- The Hood plants a bomb aboard the Fireflash. Can International Rescue bring the airliner down without using its landing gear?
- In the Malaysian jungle in the mid-21st century is a mammoth temple that serves as the headquarters of a mysterious Asian criminal known only as The Hood. The Hood is a master of disguises and has learned of the creation of International Rescue, a secret organization that utilizes cutting-edge machinery and flying craft to save lives of people caught in extraordinarily dangerous situations. He has also learned that Kyrano, his half-brother, is part of the IR organization and he possesses a power of hypnosis few can withstand. With this power The Hood telepathically contacts Kyrano, the manservant and an aide-de-camp of Jeff Tracy. Tracy is a former US Air Force officer who was part of a moon landing many decades ago; he, Kyrano, four of Tracy's five sons, and a youthful scientific expert named Hiram "Brains" Hackenbacker all live on a spacious southern Pacific island that is the rampart of a long-dead undersea volcano. When Kyrano is contacted by The Hood he falls into excruciating pain as he reveals that IR is now operational.
Days later at London - aka Heathrow - Airport, a mechanic works on the starboard wing of the Fireflash, a new hypersonic passenger transport powered by a nuclear reactor and under the control of the Air Terreanean corporation; the plane has a capacity of 600 passengers and crew, a far superior follow-up to the ill-fated Concorde of decades past. The mechanic, however, is The Hood in disguise and he cares only about planting a very large drum within the wing, a drum containing enough explosive to shred the wing and pierce the nuclear reactor, all with the hope that it draws out IR - which it is certain to do if for no other reason than Tin-Tin Kyrano, the young daughter of Jeff Tracy's manservant and girlfriend of his youngest son Alan, is a passenger returning from studies overseas.
The Hood secretly contacts the airport tower and its commander, Norman, recalls the Fireflash so X-ray recording can be made. When it verifies that The Hood's bomb threat is very real, airport security is thrown in a quandry, for the Fireflash cannot land else the bomb will detonate upon the rough impact of landing and thus blow up the reactor; it will allow the plane to stay aloft for six month but the antiradiation shield on the reactor was scheduled for refreshment service after this particular flight and will only work for a little over two hours else all aboard will suffer potentially fatal radiation exposure.
Monitoring the frantic radio traffic from London is Thunderbird Five, a vast computerized monitoring satellite within which is Jeff Tracy's second-eldest son John; the station is programmed to monitor and record all communiques that mention some form of serious danger. Thus alerted to Fireflash's predicament, John radios his dad and International Rescue, after getting details, roars into action with eldest son Scott Tracy, flying IR's hypersonic command ship Thunderbird One, launching toward London. Further assessment indicates the need for Thunderbird Two, IR's vertical launch and landing transport, carrying mammoth cars fitted with landing skids upon which a stricken aircraft can set down, so Virgil Tracy, third-eldest of Jeff's sons, launches toward London.
Meanwhile an RAF officer has recommended being placed mid-air aboard the wing of the Fireflash to try and disarm the bomb; despite his misgivings Commander Norman agrees to the attempt, but despite successful mid-air placement via an Air Force transport the officer falls out of the craft; he parachutes to safety but all hope now seems to be lost - until airport radar picks up the appearance of a Mach 7-capable craft that immediately radios that it is International Rescue. No one has heard of the organization but Norman, out of alternative options (a fact pointedly made by Scott when Norman demands some kind of information) agrees to allow IR to assist. Thunderbird One is set to be guarded by airport security to assure no visual information is acquired of the craft, but this is the exact opening The Hood, now in the guise of airport security, has sought.
While Thunderbird Two lands and unloads three landing cars, two of them remote controlled by Virgil to cushion the Fireflash, The Hood infiltrates Thunderbird One and uses a hat-mounted spy camera to record the ship's vital information - but a security detector within the mobile command module controlled by Scott alerts him to the infiltration; The Hood escapes airport security and races toward the town of Birmingham, so Scott contacts the mansion of an elegant society lady, Penelope Creighton-Ward, the London Agent of IR and a long-time family friend of the widowed Jeff Tracy. Alerted to the Hood, she and her butler, a former criminal known as "Nosey" Parker, man a specialized Rolls Royce to track down and destroy the Hood's getaway car - and hopefully his technical information on Thunderbird One.
While this occurs Fireflash attempts an emergency landing on the elevator cars manned by Virgil; one malfunctions and shoots off course into a fleet of parked aircraft, exploding and wiping out the parked planes; a backup elevator car is brought out and one more landing is attempted, as Fireflash's radiation shield has expired and the craft must be shut off to prevent radiation exposure; the craft lands on the elevator cars but its speed may not be enough for the runway.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of Trapped in the Sky (1965) in Australia?
Answer