Flight Page #25

ELLEN points to the screen...

An NTSB animation shows the plane pitching down and we follow

it through the inversion of the plane while listening to the

real audio of the flight crew.

The animation has a split screen that also shows the

instruments and printed text of what’s being said.

We hear...“What’s your son’s name?” “Why?” “The black box”

“I love you, Trevor. Be a good boy, Mommy loves you.” “What

are we doing?! Why would I trim down?!” “We’re gonna roll

it. Ready? Here we go. I’ve got control.”

That last statement seems to echo as the presentation stops

and the lights come back up. We return to the hearing in

progress.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

That audio is tragic and

compelling. I chose to play that

part of the cockpit recording to

highlight a key moment aboard

flight 227, wherein you say “We’re

gonna roll it, here we go, I’ve got

control.” You made a very

conscious decision to invert the

airplane, to roll the plane upside

down. Is that correct?

137.

WHIP:

I’m not sure it was conscious. It

was more of an instinct.

ELLEN BLOCK:

What led to that decision?

WHIP is clearly struggling in his chair. The coke got him

there but it may start to fail him soon.

WHIP:

I don’t recall.

ELLEN BLOCK:

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.

We hear a smattering of applause as the facts of his actions

are remarkable.

WHIP:

I heard a metallic bang. We

pitched nose down. No control.

WHIP looks ashen as the booze and chemicals are still

coursing through his exhausted frame.

ELLEN BLOCK:

You had no idea what was wrong with

the aircraft?

WHIP:

There was a lot of things wrong

with that aircraft.

WHIP glances towards HUGH and CHARLIE who are poker-faced.

ELLEN BLOCK:

As I said before you can add any

details you like to any comments I

make. Do you remember any thing

else that was out of the ordinary?

Did you feel the flight crew was in

their best shape?

138.

WHIP takes a minute to digest this question.

WHIP:

Yes.

ELLEN BLOCK:

It was raining very hard the

morning you took off, wasn’t it?

WHIP:

There was some convective activity

in the area. However, my first

officer and I discussed the

conditions on the field and

determined that we were safely

within our visibility and crosswind

minimums.

ELLEN BLOCK:

Yes, first officer Evans’ testimony

confirms the same.

WHIP goes quiet as ELLEN BLOCK looks at him over her glasses,

seeing if he has any reaction. WHIP smiles.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

I want to show you something.

HUGH is frozen in a steely gaze; CHARLIE seems to hold his

breath.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

Nothing’s happening.

ELLEN points her remote at the projector but it doesn’t work.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT'D)

This remote is not working.

Apologies. I can do it manually.

She shrugs and heads down onto the stage closer to WHIP where

she can advance the slides by touching the projector.

We now see a screen where a slide is showing a long metal

screw the size of a trombone.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

This is the jackscrew on the tail

assembly which articulates the

horizontal stabilizer--also known

as the elevator. As you can see,

the threads on this screw are

almost entirely gone. “

139.

Substandard thread life” is how we

reported it. This part was

suggested as a maintenance

replacement in January of 2010. It

was never replaced.

This had 1200 additional hours of

flight on it. It finally failed.

AN ANIMATION SHOWS THE TAIL ASSEMBLY.

We watch the elevator acting as a wing on the tail that goes

up or down and makes a plane get lift or descend.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

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.”

Everyone goes quiet as those words resonate. ELLEN’s tone

changes as she understands how hard this is for some people

to hear as they think of their loved ones spending their last

living minutes on this earth in sheer terror.

It is deathly quiet in the ballroom. Even the PRESS are

silent.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT’D)

Again I quote...“From 9:34 until

9:
42 the piloting decisions made by

Captain Whitaker were bold and

remarkable. The fact that Captain

Whitaker commanded that the

aircraft stay inverted while

descending to an extremely low

altitude shows a miraculous

intuition that in this instance

saved 96 lives.”

A genuine applause spreads from the hearing room. ELLEN

BLOCK allows this moment to happen.

WHIP is fading, dazed and uncomfortable with the unexpected

adulation. He stands up.

WHIP:

I appreciate that.

140.

The room gets quiet as WHIP’s demeanor seems terse.

WHIP stares at ELLEN, white with sweat and chemicals. We see

HUGH grind his jaw as this line of questioning has him on

tilt.

ELLEN BLOCK:

Mr. Whitaker, I want to talk about

the days leading and hours leading

up to the accident. But before I

do, I want to remind you that you

are under oath and any testimony

that you give here today will be

considered admissable in any

subsequent hearings or criminal

proceedings, do you understand what

that means?

WHIP nods.

ELLEN BLOCK (CONT'D)

Captain Whitaker, for the record I

need you to verbalize your answer.

WHIP:

Yes, I understand.

ELLEN BLOCK:

On the three days leading up to the

day of the accident -- Tuesday,

October 11th, Wednesday, October

12th or Thursday, October 13th of

2011 -- did you consume any alcohol

or other intoxicating elements?

WHIP takes his time.

WHIP:

No. I did not.

HUGH AND CHARLIE

Sit stone faced in the second row feeling the relief of

months of hard work.

ELLEN BLOCK continues with a rote posture...

ELLEN BLOCK:

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?

141.

WHIP:

No. I did not.

ELLEN wraps up this line of questions...

ELLEN BLOCK:

Mr. Whitaker, do you now or have

you ever had a problem with alcohol

dependency, alcoholism or drug

addiction?

WHIP waits for her to look at him...this takes a while...

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