Original subtitles

Don't tell me my repartee's putting you to sleep back there.

No, it's just your, flying, Snowman.

[chuckles] Sounds like somebody partied too hard on Saturday.

Even with 12 hours bottle to throttle,

this old body don't bounce back like it used to.

Tough luck, Zoo, it's show time.

You're not behind that desk yet.

We got some real envelopes to push.

All right, hotshot.

Liberty Control, this is Boxcar 2-2-0

climbing to Angels 45. Over.

Roger that, 2-2-0.

Snowman's having himself some fun.

Boys will be boys.

[beeping]

Zoomer, you with me?

Zoo?

Liberty Control, this is Boxcar 2-2-0.

My low ox light just came on.

Showing a LOX failure.

My RIO's blacked out, not responding.

Suspect hypoxia. I'm making an emergency descent.

[Air Boss] On the flight deck: emergency.

Stand by to launch rescue helo.

You're coming in hot, Boxcar. Ease up.

Go! Go! Go! Let's go!

-Got a carotid pulse? -Look at his face!

He's got to get on O2 now!

[theme song playing]

[Chegwidden] There was a mishap on the Patrick Henryyesterday.

She was going through workups off of Norfolk.

F-14 had liquid oxygen failure at 45,000 feet.

Was it the old LOX breathing system, sir?

Yeah. The pilot's okay, but the RIO wasn't so lucky.

By the time they landed, he was in cardiac arrest.

Commander Zuzello was revived onsite

and medavac'd to Bethesda.

-How long was he without oxygen, sir? -Doctors estimate four minutes.

Commander, I want you on the first helo out there.

Colonel, I need you to go to Bethesda.

The wife of the RIO

has asked for a legal JAG consult.

That'll be all.

-Aye, aye, sir. -Aye, sir.

[dog barks in distance]

[door opens]

-Hey, guys. -Hey, sweetie, can I help?

I got it.

You guys keep that shipyard humming.

Looks like two of you will be ready to go to sea soon.

Daddy says we have to crispen it.

[laughs]

Not on myfloor, you don't.

-Is that my uniform? -Yeah.

I got all the stuff back from the Seahawk

dry-cleaned for storage-- till you need it.

Right.

I bought groceries for the week ,

and I cleared my schedule during the day

so I can take you to physical therapy.

Oh, you know, actually, I have the week off.

What, good behavior?

-Gold Star. -What's this?

Oh, I had Tiner e-mail me

all the ongoing cases at the office.

You know, just to keep up-to-date.

Bud, please don't push it.

I have to get back, Harriet.

I know, but you also need time.

I've had time.

I just can't sit around here all day doing nothing.

I wouldn't exactly call this nothing

[Albrecht] Control, I'm experiencing blurred vision, numbness.

Definitely hypoxia.

[man] 2-2-0, are you still on backup O2?

[Albrecht] Affirmative. I'm at 36... no, 35,000 feet.

Damn it. My eyes are fuzzy.

[man] Hang in there, 2-2-0.

He did a hell of a job bringing his bird home.

Do you have any idea yet what went wrong, CAG?

Senior Chief, that's yourarea.

Post-flight inspection by the Mishap Review Board

turned up contaminant residue around the seal

in the O2-bottle fitting, sir.

So then it looks as though

the liquid oxygen system was tainted.

It's a preliminary evaluation, Commander.

We'll know more when we see

the tox screen on the pilot and RIO.

The Senior Chief will supply you

with maintenance records.

Shipboard JAG has all tapes and flight data.

I run a tight air group here, Commander.

Whoever is responsible, I want them out.

Understood, CAG.

Senior Chief.

[Chief] When you do interviews, sir ,

you might want to pay special attention

to the Plane Captain, Petty Officer Moritz.

Any particular reason I'd want to do that, Senior Chief?

There've been a few minor screw-ups on his watch as of late.

I'm just saying, this isn't the first mistake ,

but it's definitely the worst.

-It's more than a mistake. -Yes, sir.

The RIO, Commander Zuzello

showed signs of hypoxia long before you.

-Any reason why? -39 versus 29, sir.

Guess youth was on my side.

Commander Zuzello was having

an early retirement this month.

This was our last mission together.

I heard in the playback, sounded like you two had a bit of a sendoff.

We had a few.

It was in the rules, sir.

Look, Lieutenant, something is not adding up.

What is it?

[sighs]

I guess you'll find out anyway, sir.

During his last physiology eval ,

Zoomer squeaked by on the hypoxia demo.

It's one of the reasons he wanted to quit, sir.

But he didpass.

You and the Commander were close.

Yes, sir. I met Zoomer

when I was an airman working the flight line.

He's the one that convinced me

I could be an officer, an aviator.

I just keep thinking if I could have gotten us down faster.

I'm sure you did everything you could, Lieutenant.

I don't know, sir. Zoomer's got a wife and two kids

Right now, I sure don't feel

like I did everything I could.

[Jeannine Zuzello] Thank you for coming, Colonel.

And it's Jeannine.

Okay, Jeannine. Per your request ,

I've obtained your husband's paperwork from BUPERS.

I wanted to go over your rights as next of kin

and legal guardian.

They say he's not in pain.

He doesn't feel anything.

I guess I can be grateful for that much.

I'm not making this easy for you.

No, it's okay.

It's not easy.

Your husband had a living will drawn up, a protocol.

I know. We each did one.

Then you're familiar with the document?

I read it over once.

According to the protocol, medical decision-making

is to be shared by you and your family physician.

Dr. Muller was here earlier.

He said the likelihood of Phil regaining consciousness

is slim at best.

[sobbing]

When I had the wills drawn up

I never pictured I would have to make a decision.

I know that sounds crazy.

He's the one up there in danger.

No, it's not crazy.

Do you believe in miracles, Colonel?

Well, in my heart, I believe anything's possible.

I also know that miracles are rare.

You think I should face the facts?

I think you should do what your heart tells you.

Your heart tells you anything's possible.

I want to believe that.

[Moritz] I feel awful about what happened, sir.

Commander Zuzello was a good officer, a stand-up guy.

I mean, I'm the Plane Captain--

I'm responsible for the maintenance on that aircraft, sir.

Did you know that a post-flight check

by the Mishap Review Board revealed contaminant

in the O2 seal?

I heard that, sir.

Any idea how it might have got there?

Installing a new O2 bottle, sir

it's usually as easy as swapping in

a fresh propane tank on your barbecue

but the fitting that attaches

to the oxygen bottle on that plane tends to stick.

Yeah, well, every plane has its quirks.

Yes, sir. I recommended to the AME he squirt

a little graphite on the threads

when he was swapping in the new O2 bottle.

-Did he? -Didn't get a chance.

He was working the wrench.

Took his gloves off. I warned him ,

but liquid oxygen leaked out, burned his hand pretty bad.

What happened then?

I sent him to sick bay.

Did the job myself.

So, you installed the new O2 bottle.

We all got to chip in, do our share these days, sir.

The war.

Did you use graphite?

I squirted some on the fittings, sir ,

but none got in. And I wiped the residue.

-I'm sure of it, sir. -This isn't the only incident

that's happened on your watch is it, Petty Officer?

I don't see how that's relevant, sir.

Look, nobody's pointing a finger.

I'm the investigating officer.

I'm expected to ask some questions.

Sorry, sir. It's true.

I've made some mistakes in the past few months.

I've had distractions back home ,

and I've let some things slip.

Small stuff, sir:

not logging my aircraft off on time ,

forgetting to log fuel samples ,

but nothing like this.

If there was contaminant in the O2, sir ,

I don't know how it got there.

His parents came earlier.

She wanted them here when she signed the forms.

The doctors turned off the monitors in the room

before they brought the kids in.

It's hard enough on them as it is.

I'm not sure what I'd do, sir.

Whether I'd make the right choice.

Colonel, I don't know if there are any "right" choices.

[Rabb] I came as soon as I could, sir.

Mac. I just got in on the COD.

I had to finish my report.

Tox screen came back on the pilot and the RIO.

Chemical analysis shows graphite-based toxins in the blood.

So the oxygen supply was tainted.

Well, it appears the contaminant slowly froze

in the O2 lines, cutting off the flow of oxygen

till the system eventually shut down.

The RIO went first, and the pilot was able

to remain conscious long enough to switch over to his backup O2.

You think the Plane Captain's responsible?

It appears that way, sir.

[MacKenzie] She told me she had a nightmare.

She saw it happen in a dream.

I don't know which is worse:

to kiss your husband good-bye in the morning

and never see him again, or this.

[sighs]

[steady tone]

Commander, you may have to amend your report.

This just went from dereliction of duty

to negligent homicide.

[Chegwidden] The convening authority received your report, Commander.

He wants an Article 32 .

He's preferring charges of dereliction of duty and negligent homicide

against the Plane Captain, Petty Officer Moritz.

Well, based on the evidence, sir ,

I'd say it's a lock.

-I'm sorry to hear that. -What, sir?

Persuade yourself differently, Commander.

You'll be defending.

Colonel, you'll prosecute.

Sir, this guy is a screw-up.

You want me to defend him?

I'd rather take him out and slap him.

I'm compelled to support the gist

of the Commander's position, sir.

He is the one who recommended charges.

You two finished?

-Not quite, sir. -Yes, sir.

[Rabb] Frankly, Admiral ,

I'm not sure I can be objective.

This man's negligence is responsible

for the death of a good officer.

Commander, Petty Officer Moritz requested you.

He wanted the Commander to defend him?

Does he have a death wish?

You know what I mean.

I don't know why you're approving this, sir.

Commander, this is not a discussion.

I suggest whatever feelings you have as an aviator ,

you check them at the door before you enter that courtroom.

Aye, aye, sir.

Morning, ma'am.

If you want to talk to the Admiral, he's out.

Actually, Tiner, I'd like to talk to you.

Certainly, ma'am. How's the Lieutenant doing?

He's fine, Tiner, but you know what, he'd be doing a lot better

if you would stop opening your e-mail file drawer

and sending him an entire week's worth of cases.

Ma'am, the Lieutenant asked me to.

Tiner, I know what he asked you.

And I'm asking you to stop.

It's not what he needs right now, okay?

Yes, ma'am. Sorry, Lieutenant.

From here on, the file drawer's closed.

Thank you.

Ma'am... what do I say when he calls?

Just... tell him it's a new security procedure ,

and if he has any questions, he can ask the Admiral.

And if he wants to talk to him?

Tell him the Admiral's out.

Yes, ma'am.

As you were.

The government will try to establish

a pattern of behavior, Petty Officer Moritz.

Past acts of negligence.

You referred to problems at home?

Yes, sir.

It started about eight months ago.

After my wife had our daughter ,

she got depressed.

Every time we talked or e-mailed ,

her mood worried me, sir.

It affected your performance.

Yes, sir.

I know it's no excuse.

It's not.

But if our back's against the wall ,

it might help mitigate sentencing.

You're skipping to sentencing, sir?

Facts are against you, Petty Officer.

Besides, the issue of you spending

the last eight months making yourself look bad.

Those were minor screw-ups, sir.

Well, this one wasn't.

The tainting of the LOX breathing system in an F-14 ,

which can be traced directly back to you.

You sound like a prosecutor, sir.

If you think that this is bad ,

wait till this thing goes to court-martial

and the members hear about a widow

and two children left fatherless.

I get the picture, sir.

You're my lawyer. What do you suggest?

We cut a deal now.

But I didn't do it, sir.

Why did you request me, Petty Officer?

I served on the Seahawk,sir, with Lieutenant Mark Gordon.

You remember the name, sir?

Yeah, I defended the Lieutenant when his 14 clipped a helo in the Italian Alps.

The Lieutenant said if I ever got in trouble ,

you're the man.

You won that case, sir.

The Lieutenant had a case, Petty Officer.

What happens if I take the deal, sir?

Discharge.

We can negotiate down the term of confinement.

Confinement?

A reduction in rate is one thing, sir...

I'm sorry about Commander Zuzello ,

but I've got a kid of my own at home

and a wife who needs me.

I can't do it, sir.

Then we go to court.

[MacKenzie] Airman Brandt, you worked

with Petty Officer Moritz on the night in question, is that correct?

Yes, ma'am. We were prepping for a morning mission.

I was putting a new LOX bottle on his plane.

Is that when you had the accident?

Yes, ma'am. I was having trouble with the LOX bottle.

I took my glove off to get a better grip.

Liquid oxygen leaked out and burned my hand.

What happened then?

I near passed out.

Petty Officer Moritz sat me down ,

told one of the blue shirts to take me down to sick bay.

And that's when he took over for you?

Yes, ma'am. He went over to the O2 fitting

with some graphite, put the bottle in right quick.

Why didn't you use graphite?

I know you've got to be careful with that stuff, ma'am.

You get any in the LOX system, you can have a ton of trouble in the air.

Thank you, Airman Brandt.

Senior Chief, you conducted your own post-flight check

after the mishap, correct?

-Yes, ma'am. -What did you find?

We found graphite in the oxygen bottle seals.

Also in the lines. Same stuff Petty Officer Moritz was using.

Based on your knowledge of the system ,

could this have been enough to cause a malfunction in flight?

Contaminants ice up. They disrupt the oxygen flow.

Eventually, they shut the whole thing down, ma'am.

And the effect on an air crew?

Hypoxia, ma'am--

loss of oxygen to the brain and the tissues.

At altitude, you need 100% oxygen.

Any compromising of that, and, well, you've got big troubles, ma'am.

You refer to the past negligence of Petty Officer Moritz.

-Can you elaborate? -The past few months

he's been lax with his maintenance schedules

and his record keeping, ma'am.

-Was there any fallout? -Mostly no, ma'am.

Although last month ,a pilot, during a preflight check ,

found his backup O2 empty.

Not a minor snafu, am I correct?

If the backup oxygen had been empty on this mission, ma'am

we would have lost both men and a $38 million aircraft.

Thank you, Senior Chief.

Given your doubts

about the Petty Officer, why leave him

-on the flight line? -We're spread thin, sir.

We have deployments in the Gulf, Asia.

Well, you obviously felt

he was capable of doing his job.

Until about eight months ago ,

I would have trusted him with anything, sir.

But now... I had no choice.

I had to maintain proper crew strength.

I have no further questions.

[Judge] You may step down, Senior Chief.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, sir.

I told you it would be an uphill battle, Petty Officer.

[Roberts] No. just... tell him that I called.

-Thank you. -[phone beeps]

-Who was that, sweetie? -Oh, uh, nobody.

Doctor's office.

I called him this morning.

The doctor?

-Mm-hmm. -Why?

Wanted to check your physical therapy schedule for next week.

He said the reason that you weren't there this week

is because you had soreness

in your extremity from overdoing.

And if you didn't rest,

you would be risking a setback.

He's just being conservative.

More like realistic.

Bud, why didn't you tell me?

This... Thisis why.

Well, you lied to me.

Well, I've got company. At least I don't have

other people doing my dirty work for me.

What are you talking about?

The Admiral has been out for three days?!

I was just trying to protect you.

You have enough challenges.

The only challenge that I have right now, Harriet,

is getting back out into the real world

and out of this palace.

I mean, come on, look at the size of that TV!

Everything I have done, and everything I'm doing,

I'm doing for you.

Well, I got news for you, Harriet:

It's mylife.

Leave the doingto me, okay?!

[MacKenzie] I know this is hard, Lieutenant.

Just take us through it as best you can.

Yes, ma'am. We were level at 45,000 feet

and initiating our run.

And that's when I noticed Commander Zuzello

showing signs of hypoxia, ma'am.

Did you experience any effects?

It came on me slower, ma'am.

What happened next?

After the low-ox light came on

I made an emergency descent to 10,000 feet.

I had numbness, blurred vision

but I was able to get on backup O2.

It helped clear my head.

I descended as fast as I could, but... Zoomer--

Commander Zuzello, ma'am-- he, uh...

You're the assistant maintenance officer of your squadron.

Did you ever see Petty Officer Moritz using graphite

when he was working on planes?

Yes, ma'am.

But that's, that's not unusual.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

If I may, I'd like to say something, Commander.

Go ahead, Lieutenant.

Flying is a dangerous business, ma'am.

People make mistakes, but machines are imperfect, too.

We all know that, we all accept it.

I'm not looking to blame anybody.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

He left the door open, sir.

This is one door best left where it is.

Commander, your witness.

I have no questions for this witness, Your Honor.

Lieutenant, you may step down.

Court is adjourned till 0930 tomorrow.

[gavel pounding]

Admiral.

Commander? Did I miss the memo?

Have a seat, Commander.

Is there a problem, sir?

[clearing throat] The, uh...

Petty Officer Moritz has expressed reservations

regarding your legal counsel.

The Petty Officer is accused of killing a RIO.

He thinks as an aviator, your sympathies tend toward the air, not the ground.

Is this true, Petty Officer?

I think I may have misjudged

your level of objectivity, Commander.

I believe I made an error in judgment as well.

Effective immediately, Commander Turner's taking over.

You will transfer all documents

and files and sever all relations

with this case.

I'm fired...

sir?

Commander, I believe the word is "severed."

[Rabb] Guess I'm confused, sir.

You assigned me this case against my objections,

-and now you're relieving me. -I thought you could rise above

your personal feelings, Commander. Apparently, I was wrong.

I represented Petty Officer Moritz, sir to the best of my ability.

I warned him from the beginning the facts were against him.

According to him, you never moved off that position.

You believe that, sir?

Commander, you have a tendency

to let your heart lead your head.

I have an issue with that right now.

We're experiencing manpower drain due to deployments.

There's a shortage of military judges.

I was considering putting you

and Colonel MacKenzie up for the position.

As judges.

Temporary assignments, case-by-case basis.

Problem is, Commander, if I can't be confident

of your unbiased performance at the defense table

how can I trust you behind the bench?

This was a test, sir?

I haven't discussed this with Colonel MacKenzie yet.

I expect this to stay

in this room. Am I clear?

-Yes, sir. -That'll be all.

Aye, aye, sir.

I just heard you're off the case.

Are you okay?

Yeah. You know, do me a favor.

Pretend for a minute you're not the prosecutor.

You think I was wrong going for the deal?

I can't forget I'm the prosecutor, Harm.

Look, you run on emotion.

It's what makes you a good lawyer.

-So you think I wasn't objective. -You're an aviator.

Maybe subconsciously, you rushed to a judgment of guilt.

I was doing my job, Mac.

I was. I was doing my job.

Whoa! Ow!

[groans and grunts]

[grunting]

Oh!

[grunting]

[knock at door]

[Rabb] How's my favorite case going?

I've landed on a strategy. You might recognize it.

I took it straight from your preparation notes.

The diffusion of blame? Good luck.

You seem to think it would work.

Smoke and mirrors will only take you so far, Sturgis.

Man won't take a deal, not much choice.

Computer games?

Tiner helped me program in the flight data

from the mishap. F-14.

Careful, Harm. I don't think this is the Admiral's idea of severed.

-What are you looking at anyway? -The RIO.

Still don't see how he went from hypoxic symptoms

to an unconscious state so quickly.

Based on the man's last physiology evaluation, I'm not surprised.

He passed his hypoxia demo, Sturgis.

Barely.

I hope in your diffusion of blame,

you're not planning on blaming the victim.

I've got a client to defend.

Whatever it takes. Thanks for the files.

Mr. Newell, your company produces the LOX system

for the F-14 Alpha, is that correct?

Yes, that's right. We also do upgrades to the newer OBOGS--

Onboard Oxygen Generating System.

When you say "upgrades," is the OBOGS system better?

Less problematic. The old LOX system requires more handling.

With more handling does that increase the risk of a mishap?

Marginally, yes.

You always run the risk of contamination.

So, the system itself is vulnerable?

I guess you could say that.

Thank you, Mr. Newell. Are these the type of gloves

-you use to handle liquid oxygen, Airman Brandt? -Yes, sir.

I don't suppose you could pop in a contact lens

-with these babies on, huh? -No, sir.

Hard to even pop in a LOX bottle like that, huh?

-I see now why you took them off. -I wouldn't do that again, sir.

You remember taking off your gloves any other time that night?

I took them off briefly when I was filling LOX bottles

-from the main tank in the hangar deck. -Why?

Well, I was having a hard time getting a grip.

I dropped the hose on the deck a couple of times.

Aren't there contaminants-- oil, dirt, even graphite--

-on that deck? -Yes, sir.

Isn't it possible that the contamination happened then?

It is possible, sir.

Thank you, Airman Brandt. Your witness.

I have no questions, Your Honor.

Your Honor, I'd like to recall

Senior Chief Singley to the stand.

Senior Chief, you said you kept the Petty Officer

on the flight line to maintain proper crew strength.

Is that correct?

That's correct, sir.

We were short of Plane Captains.

Were you aware he was having serious problems at home?

He mentioned it, yes, sir.

Still you saw no need to relieve him.

We all have problems, Commander, but the job comes first.

Have you ever had problems at home, Senior Chief?

Objection. Relevance?

I'm getting there, Your Honor.

Well, get there quickly, Commander.

Yes, Your Honor. Senior Chief?

I've been married three times.

Third time is no charm.

And you're familiar with this request

for leave for personal reasons

submitted by the Petty Officer six months ago?

-I remember denying it, sir. -And he submitted it twice more.

Guess the third time wasn't the charm for him, either, huh?

I guess not, sir.

Oh, I know that look.

That's not a good look.

I've seen that look before.

Is it that obvious?

Never play strip poker.

I'm getting bluffed out of my socks.

The old diffusion-of-blame defense.

Yeah, it's working. Next thing you know,

Sturgis will be blaming Albrecht for flying too high.

He waspushing the envelope.

Oh, great, you're ganging up on me.

Hey, listen, I'm off the case, remember?

-Severed. -Oh, yeah? What's that?

This? Well... This is a statement from the pilot who vectored over

to follow Albrecht's plane down.

This is you off the case?

According to this, Mac,

Albrecht's plane was showing signs

of wing-rock as it descended.

-So? -So one of the reasons the RIO

was without oxygen so long was because

the pilot's rate of descent was slow.

If this was because of control problems...

You're thinking mechanical failure?

You know, we really shouldn't be having this conversation.

You know, it is just a theory.

Excuse me. What's this about a theory?

You two wouldn't be talking about the case, would you?

You are offthe case, right, Harm?

Oh, I am so far off this case, Sturgis

a Hawkeye radar plane couldn't find me.

[Sturgis] Lieutenant, isn't it true

that Commander Zuzello barely passed his hypoxia demo

-during his last physiology eval? -Yes, sir, that's correct.

In fact, the flight surgeon suggested he quit smoking cigarettes

-but he didn't quit, did he? -No, sir.

The Saturday night before you got underway,

you and he went out on the town, is that true?

Commander Zuzello was retiring, sir.

This was our last mission together.

Yes, sir, we had a few.

Alcohol and carbon monoxide in the blood,

even in minute amounts, can hasten hypoxia, correct?

-Yes, sir. -According to the tox screen,

Commander Zuzello had a carbon monoxide level

of 11% per carboxy-hemoglobin

and a blood-alcohol level of .009.

Now, this is fine if you're driving a car,

but in an F-14 with a compromised oxygen system...

Commander Zuzello didn't do anything wrong, sir.

Wrong, no, but for a man who nearly failed his hypoxia demo,

smoking and drinking the night before a mission

wouldn't you consider this unwise, Lieutenant?

It's easy to judge now, sir.

It's also easy to blame someone

who's not here to defend himself.

You say you saw the first signs of hypoxia at 45,000 feet?

Yes, sir, that's true.

45,000 feet's pushing the envelope.

Weren't you hot-dogging it a bit?

-Objection. -I'll rephrase, Your Honor.

Lieutenant, isn't 25, even 35,000 feet

a more conventional operational altitude?

I guess so, sir.

Would you concede that the extra time

it took to descend from such an altitude

might have contributed to Commander Zuzello's death?

I won't deny we were flying high, sir.

Thank you, Lieutenant. Nothing further.

Lieutenant, were you aware that a pilot who followed you

as you dove detected a slight wing-rock?

No, ma'am, but it's possible.

I was concentrating on getting down.

If you did have wing-rock,

the drag would slow the plane, correct?

-Yes, ma'am. -You ever experienced

a ROLL-SAS malfunction in a plane, Lieutenant?

No, ma'am, but I'm familiar with it.

The ROLL-SAS holds the wings steady.

And when it fails?

It causes wing-rock, ma'am.

Isn't it possible that the reason your descent

was slowed was not you, but your aircraft?

-A malfunction? -Objection, Your Honor.

This sounds like pure speculation.

Commander Turner's floated his theories, Your Honor.

I'll allow it for now, Colonel.

You may answer the question, Lieutenant.

It's possible there was a malfunction, ma'am, yes.

Who was responsible for checking

all flight controls on the aircraft?

Petty Officer Moritz, ma'am.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

Your Honor, may we approach?

Your Honor, I believe there's been a breach of Rule 502.

I witnessed a conversation

between Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb

I believe was prejudicial to my client.

You've got to be joking.

I don't see anyone laughing, Colonel.

Your Honor, if there has been misconduct,

and I believe there has,

it would not only be within my rights, but my sworn duty

to move this case be dismissed.

[MacKenzie] Dismiss the case, sir?

Sir, the Colonel and I had one conversation

concerning a theory I have on the mishap.

A charge of inappropriate contact's ridiculous.

Commander, I distinctly remember dismissing you

from this case.

Well, now I know what you meant

by "whatever it takes," Sturgis.

You're the one out of order, Harm. Both of you.

Hey, at least the Colonel's efforts were in the service of the truth.

And what were yours in service to, your pride?

Enough.

This theory-- explain it.

Sir, I believe there's more to this mishap

then just a failure of the breathing system

and I think I can prove that.

This involve a trip to a carrier?

Admiral, you stressed objectivity, sir.

I believe the blame for this mishap

does not rest solely on the shoulders

of the Plane Captain.

Something else went wrong up there.

Judge Helfman will take a couple of days

to consider Commander Turner's motion.

-Is that a yes, sir? -Commander

you're already bucking for an inquiry

into your conduct.

Just don't push it.

I can't believe you're going up in a plane

-you think is unstable. -Who says I'm testing the plane?

-The pilot? -There was cloud cover that day, Mac.

I think maybe the pilot got disoriented.

Look, you're the one who jumped on

the mechanical failure bandwagon, not me.

I can't believe you're going up

with a guy that you think is unstable.

Well, I'm not going to tell him that.

Next suicide mission--

just tell me about it after you get back.

Do I give you nightmares?

What?

I-I have to talk to someone.

Just be safe up there, Harm.

Jeanine, you said the other day that you had a nightmare

before the mishap, almost a premonition.

Do you know what was behind it?

A few months ago, Phil mentioned a close call.

It's been on my mind, I guess.

Do you know what kind of a close call?

No. And it's weird-- he usually confided in me.

-[phone ringing] -And what's weirder

is when I asked Sam-- Lieutenant Albrecht-- about it.

he said he didn't remember.

-Hello. -[woman] Hi, honey.

-Hi Mom. - Packing up?

Yeah, about halfway.

I just don't know what to do with Phil's stuff.

Tommy may want it someday. It's just so hard.

Listen, do you think you could take the kids on Sunday?

I might want some time alone at the cemetery.

Mom, I've got someone here.

I got to go.

Thanks. Bye.

Isn't this...?

Lieutenant Albrecht. Well, he was an Airman then.

Phil and the Lieutenant served together on the Seahawk.

Your husband knew the Lieutenant a long time?

Almost as long as me.

I dated Sam--

well, Lieutenant Albrecht-- before Phil.

Wow. How'd that happen?

The Lieutenant brought me to the squadron picnic.

Phil was there. We met.

The rest is history.

The Lieutenant was okay

with a friend stealing his girl?

Oh, it was no big deal, Colonel.

The Lieutenant and I only went out

a couple of times.

We all stayed friends.

[man over PA] XO, your presence is requested on the Bridge.

Repeat, XO to Bridge.

Okay, Commander, you ready to tee up this mulligan?

Ready, CAG.

The LOX system's been replaced,

but if you're chasing a ROLL-SAS glitch,

the ghost should still be in the machine.

And remember, Commander, this is a controlled test.

Aye, aye, CAG.

You set, Lieutenant?

Set as I'll ever be, sir.

Just do what you did, Lieutenant.

Liberty Control, this is Boxcar Two-Two-Zero,

up and ready.

Roger, Two-Two-Zero. You are clear to launch.

Here's the Lieutenant's file.

-Thank you. -[phone ringing]

Commander, look at this.

Before he was selected for O-C-S, Albrecht served

a year on the Seahawk on the flight line.

Before that, he was a LOX tech.

Come on, Mac, you think Albrecht would kill his friend over a woman he lost years ago?

No, but I think his friend took something from him once;

maybe he was going to do it again.

Well, if Albrecht does have a problem,

his RIO might have threatened to report it. Motive.

Means, opportunity. He knows LOX systems.

Could have made his move during a preflight check.

The Petty Officer's record made him the perfect fall guy.

It's still a long shot. What else?

Let's go flying.

Push it, Lieutenant. Steeper climb.

Must be the ROLL-SAS, sir.

If we're looking for a failure, I think we just found it.

Level off at Angels 45, Lieutenant.

See what this bird does when she drops.

Roger, sir.

[MacKenzie] Tiner, is this the simulation

that you and the Commander are running?

-This is it, ma'am. -How does it work?

The F-14 Alpha doesn't really have a black box,

so we loaded in flight data from the CIC records.

We're going faster than real time here, ma'am

but you get the idea.

Albrecht climbs from 10,000 feet

to 45,000 in about a minute and a half then levels off.

He starts his run, but he breaks off.

-He radios a LOX failure. -Yes, sir.

He initiates an emergency descent.

It takes another minute to get down to breathable air.

-Something doesn't add up. -What's the problem?

According to the inspection by the Mishap Review Board,

Albrecht used five minutes of backup oxygen,

but it took one minute to make his descent.

So, what happened to those other four minutes?

How long was the Lieutenant cruising at altitude, Tiner?

Three minutes, sir.

Oh, come on, Mac, you're not thinking that...

Albrecht was on his backup oxygen the whole time.

The LOX failure happened before he radioed the Mayday.

Three minutes before. He killed him.

Zuzello was his RIO, Mac. His friend.

And he cruised for four minutes on oxygen

while he watched his friend slip away.

Level at Angels 45, sir.

Show time, Lieutenant. Snap her over.

Emergency descent 60 degrees through the clouds.

Roger, sir.

Roll ten degrees right, Lieutenant, and hold it.

Hold it, Lieutenant. You're losing control.

Got it, sir.

You're rolling, Lieutenant. We're upside down.

- No, we're not, sir. -You're losing altitude.

We're headed toward the water.

I'm going to level off, sir. 9,000 feet.

Pull back on the stick, Lieutenant, or we're dead.

Get on your instruments. That's an order!

Bring your throttle to idle, right rudder. Do it!

All right, check your wings.

Look at the turn-bank indicator.

-Look at your altitude gyro. -I'm on it.

Open the speed brakes, Lieutenant.

Now pull back on the stick.

Don't know what happened, sir.

Guess I'm still a little saddle sore.

Let's take this bird home, Lieutenant.

Sir, I admit I lost it for a second up there.

I guess is, it was that ROLL-SAS malfunction.

There was no ROLL-SAS malfunction, Lieutenant.

-You have vertigo. -I don't know what you're talking about, sir.

My guess it's an inner-ear imbalance.

I can see you hiding it from a flight surgeon,

but you couldn't hide it from your RIO, could you?

You are way out of line, sir.

How'd you pull it off anyway, Lieutenant?

What, you slip down to the hanger deck during preflight

and squirt a little graphite in the O2?

Zoomer was my friend, sir.

What was it like?

Watching him die?

Even if that were true, Commander,

you can't prove any of this.

I'll find a way, Lieutenant.

Someone already has.

Message from Colonel MacKenzie.

Commander, would you read the Lieutenant

his Article 31 rights?

I think he already knows the charges.

Aah!

Ah... Well, now you know driving a plane's not that easy, is it?

-No, sir. -How was the meeting with Judge Helfman?

Well, I'm still a lawyer.

-Mac, check this out. -Commander, Colonel...

I heard what you did for me. Thank you.

You'll receive our bill soon.

I hear you have some free time coming.

Thirty days leave, sir.

Good luck.

Sir, ma'am, sir.

You going to let me off the hook that easy?

Ah, well, you buy me a beer, and we'll talk about it.

Hey, done.

[Roberts] Somebody order a double anchovy?

Bud! Harriet.

Hey.

Everything looks the same.

Heard Lieutenant Singer was using my office.

Yeah, we brought in a witch doctor

to cast out the evil spirits.

You look good, Bud.

-Thank you, sir. -I agree.

So, you're delivering pizza now?

Yes, sir. Would you like a piece, Admiral?

No, thanks.

Oh, Lieutenant, next time you're in the office,

I expect to see you without those crutches.

Aye, aye, sir.

[theme song playing]