Flight Page #20

NICOLE:

Whip. I’m afraid I’ll use again.

WHIP:

Come with me. I need help, I do.

NICOLE:

I’d love for you to get help, Whip.

WHIP:

When we get to Jamaica we can go to

the local hospital. I’ll do it for

you. Anything you want.

NICOLE looks at the sincere love in his eyes.

NICOLE:

I don’t wanna use again. I can’t.

I won’t make it back.

WHIP:

I’ll be sober. I won’t force you

to stay. I promise if you don’t

like it or if I don’t clean up?

You can leave.

This is the most sincere plea she’s ever heard.

WHIP (CONT'D)

It’s so beautiful there. We’ll

leave before noon. I’m a great

pilot. You’ll get to see so much.

WHIP wraps his arms around her. We stay on NICOLE’s face as

he holds her tighter and tighter.

INT. WHITAKER FARM -- KITCHEN -- EARLY MORNING

NICOLE is dressed and sitting at the kitchen table. Past

NICOLE we can see WHIP lying in bed.

She has all her possessions in a crate and a duffel bag at

her feet. She finishes a handwritten note and places it

down. NICOLE picks up the note and begins to reread it.

110.

She hears a car in the driveway -- she picks up her stuff and

takes one last look at the sleeping WHIP. She leaves,

careful not to make a sound.

EXT. WHITAKER FARM -- FRONT DOOR -- EARLY MORNING

NICOLE quietly exits the house, carrying a crate of her

stuff. She has a duffel bag of clothes over her shoulder as

she makes her way to SHEILA’s car that we see parked at the

top of the driveway, far from the house.

INT. WHITAKER RANCH -- BEDROOM -- LATER SAME DAY

WHIP stirs, wakes up and looks around. WHIP walks around

looking for NICOLE. He finds the note and reads it. The

reality of her disappearance sets in and he moves to the

window and stares out at the barn.

WHIP returns his look inside the house and he sees the big

book of AA on the table near where the letter was left. WHIP

picks it up and throws it across the room. He then grabs the

back of a chair and tosses it against the wall.

After wiping photos off of the wall he picks up an empty beer

bottle and fires the bottle at a shelf on the opposite wall.

The bottle explodes and WHIP stops as he realizes he came

within an inch of shattering a framed photo of he and his

son.

We hear the antiquated ring of the OLD HOUSE PHONE. WHIP

relaxes his shoulders as the ringing phone distracts him.

Whip is now drawing heavy breaths as the ringing phone is

answered by the old machine...

WHIP’S FATHER’S VOICE

You’ve reached the Whitaker Crop

Dusting Company, flying lessons and

plane rides. Please leave a message

and it will be returned. Thank

you.

The beep concludes...

CHARLIE:

(speaking to voice mail)

Hey Whip, if you’re there

pickup...I got some good news...

WHIP snatches the phone of the hook.

111.

WHIP:

Yeah, I’m here. What’s goin’ on?

104 WHIP listens as CHARLIE talks... 104

EXT. NTSB HANGAR -- RAINING -- DAY

WHIP sits in his car. Rain pounds the windshield as we watch

him expertly add vodka to a half-full bottle of orange juice.

WHIP gives the bottle a shake before taking a long drink.

WHIP takes another drink before re-capping the bottle and

stowing it in the glove box. WHIP gets out and we watch him

walk in the rain towards the door of the hangar. A SECURITY

GUARD meets him and takes him inside.

INT. NTSB HANGAR -- THE REMAINS OF FLIGHT 227 - DAY

WHIP is now alone in the huge, brightly lit hangar. He sees

the plane.

The JR-88 has all of its pieces laying as close together as

possible. Like the skeleton of a T-Rex in a museum. The

sight is awesome, breathtaking. WHIP walks closer to the

twisted wreck and stops. WHIP is overwhelmed by the sight

and as he is about to leave...

CHARLIE steps out of the passenger door and calls down to

WHIP.

CHARLIE:

Here’s our guy. C’mon.

WHIP walks towards a ramp that leads up to the hole in the

plane where the door used to be. CHARLIE stands at the top

of the ramp. Suddenly HUGH steps out of the plane...

HUGH:

Captain Whitaker, we’ve won.

WHIP doesn’t move as HUGH starts down the ramp.

HUGH (CONT’D)

This is what we call in my

profession a “walk over.”

CHARLIE:

They’ve scheduled the hearing. It’s

in 10 days.

CHARLIE and HUGH reach the bottom of the ramp.

112.

HUGH:

But these hearings can be tough.

You just need to stay sharp and on

course and answer the questions

correctly. It’s no longer a

question of your condition but the

condition of the plane.

This picks directly at the scab of WHIP’s guilt.

HUGH (CONT’D)

I’ve had an “Act of God”

successfully added to the list of

probable causes.

WHIP:

Look, it’s simple. I flew a broken

plane.

CHARLIE:

You got it. That’s right.

WHIP:

And what about my toxicology

report?

HUGH:

(trying to stay calm)

I killed it. They have no physical

proof that you were intoxicated on

that plane. And no eye witness

claims. But there’s a problem.

This stops WHIP cold.

HUGH (CONT’D)

Because of the turbulence at the

beginning of the flight and then

the crash, there was never any

drink service on the flight. But,

they found two little vodka bottles

in the galley trash bin. There was

no physical evidence found on the

bottles, no DNA, no finger prints.

But both the bottles were uncapped

and empty. The only people who had

access to those bottles and could

have drank them were the flight

crew. Margaret, Evans and Camelia

Satou all had clean tox reports.

That leaves you and Trina Marquez.

They let that land. WHIP nods.

113.

WHIP:

Okay. I see...where this is going.

That’s funny that they found two

bottles.

HUGH:

Why?

WHIP:

Because I drank three. One’s

missing.

HUGH explodes in frustration.

HUGH LANG:

When I met you I couldn’t believe

what a flip, drunk, arrogant

scumbag you were.

WHIP:

F*** you too, Hugh.

HUGH LANG:

But I did the research and heard

the analysis from the experts. I’m

in awe of what you did.

WHIP:

Can I go now?

HUGH gets big as he has to add the final piece of credence to

the coronation.

HUGH LANG:

THE NTSB AND THE FAA TOOK 10

EXPERIENCED PILOTS AND PLACED THEM

IN SIMULATORS. THEY RECREATED ALL

OF THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THIS

PLANE FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!

HUGH is so loud and emotional even WHIP lends focus.

HUGH LANG (CONT’D)

Do you know how many were able to

safely land these broken planes?

Everyone waits for the response as HUGH acknowledges the

debris around them...

HUGH LANG (CONT’D)

Not one. Every pilot crashed and

killed everyone on board.

114.

WHIP:

Yeah. So?

HUGH:

You have no capacity to accept the

responsibility for the miracle you

performed and the lives you saved.

WHIP:

Great. I’m going home.

WHIP pulls out his cigarettes and frees a smoke from the

pack.

HUGH LANG:

Do you want to go to prison? I’m

trying to save your life!

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