- Insurance agent Scott Eric Sommer's private plane crashes in the Everglades after his pilot was shot. Only Sommer himself is found alive. His accountant seems to have struggled and jumped out. The firm was under SEC investigation.
- Opening scene is two fishermen witness a small corporate jet crashing into the Everglades, Horatio Caine and Eric Delko moving toward the crash site via a fan boat, coming upon the actual crash, debris is in the water, Horatio notices a survivor, Delko jumps in after the victim, puts him on firmer ground trying to save him, to no avail. Caine says we got the whole story right here; meaning the crash site. Calleigh Duquesne asks Horatio "Is it is as bad as it looks", and his reply, "It is actually worse than it looks", while Delko is paddling a boat through the water collecting body parts, putting the evidence in plastic bags. On firmer ground nearby, Megan Donner and Tim Speedle are talking about the site being a level two biohazard site, as Tim welcomes Megan back, but she is all business, brushing off Tim's kind greeting. She asks Horatio a question, he responds the jury is still out, welcoming her back on the job. There is tension between the two, Horatio mentioning he is sorry she did not get this job, saying let us get to work processing the evidence as the Everglades is continually moving, the scene is degrading in front of them. Coroner Alexx Woods is in the tented on-site lab examining a victim with an apparent bullet wound completely through his upper torso. Munitions expert Calleigh identifies the caliber as medium sized. Detective Delacroix interviews one of the fishermen, he claiming they left the scene and called 911. Megan says Tim sounds just like Horatio when he says he trusts his gut claiming the fishermen were likely poaching gators based on the size of the rifle in their boat. Tim is pulling in evidence floating on the water, open pilot billfold, an empty briefcase later opened by Horatio. Delko calls out he got a live victim and Horatio says don't let him go into shock. There was currency scattered in the water near the other floating evidence.
The EM crew carrying the surviving man on a stretcher is momentarily stopped by Horatio, noting there was no friction burns on the body meaning no seat belt worn. He could possibly be the shooter, prompting Horatio to ask, "Why would you shoot your own pilot." Megan interrupts, a body was sighted floating miles away and it is the senior accountant to the surviving company owner. Alexx exams her in the actual lab, no seat belt marks, high-blood-alcohol level, Prozac level present. The accountant was under the influence, there are unknown marks on her hand Horatio discovered while she was on the exam table; observed by Alexx close-up, with Megan present. Horatio shows the accountant's mother a picture of the briefcase, she identifies it as her daughter's, given to her as a gift upon receiving her promotion. Horatio knows the company was being investigated by the SEC, the plane was on its way to Washington D.C. to be grilled. Calleigh gets confirmation from a NTSB agent the plane exit door pins were filed down, the plane door opened in flight, as the unit went down just after takeoff. The only woman on board ended up miles from the crash because she left the plane via the exit door. Horatio says let's find out who worked on that plane. Senor Esparza worked on the plane, admitting plane repairs were with old parts, not admitting any guilt, for at 35,000 feet nobody cared about the origin of the parts. Calleigh said the airport said it reached 4,000 feet before it began its descent. Megan interrupts, saying the owner is out of a coma, able to speak.
The company owner, Scott Sommer, is being questioned by Megan and Horatio, and they want his fingerprints and a DNA sample, in order to determine what happened, his accountant fell out the exit door, which was opened from the inside. Sommer claims Christina was acting strangely, drinking and chasing the booze with pills, when she opened the door and jumped out. Sommer says he didn't hear any gun shot, as Horatio takes his prints and swabs for DNA. Megan is examining Christina lying in cold storage, grabbing hair from her head, looking at the results under a microscope, determining Christina had been using antidepressants for the past year, Prozac and Zoloft. Megan believes Christina committed suicide based on her behavior from the drugs she was taking over the last year. Horatio states whistle blowers are usually female and believes she was likely pushed off the plane after giving up Sommer. Working in the lab, Speedle and Delko disagree over Megan's behavior upon her return after her husband died. Speaking into the same lab, Horatio wants the black boxes found and Tim thinks he knows where to look. Through collaboration of fingerprint tests on the exit door, Megan and Horatio determine Christina was hanging on to the door; Sommer pushed her out. Both go to Sommer's hospital room where they learn from a nurse he checked himself out earlier.
Search warrant in hand, Speedle and Delko visit the fishermen's home where they find the black boxes among baby alligators, securing same, they return to the lab. All are listening to the recordings, the audio reveals the exit door is open, the plane is losing altitude, with no gun shots audible. Horatio has the tape slowed, determining Christina held on for 17 seconds before Sommer pushed her out. Tim searches Christina's apartment determining no evidence of suicide; she had plans to return in 24 hours, filling her prescriptions before she left, and other signs she planned on returning the next day. Alexx looked at the pilot's body, and found the pilot died from a rivet coming through the windshield killing him instantly, validated by Caleigh measuring rivet size in the mark left in the cockpit wall. Eric's focus on the number two engine revealed fabric in the turbine; Christina's shoe caught in the engine, failing the unit and bringing the plane down. Horatio has no evidence to pin Christina's death on Sommer, but remembering the marks on her hand, a re-creation of the fuselage, and locating the missing fire-extinguisher, lead to the proof in the 17 seconds Christina held on for her life. Sommer freed her hand by hitting with the extinguisher, leaving the marks on her hand, and for her to fall to her death. Conclusion is Sommer killed Christina. Detective Delacroix tells Lieutenant Caine we found Sommer; he is shown hanging from his own rope, dead by strangulation; obvious suicide. Horatio is showing Christina's mother the overnight carrier correspondence her daughter sent to the SEC implicating Sommer and a note claiming her decision to blow the whistle of the fraud.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of Golden Parachute (2002) in Australia?
Answer