay, sweetie?" " Yeah." " Okay." "Nicole." "Nicole?" "You've reached the Whitaker Crop Dusting Company." "Please leave a message and it will be returned." "Hey, Whip, if you're there, pick up." "It's Charlie." "I got some good news." "Hello?" "Oh!" "There's our man." "Hey!" "Captain Whitaker." "Let me be the first to say, "Congratulations."" "It's a good day." "We've won." "Yeah, this is what we call, in my profession, a "walk over."" "Yeah, they scheduled a hearing, it's 10 days away." "They can be tough, but you just gotta be sharp." "Stay focused." "Answer the questions correctly." "That's right, but we're good." "All right, I've successfully had an "Act of God"" "added to the NTSB's list of probable causes." "We've shifted suspicion away from you." "It's no longer a question of your condition, but the condition of the plane." "Fantastic." "That's what I've been trying to tell everybody." "This is a broken plane." "That's right." "What about my toxicology report?" "Oh, I killed that." "There is no physical proof that you were intoxicated on that plane, and no eyewitnesses." "So why are we here?" "We're good." "Uh..." "Because there is a small problem." "Because of turbulence, there was no drink service on the flight, but they did find two empty vodka bottles in the galley trash." "Yeah, um..." "And there's no physical evidence on the bottles." "No DNA, no fingerprints to link them to anyone, but they were uncapped and empty." "And the only people who would have had access to those bottles would be the flight crew." "Now, Margaret, Evans and Camelia Satou, they all had clean tox reports, so that only leaves you and, uh..." " Trina Marquez." " Right, Trina Marquez." "Okay." "Okay, I see where we're going here." "That's funny, though, you know, they only found two bottles." " Why is that?" " I drank three." " One's missing." "You know, when I first met you," "I couldn't believe what a drunk, arrogant scumbag you were." " Oh, really?" " Yeah." "Oh, thank you, Hugh." "But I did the research, Captain Whitaker." "I heard the expert analysis, and I got to tell you, I'm in awe of what you did." "The FAA and the NTSB took 10 pilots, placed them in simulators, re-created the events that led to this plane falling out of the sky." "Do you know how many of them were able to safely land the planes?" "Not one." "Every pilot crashed the aircraft, killed everybody on board." "You were the only one who could do it." "Great." "I'm going home." " Hey, wait, Whip." "You can't..." " Captain Whitaker," "I'm telling you right now, you walk away..." " Listen, man." " ...you're going to prison." "I'm trying to save your fucking life." "What fucking life?" "Huh?" "Don't kill yourself on my account, Hugh." "Captain Whitaker, this NTSB hearing is a federal agency hearing." "Do you understand that?" "Yes, I understand that." "Okay." "Well, we can't play around with these people." "Now, we walk in there like this, with this, we're done." "Everything we've done goes right out the window." "I have no more moves, all right?" "It's all on you right now." "Okay." "Charlie, just get him to the church on time." "Yeah, get him to the church on time!" "Yeah, Charlie, just keep him nice and sober, so he can save your fucking union!" "Huh?" "Listen, Whip..." "And that fat fuck's airline!" "Fuck you, Charlie!" "Fuck you!" "It's him." "Yeah, it's him, all right." "How you doing?" "What are you doing here?" "It's good to see you, too, Deana." "May I come in?" "I just thought I'd come by and see how you and Will are doing." "Will!" "Knuckles!" "We hadn't talked in a while, and this whole thing happened." "I just thought I'd come by and we could talk." "You know that I prefer that you call us." " Right, right." " Yeah." "Yeah, call you." "But I mean, it's not like anybody around here calls me, in the last three years, other than to ask for some money." "Have you been drinking?" "Well, that didn't take long, did it?" "Seventeen seconds." "Yeah." "Exactly 17 seconds." " Ladies and gentlemen..." " I'm gonna ask you just to leave." "It took exactly 17 seconds for my ex-wife," "Deana Coleman, to ask me if I was drinking." " Just leave, Will." " What, is that a world record?" "Leave the house that I paid for?" "That's what you want me to do?" "I'm calling the police." "Call the police." "I'm telling you to leave." "Will Whitaker, Junior!" "How you doing, son?" "Man of the house." "Thanks for calling me back." "I'm telling you to leave." "Are you?" "You're the man of the house now?" "You upset my mother." "You gotta go." "Well, I'm your father, tough guy." "You're a drunk." "Get off!" "I'm a drunk." "You don't know who the fuck I am." "I sure don't!" "Why don't you tell me?" "What?" "Who the fuck are you, huh?" "Who are you?" "Get the fuck out!" "Get the fuck out, man!" "Whip, stop it!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "I love you, son." "Get the fuck out!" "Stop it!" "That's enough!" "Get out!" "I know where I'm not wanted." "Captain Whitaker, a lot of people are working to keep you out of the media." "Are you hiding something?" "Just give my family some room, please." "This is not the appropriate time." "At the appropriate time," "I will tell my story, and, uh, now is a time for grieving and taking care of the injured." "Thank you." "Questions remain about the flight, but they won't be answered today as Captain Whitaker politely asked that we give his family some peace." "A reasonable request from a quiet, heroic man who has..." " Hey, Charlie." "Listen, I just couldn't find a safe place." "Amanda was kind enough to let me in." "Thank you." "Are you sure I can't get you something?" " No, I'm fine." " No, we're good." "But thank you." "Thank you very much." "What the hell is wrong with you?" "Really." "Hugh just called me." "Apparently, you went to your ex-wife's house drunk as a skunk, the news crews showed up and then the police escort you out." "It's okay, though." "I been watching." "It's okay." "Oh, yeah, no," "Hugh checked all the media outlets that covered it." "You come off fine." "So I guess we're good." "Okay, good." "Okay, here's the deal, though..." "No, Whip, Whip." "There's no deals." "All right, look at you." "I got no idea what you're gonna do or say, ever." "You're all over the place." "I was the one guy in your court." "The one guy!" "I was your defender and your apologist, but no more." "Charlie, I can do this." "You're about to be questioned by a federal agency about piloting an airliner drunk." "An airliner that crashed!" "And you continue to drink!" "And stumble around!" "What kind of crazy do you have to be to do that?" "I'm afraid of you." "Okay, all right." "Then let me stay with you." "Let me stay with you." "They're staking out all my houses anyway." "I'll stay with you until, until..." "Until the hearing." "I won't leave the house." "I won't." "You cannot drink in my house." "I won't." "I won't." "I won't." "You can't have a drink." "I won't." " Officer Edmonds." " Yes, sir." "Whip, this is Officer Edmonds." "He'll be staying here tonight." "Any problems, he'll handle it." " Captain Whitaker." " Hugh." "You look great." "I mean that." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "I feel good." "Yeah." "Charlie tells me you haven't had a drink in eight days." "Nine days, two hours, 26 minutes." " But who's counting?" "Okay." "Right here." "So, yeah, we wanted to make this as easy as possible on you." "I hope this is okay." "You can just relax, get some rest." "Order up a steak, get a movie." "I made a copy of the entire investigation and my file on you." "I was trying to anticipate what kinds of questions they might ask you under oath, and I wrote some non-damaging responses." "So, it's all in there." "You know, with photos, interviews, there's some testimony in there." "I called Ellen Block, told her you're here." "You're all tucked in." "She got the knife out for me?" "Well, look, she's not happy that I killed the tox report, but this isn't a trial, so she's very limited in the kinds of questions she can ask you." "You know?" "You're gonna be fine." "Yeah, the hearing's at 10:00, so just downstairs, so we're figuring we meet here at 9:00 for breakfast in the room" " and take it from there." " Take it from there." "Yeah." "All right, Captain Whitaker, see you in the morning." "Thank you." "And thank you for letting me stay in your house." "You have a beautiful home, beautiful family." "You did great." "I needed it." "I needed it." " That's all right." "Happy to do it." " Okay." "Yep." " All right." "See you in the morning." " Okay, yes." "Just like flying." "Hello?" "Hello." "How's our man?" "Not a peep." "Maybe he overslept." "Yeah." "You didn't let any girls in there last night, did you?" "No, sir, not a soul." "No one came in or out besides room service." "Okay." "You have a key?" "Hey, Whip." "Hey, buddy!" "Whip!" "Holy shit." " What the hell?" " No kidding." " What the hell?" " Where the fuck is he?" " Oh, Jesus." " Where is he?" " Where is he?" "Where is he?" " I don't know." "Did he fucking walk away?" "Son of a bitch." "Hugh." "Hugh." "Whip!" "Damn it!" " Oh, no." "Is he dead?" " I don't know." " Is he dead?" " I don't know." "Yeah, I'm dead!" "You want me to get an ambulance?" " No, no, no." "No." "No." " No." "Who's making all that noise?" "Let's just get him to the bed." "Come on." "Come on." "That's all right." "That's it, Charlie." "Okay?" "That's it." "We're fucked, man." "He just fucked us." "Your guy just fucked us, Charlie." "All right." "You just get on the front door make sure nobody comes in." "Put that on your head." "There you go, man." "What time is it?" "We've got 45 minutes, okay?" "How much grace you think we've got?" "Grace?" "Ellen Block?" "We're going to get some fucking grace?" "Well, we probably got an hour before we really gotta get him downstairs." "Okay." "Great." "Well, let's just get a wheelchair and wheel his ass into the hearing!" "Call Harling Mays, man." "Oh, Harling's got a wheelchair?" "He's got cocaine." "Cocaine?" "Hey, brother." "Harling Mays." "I'm on the list." "Whip." "What's the deal, buddy?" "You look like you're hurtin' for certain." " Thanks for..." " Do not touch the merch, motherfucker!" "Take one step back, please." "Cee Lo, I need you outside guarding the door, please." " Thank you very much." "Go ahead." "It's all right." "Yeah." "All right, gentlemen, I need that table cleared and placed in front of Whip with a chair behind it." "Now, please!" "I need a glass of water, I need a credit card," "I need a hundred dollar bill." "I got a 20." "She'll do." "All right, Whip, banana boat's a-coming." "And I need a coco puff." "A what?" "Just take the tiniest little bit of tobacco out of the top of the cigarette, please." "Damn." "Amateur night." "Banana boat's a-coming." "You're almost home." "Okay, baby, we're gonna do two small whiffs first," " one on each side." "Just a little primer to get us started." "Okay." "Coco puff." "Ah!" "Ah!" "Attaboy." "Attaboy." "Head back." "Swallow." "Water!" "Water now, chief, you." "All right." "A little coco puff, buddy." "Who's the banana man?" "You." "There's the banana man." "All right." "Now focus up, big dog." "Here's the train coming to you." "Yeah." "Keep it down, big dog." "Banana boat's coming." "And the banana boat is here." "All right." "Nothing keeps you down, dog." "Nothing keeps that big dog down." "You all are up." "Oh, uh..." "I don't, um..." "Shit, I'll take another hit." "Ah!" "Thank you, brother." "Shit, I'm back." "All right, baby." "I love you." "I love you, too." "Shit." "All right." "Which one of you gentlemen is funding this enterprise?" "It's 500 bucks." "I've got like 80 bucks on me." "How much you got?" "I got it." "I got it." "All right." " Here, just..." "You pay him." " What?" "Pay him." "Thank you." "Okay." "There's a gram in here." "You take it." "You paid for it." "He's going to need it later." "My work here is finished." "See y'all on the dark side of the moon." "Your nose." "I'll go ahead and tell them we're here." "You're going to make it." "Remember, if they ask you anything about your drinking, it's totally acceptable to say, "I don't recall."" "Hey, don't tell me how to lie about my drinking, okay?" "I know how to lie about my drinking." "I've been lying about my drinking my whole life." "Those are difficult images to watch." "For the record, I'm Ellen Block, hearing officer for this hearing." "Captain Whitaker, good morning." "Morning." "Morning." "What that video captures is that the aircraft was in a relatively stable glide just prior to the moment of impact." "However, according to the data we retrieved from the cockpit data recorders, at exactly 9:34, after flying 27 minutes without incident, the transponder recorded a loss in altitude in excess of 4,800 feet per minute" "in what is considered a "full pitch nose down" attitude." "Then, at 9:42, according to the data recorders, a decision was made to invert the aircraft." "The NTSB has created an animated simulation that I would like to play at this point." "We're going to roll it." "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!" " ...ﬂaps." " Flaps!" " Speed brakes." " Speed brakes!" "Margaret!" "Power!" " Gear up." " Gear up!" "Oh, Lord Jesus, we're inverted!" "We're flying." "We're level." "We can maintain altitude like..." "Atlanta Center..." "SouthJet... 7." "We are inverted." "I..." "We are inverted." "SouthJet 2... 7, uh, did you say inverted?" "That audio is tragic and compelling." "I chose to play that part of the cockpit recording to highlight a key moment on board flight 227, wherein you say, "We're going to roll it."" ""Here we go." "I've got control."" "You made a very conscious decision to invert the aircraft, to roll the plane upside down, is that correct?" "I'm not sure if it was conscious." "But... it was more like instinct." "What led to that decision?" "I don't recall." "Let me quote from an investigative summary." ""From 9:34 until 9:42, the events on the aircraft are," again I quote," ""bold and remarkable."" ""By inverting the plane, Captain Whitaker arrested the descent and allowed the aircraft to level off, enabling him to glide the aircraft away from any populated areas and allowing him to execute a forced landing in an open field."" "I heard a loud metallic bang." "We pitched nose down." " No control." " Yes." "First Officer Evans' testimony confirms the same." "I want to show you something." "Nothing's happening." "This remote isn't working." "Apologies." "I can do this manually." "This is the jackscrew on the tail assembly that articulates the horizontal stabilizer, also known as the elevator." "As you can see, the threads on this screw are almost entirely gone." "This part was suggested as a maintenance replacement in January of 2011." "It was never replaced." "It had an additional 1,200 hours of flight on it." "It finally failed." "Our investigators have concluded that the jackscrew snapped and the elevator was frozen in a fixed position, locking the elevator in a down position, which forced the plane into a dive." "The loss of the elevator was, and I quote our report," ""A catastrophic event from which recovery was improbable and stable flight impossible."" "Mr. Whitaker," "I want to talk about the days leading and the hours leading up to the accident." "But before I do," "I want to remind you that you are under oath and that any testimony you give here today will be considered admissible in any subsequent hearings or criminal proceedings." "Do you understand what that means?" "Captain Whitaker, for the record, I need you to verbalize your answer." "Uh, I'm sorry." "Yes, I understand." "On the three days leading up to the accident," "Tuesday, October 11th," "Wednesday, October 12th or Thursday, October 13th, did you consume any alcohol or other intoxicating elements?" "No, I did not." "On the morning of the accident," "Friday, October 14th, did you consume any alcohol or ingest any chemicals or drugs that may have impaired your ability to perform your job?" "No, I did not." "Mr. Whitaker, do you now or have you ever had a problem with alcohol dependency, alcoholism or drug addiction?" "No." "Okay, Mr. Whitaker, we're about done." "Due to the severe turbulence in the early part of the flight, you asked the flight crew to suspend the beverage service on the plane, is that correct?" "Yes, that's correct." "I suspended the drink service on the plane." "Are you aware that our investigators found two single service vodka bottles in the galley trash bin?" "Yes, I'm aware of that." "There were five crew members on board that would have had access to the beverage trolley." "Less than an hour after the accident, blood was taken from each of these crew members, yourself, First Officer Evans," "Flight Attendant Margaret Thomason, and posthumously from Camelia Satou and Katerina Marquez." "Toxicology analysis was performed and three of these tests came back negative, one was disqualified for technical reasons, and one tested positive for alcohol." "It registered a .17 blood alcohol level." "Are you aware of that?" "Yeah, I'm aware of it now." "Mmm-hmm." "Miss Marquez was not only a colleague, but you knew her outside of work, is that correct?" "Outside of work?" "No, not really." "Did you know Miss Marquez had a drinking problem?" "No, I did not." "Did you ever see her drink to excess?" "No, I did not." "Were you aware that she was twice treated for alcohol addiction?" "The last time was 16 months ago and paid for by SouthJet Airlines." "No, I did not." "Is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank on that flight?" "Could you repeat the question?" "Is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank on that flight?" "I'm sorry, my what?" "Your opinion, Captain." "Since her toxicology report is the only toxicology report that is admissible in this hearing, and she in fact tested positive for alcohol, is it your opinion that Katerina Marquez drank those two bottles of vodka on the plane?" "God help me." "I'm sorry, Mr. Whitaker," "I couldn't hear you." "What did you say?" "I said, "God help me."" "Yes, well, however, is it your opinion..." "It's my opinion" "Trina did not drink that vodka." "Excuse me, Mr. Whitaker?" "She saved the boy's life, that's..." "Could you speak louder, Captain Whitaker?" "Trina Marquez did not drink the vodka because I drank the vodka." "What the hell?" "Objection!" "Please be seated, sir." "Sir." "Captain Whitaker misspoke." "I drank the vodka bottles." "Didn't you hear me?" "I said I object!" "Please be seated, sir." "This is not a courtroom." "Well, I object anyway!" "I drank the vodka bottles on the plane." "Captain Whitaker, on the three nights before the accident, October 11th..." "October 11th, October 12th, and 13th and 14th, I was intoxicated." "I drank all of those days." "I drank." "In excess." "On the morning of the accident..." "I was drunk." "I'm drunk now." "I'm drunk right now, Miss Block." "Because I'm an alcoholic." "That was it." "I was finished." "I was done." "It was as if I had reached my lifelong limit of lies." "I could not tell one more lie." "And maybe I'm a sucker, 'cause if I had told just one more lie," "I could have walked away from all that mess and kept my wings, kept my false sense of pride." "And more importantly," "I could have avoided being locked up in here with all you nice folks for the last 13 months." "But I'm here." "And I'll be here for at least the next four or five years." "And that's fair." "I betrayed the public trust." "I did." "That's how the judge explained it to me." "I had betrayed the public trust." "The FAA, they took away my pilot's license." "And that's fair." "My chances of ever flying again are slim to none." "And I accept that." "I've had a lot of time to think about it, all of it." "I've been doing some writing." "I wrote letters to each of the families that had lost loved ones." "Some of them were able to hear my apology." "Some of them never will." "I also apologized to all the people that tried to help me along the way, but I" "couldn't or wouldn't listen." "People like my wife, you know." "My ex-wife and, uh," "my son." "And again, like I said, you know, some of them will never forgive me." "Some of them will." "But at least I'm sober." "I thank God for that." "I'm grateful for that." "And this is going to sound real stupid coming from a man who's locked up in prison," "but for the first time in my life," "I'm free." "Whitaker." "You got a visitor." " You got 40 minutes." " Okay." "Aw." "Ah." "Look at you, boy." " How are you doing?" " I'm good." "You look good." "Come on, sit down." "This is a surprise." "You get that gift I sent you?" "Yeah, yeah, I got it." " Yeah?" "You like it?" " Yeah." "Good." "How's your mom?" "Oh." "She's all right." "My college counselor wanted me to come and interview you." "Me?" "Yeah." "I'm writing essays for college applications." "Good." "I need your help." "You got it." "Well, this essay, the essay that I have to write..." "It's called "The Most Fascinating Person" "That I've Never Met."" "Okay." "So..." "Who are you?" "That's a good question."