This episode is based on a real plane crash that occurred in the Florida Everglades in May 1996.
From the outset, this was always intended to look and feel very different from its parent show. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) is very much a night-time show in the night-time city of Las Vegas, while CSI: Miami (2002) is all about crimes committed in glaring daylight and heat.
From the outset of the series, David Caruso employed Horatio's trademark gesture - taking off his sunglasses. This was not scripted.
One of the opening shots features the doubles of Horatio and Delko on an air boat making its way through the Everglades. This shot took longer than expected as the toupee on Horatio's double kept blowing off. Another unexpected problem was that air boats are extremely loud.