Flightplan Page #11

He and Irene are thinking the same thing:

IRENE:

This is really silly.

RICH (O.S.)

This is procedure.

Irene turns, chagrinned. She'd been unaware that Rich was

standing here...

IRENE:

Yes, Captain.

She hands a flashlight to Stefan, who descends through the

hatch, climbing down a fixed ladder. Four rungs.

INT. AIRJET - "ELECTRICAL BOX" - CONTINUING

Upon reaching the bottom of the ladder, Stefan is now

standing in the very brain of this aircraft, its electrical

nerve center, completely inaccessible to the general public.

Around him - filling this cramped, H-shaped room - are the

CONVERTER BOXES that make flying this plane possible...

Every single system on the Airjet runs through these boxes:

navigation, hydraulics, pressurization, communications,

power. Everything. All the back-up boxes are down here too.

(Some of the systems have two redundant back-ups.)

An electrical hum hovers: all these systems, working.

Insulated wires are tacked to every inch of ceiling space in

here, conduits carrying commands to and from these boxes.

Stefan stands on a thin catwalk, looking around: more

converter boxes, more wiring, more electrical panels...

But no four year-old girls.

STEFAN:

Anybody in here? Hello?

There's no reply. Stefan peers up that ladder, hoping that

Captain Rich is noting the thoroughness of his search.

Beyond the converter boxes is the forward-most point on the

aircraft:
the interior of the nose-cone. It's a pocket of

unlit space, occupied mostly by STRUTS and WIRE-DUCTS.

There's no way in hell a child could've even gained access to

this place, much less chosen it to hide in. Stefan knows

that. So he returns to that fixed ladder...

INT. AIRJET - MAIN DECK - FIRST CLASS CABIN - SAME

The champagne flutes and sleeper seats are now being

disturbed as Mike and Anna tear this section apart, despite

the complaints of their well-heeled passengers.

We pass a guy in Row 3. He's 55, far too rich to take this

sort of inconvenience with grace. Call him WEST.

WEST:

I don't see what all the fuss is

about. It's not like she lost her

Palm Pilot.

That got some cynical laughter.

INT. AIRJET - MAIN DECK - SAME

Unhappy passengers stare at that "Fasten Seatbelts" sign,

waiting for it to go off. The unfortunate Flight Attendant

who crosses through at this moment is JENNIFER.

ROW 19 MALE PASSENGER

Miss, I really need to use the

restroom.

JENNIFER:

As soon as the Captain's turned off

the seatbelt sign, Sir.

Kyle passes by, continuing her row-by row search. Carson is

right behind, bird-dogging her. We hear an UNSEEN PASSENGER

grumble:
"How come they get to move around?"

Kyle doesn't hear it, doesn't hear anything. She heads for

the stairs, Carson behind her.

KYLE:

Listen, I don't need an escort.

CARSON:

Captain seems to think someone should

keep an eye on you. I can't imagine

why.

Kyle continues up the stairs.

INT. AIRJET - MAIN DECK - REAR OF COACH CABIN - SAME

In the very back of Coach we find two more Flight Attendants,

ERIC and KATERINA, who stand at a thin staircase that leads

up. Eric gestures, "Ladies first."

INT. AIRJET - MAIN DECK - STAIRCASE OFF OF COACH - CONTINUING

Six steep steps, straight up. Katerina begins to climb...

which puts Eric directly beneath her skirt.

ERIC:

(re:
his view)

A few more steps, Katerina, and the

nature of this search is going to

change in a fundamental way.

KATERINA:

Don't be a dunce.

He shrugs, unoffended. They reach:

INT. AIRJET - CREW QUARTERS - CONTINUING

This is another of those spots that passengers never get to

see:
a tiny room, directly beneath the tail of the airplane,

where crew-members can rest on long flights.

On each wall in this cramped space we find a CUBBY-HOLE.

Inside each cubby we find BUNK-BEDS, like you'd see on the

sleeper car of a train.

Katerina looks in Cubby #1. No kid here. She checks Cubby #2.

Nothing, Meanwhile, Eric crawls in to Cubby #3... where a

HATCH hides, on the cubby's forward wall.

Eric pops it open... revealing:

INT. AIRJET - FUSELAGE "ATTIC" - CONTINUING

Eric climbs through the hatch, into the Airjet's "attic," a

sprawling space that goes on forever. He flips on a maglight.

INT. AIRJET - UPPER DECK - RESUMING

Kyle continues her row-by-row search. Carson is behind her,

watching instead of helping. She peers into a CLOSET, as:

KYLE:

By the way, you could've just

identified yourself - the tackle was

unneccesary.

CARSON:

An Air Marshall is required to use

any means necessary to contain a

threat to the safety of a flight.

(a beat)

Ladies with imaginary children, they

qualify.

Kyle shuts the closet door, hard. Turns and faces him.

KYLE:

Tell me something: what happens when

we land at Kennedy and everyone finds

out that she'd been aboard all along?

How're you gonna explain yourself?

If there'd been a crime committed

during the flight and you'd nothing

to stop it - the only law enforcement

official on board. How're you gonna

account for that?

That landed; we can see it. Carson shrugs.

KYLE (CONT'D)

Somebody could be hurting her, right

now, and you keep--

CARSON:

(cuts her off)

Hey.

(Kyle falls silent)

You made your point.

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