Original subtitles

Radar station five miles, 35 seconds.

Roger that.

What the hell?

What is it?

Nothing. Don't get jittery on me, Pete.

I'm cool.

Let's do it.

Damn.

I can't hold it.

It's red.

It's red.

Following in his father's footsteps as a naval aviator, Lieutenant Commander

Harmon Rabb, Jr. suffered a crash while landing his Tomcat on a storm -tossed

carrier at sea.

Diagnosed with night blindness, Harm transferred to the Navy's Judge Advocate

General Corps.

which investigates, defends, and prosecutes the law of the sea.

There, with fellow JAG lawyer Major Sarah McKenzie, he now fights in and out

the courtroom with the same daring and tenacity that made him a top gun in the

air.

Most definitely, sir!

You want to take him for one?

Up here. Hello?

You have to speak up. I can't hear you.

The FAA prohibits the use of starter devices at any time during the operation

this aircraft.

Where? I don't know. The failure to comply with the rules will result in

immediate eviction from the aircraft.

It's Major McKenzie, sir.

That's working on a Sunday.

This better be important. You'll have him sulking for days.

There was another F -14 crash last night off the America near Pendleton.

What squadron?

Howlers. Again?

Wow, talk about bad luck.

Harm, it was a woman.

That Tess McKee.

Afraid so.

Did she make it?

saying that you've already concluded that this is totally unrelated to last

month's crack? Could the press salivate anymore?

A woman's dead, for God's sake.

Tragedy is news. Military tragedy is big news, especially when it involves women

in combat roles.

Wait until they get a hold of this.

Training Command has received several congressional recommendations to make

the first female Blue Angel.

Oh, that'll make the cover of Newsweek.

So what? She was good.

Yeah, just in the wrong squadron.

Howler's lost another pilot earlier this year.

What'd I say?

Commander, Major McKenzie just told me.

I didn't realize that at the crest this year.

Well, he was such a good friend of yours and all. And I apologize if I said

any... Bud.

What? Stop it.

Yes, sir.

Hey, where is everybody? There's not a stand down, is there?

Only unofficial.

I gave them the day to shake it off.

This is a great loss to all of us.

My condolences. Lieutenant McKee was a good pilot and a fine officer.

And much more.

Yes, sir.

It's good to see you, Harm.

I just wish you could have been under better circumstances.

Me too.

I'm glad to have you on this.

God knows we need someone who actually understands what we're going through.

We'll try to at least look impartial.

Well, that's why the Major's here, sir.

How's the reel?

Lieutenant Peter Ayers.

Walked away as good as can be expected after a punch -out on deck.

I guess we should start there. We can grab him in sickbay if he hasn't already

been released.

We're right behind you, sir.

Lieutenant, will you pull up the flight and maintenance records of me and his

outside?

Yes, sir. No problem.

A black cat.

Interesting mascot.

Everything where it's supposed to be?

It's cleared for flight status whenever you want it. Thanks, Doctor.

At ease.

I'll put you back up as soon as we confirm the cause of the crash,

Thank you, sir.

You know Commander Rabb?

Yes, sir.

Lieutenant, this is Major McKenzie.

Lieutenant? Ma 'am.

I'm sure you've been over this a dozen times, Lieutenant, but we're going to

you to walk us through it one more time.

Where do I start?

Well, how about the profile?

We were low level, 200 feet, coming in under radar along the coast to pop up

simulate a harm strike.

Anti -radiation missile.

On an F -14?

Yes, ma 'am.

Special mounts.

Howlers have had them since the Gulf.

When did you first notice trouble?

I'm not sure, sir.

I think I might have...

Seen some kind of flash on my scope.

10 or 15 seconds before we hit.

What kind of flash?

I don't know, sir.

It might have just been noise. I'm not sure I saw it at all, but... But what?

Maybe I missed something, sir.

Maybe I could have warned her.

Let's not start second guessing just yet, Lieutenant.

So what happened next?

All of a sudden, bam, the...

starboard engine just went and Tess was yelling at me to eject and I was in the

water before I even knew what happened.

She never had a chance.

Major, will you check on the salvage effort? Beat me when they have

Where are you going?

I'll explain later.

Commander.

Hey, Josh, what happened to your arm?

I'll roll a hockey. I made the goal, though.

Good for you.

Where's your mom?

She's inside.

Mom, harm's here.

Mom, harm's here.

Oh, great.

Hey, I bet when you told me you were coming on base, you didn't think I'd

you out here.

There must be a hundred things you should be doing.

Nothing more important than this.

What happened to no flying?

He doesn't have his father. Makes it hard not to get in the way of love.

You know, some days I stop and I find myself actually surviving without him.

And then, you know, another one of them goes down, and I

just relive it all over again.

Annie, you don't have to.

As tragic as this is, this isn't about Luke.

Maybe in a way it is.

A reporter came to see me.

I don't know who he talked to, but he needs some things. Annie, if you're

looking for gossip, you know that the same thing happened with Luke. You don't

understand.

He knew something about the squadron.

Something that Luke made me promise never to tell anyone.

On the second day of the Gulf Air War, the Howlers were carrying anti

missiles. And I guess one of them lost its signal or something and exploded

a mosque.

Saddam reported over a hundred people inside.

And it was never linked to the Howlers.

Did you confirm it for him?

No. No.

But he could tell I was hiding something.

He said the people are calling it a jinxed squadron.

And he's trying to stir up a story any way he can. Don't worry about it.

Thing is, Harm, I've already thought it myself.

I mean, they're all dying, Harm.

Maybe the squadron created some kind of, I don't know, bad karma thing.

Annie, we've already proven why Luke crashed. There are scientific reasons

all... No, no, no, I know. There are always reasons, and I have accepted them

all.

But after a while, there's a pattern. You just can't chalk up to bad luck.

Annie, listen to me.

There is no such thing as bad luck or bad karma or whatever.

Accidental death is a regrettable part of war. It happens.

I don't know, Harm.

Half of Luke's squadron has gone down.

It's almost like they're...

Sir. All naval intelligence at the Pentagon.

Toxic Lieutenant Commander Carmichael. Tell him you work for me.

Ask him if he's heard anything about this mosque incident.

Understood, sir.

Does that mean you're not mad at me anymore, sir? I was never mad at you,

It's Mac that's always complaining about you.

There was blood all over parts of the fuselage, but I didn't want to speculate

until we recovered the engine. What kind of blood?

Lieutenant McKee suffered a bird strike. A bird did this?

No, not a bird.

A flock of migrating geese.

Could a flock of birds be picked up on Doppler radar?

That depends on how close you are, but I doubt it. If you did, it'd be so faint

and erratic you'd never make it out. Might look something like electronic

Yeah, I guess.

So aside from the organic residue, you can see the strike pattern here in the

engine that's out.

Starboard intake ingested the foreign object, causing a catastrophic failure.

So the starboard engine is shot. We're traveling 450 knots, about 200 feet

the ocean floor.

It's practically unavoidable.

She flips right in.

So there was no pilot error.

You hear people talk about freak accidents. This is what they mean.

There was absolutely nothing she could do short of firing both ejection seats

herself, which would have killed both of them.

You think she held it long enough for Lieutenant Ayers to punch out?

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but, yeah, she saved his life.

It was over before she realized she couldn't make it.

Now, she knew.

It's the longest moment of your life.

It all comes together, and it all evaporates at the same time.

She knew it was over.

You think she believed in this, Jason? Nah.

She just had an accident.

It happens.

So, you really want to be with Annie?

It's all right with me if you do.

God knows I want her to be happy.

Just don't start anything you don't intend to finish.

There goes Tessa's picture.

Up with the rest of us who bought the farm.

You all right?

Yeah, I know. I'm fine. Did I wake you? No, I couldn't sleep.

Bad dream?

No, it was just strange.

Well,

why don't you tell me about it, and I'll have to figure it out.

It's okay.

You afraid I might learn something?

The Navy only allows me to have my dreams interpreted by a licensed

psychotherapist. Oh.

No, honey?

No, fortunately.

Okay. All right.

I've been having one for a while.

I'll start.

I'm trying to track down Luke's dress whites for his funeral.

But they're not here.

So I go to look outside.

And I can't seem to get out of the house.

I get so frustrated, I start pounding on the door.

That's it.

Annie, how are you doing?

Have you gotten out?

What do you mean?

You know, on a date.

I tried having coffee with someone once.

Just felt weird.

How about you?

Anyone manage to tame Harmon Rabb?

Didn't think so.

It's not as hopeless as you might think.

No, no, I know.

She'll just be the right woman.

Don't worry.

I still have faith in you.

You're basically good material.

Basically?

Well, I mean, you were perfect.

Don't you think you would have fallen in love by now?

I'm working on it.

100 .7 Smiley Morning Show. It's 716.

Got a top three with Tim Washington coming up here in just a second. Also,

talk show Tuesday. What do you think my call sign should be?

We're taking your phone calls now.

Tell us why. Think about this. Seriously now. Think spike or fang.

I don't know. Let me see your smile.

No fangs. How about munchkin?

What happens when I grow?

Change it?

Hmm. Smells good in here.

Leave it to military men to be up first.

Good morning, honey.

Mom, you like Snake or Fang?

For what?

My call sign.

Every fighter pilot has to have a call sign.

Well, Fang, why don't you fly off to your room and get your school things?

I've got to take you early this morning, remember?

I don't know, Cranky. Well, if we have time, sweetie.

Hurry up now.

Hey, you want a, uh...

A pterodactyl or an elephant?

It looks more like a cow.

With ears like that?

Thanks, but I've got a breakfast meeting.

Hey, you go ahead. I've got a flexible schedule. I can take Josh.

Are you sure?

It's no problem.

That's great.

Josh? Honey?

I'm going to take you to school, okay?

All right.

Okay, I love you.

Okay, I better get going.

I'll see you later.

See you. Bye.

I'm sorry to bother you, sir. I'm not interrupting anything, am I? No. What is

it? Story broke.

Late last night, some news service. They cite an anonymous pilot in the widow of

the real that went down last month.

How bad is it?

Every major newspaper and national news broadcast.

Some are even speculating on the jinx.

Are the Hallows flying off to America today? They were supposed to. I better

out there before I grab those.

Where's Matt?

On base?

I'm all ready.

Josh, this is Bud. He's going to take you to school today, okay?

I am.

Why can't you take me?

Yeah, why can't you take him?

Sorry, sport. Something's come up.

If you're nice to Bud, though, he'll show you some magic.

Awesome. Want something to eat?

Sir, I don't know anything about magic.

Make something up.

I gotta go, okay? I'll see you later, partner. All right.

Never called me partner.

Cool.

Tom, the damage is done.

I know you kind of got pulled into it personally, but now it's out of your

hands.

Squadron will just have to ride it out. I have a responsibility to the Navy and

to the squadron to do whatever I can. Your responsibility is to objectively

review the cause of one plane crash, not fight the boogeyman.

You're not a pilot, Major. I don't expect you to understand.

What's to understand? We know what happened. It was an accident.

Our investigation is essentially over here. The so -called jinx isn't relevant

to it.

It's irrelevant to me, okay?

Okay.

General Powell, can you confirm that the Howland squadron was responsible for

the destruction of Amav? Please, please.

I'm here for a book signing, ladies and gentlemen. Do you think the Navy will

stand the Howlers down?

As I said, I... Not if I have anything to do with it.

I guess you've heard what occurs.

Yes, sir. Has there been any action taken? Hell no. We've already determined

there's no need for a safety stand down.

Doing it now would only legitimize this paranoia. We're hoping to get some intel

on the incident, maybe clear things up. According to Ayers, it happened close to

the way they say it happened.

Only Saddam had the SAMs parked right in front of the mosque.

What did Ayers have to do with it?

Before my time.

He's the last current member of the squadron who flew the sortie.

Then we should probably interview him now, get something on the record in case

this gets uglier.

Fine, but I'll have to wait.

He's in here.

Already? I didn't want him to stay out of the saddle too long.

Sometimes you let it wait, they don't bounce back.

Check the weather report.

That's a pretty mean storm cell, all right.

25 miles out, angels 10.

Hey, you want to relax a little? You're starting to spook me.

Sorry.

Watch it come right, Tim. We can go around this thing and land at Miramar.

What's the problem?

It just doesn't feel right.

What?

Come on, man. We have enough fuel.

Chill out. Eat.

We're only ten minutes away.

Who

is

it? Tomcat 135.

It took a lightning strike to the port wing.

Dammit. He's laying down an engine he can't rely on. He's limping in.

Who's in 135?

Harrison Vanderway.

Close control.

Firefighter 135.

15 miles.

I see spark.

Flight control surfaces are okay.

Probably auxiliary electrical damage.

Wait. We're on fire.

We dumped the tank, didn't we?

Affirmative. It must be a transfer leak.

135. Emergency.

We are on fire. Repeat.

We are on fire.

Over. Are you ejecting? Over.

Negative.

I can make it.

Break out the smoke eaters and bring them on board.

1 -3 -5, you have a ready deck. Call the ball.

Roger. 1 -3 -5.

Tomcat. Ball.

3 .5.

Roger. 1 -3 -5. You're drifting right.

You're drifting right. Check your lineup.

All right, steady.

Fight your ball.

Fight your ball. Bring it in.

The odds of being hit were low.

Of lightning frying an engine, negligible.

You agree?

Yes, sir.

Million to one shot, sir.

And the fire?

Transfer leak, sir.

All right, make sure you both see the flight surgeon and get some rest.

Glad you're still with us.

Aye, sir.

There's enough friction between the two of you to set that jet on fire.

Permission to speak freely, sir. Go ahead.

Right before we went up, a couple of the guys were figuring it out.

Every howler fighter that's crashed since that moth thing has had at least

guy who flew that mission.

Where are you going with this, Lieutenant?

Well, Ayers is the last of them, sir.

You saying you believe in this, Jinx?

I don't know what I believe, but I was just up there with him. I can't say I'd

like to repeat the experience.

I appreciate your candor, Mr.

Vanderway. But from now on, I do not want to hear another word about a jinx,

hex, a curse, voodoo, witchcraft, or tales from the crypt.

Is that clear?

Yes, sir.

Dismissed.

Aye, aye, sir.

This stuff feeds on itself. It's a self -fulfilling prophecy. If pilots believe

they're jinxed, they will be jinxed one way or the other.

No comment.

There's speculation now that the whole Howler squadron could be jinxed. What's

your response to that? That doesn't deserve a response.

Well, sir, you're a naval aviator. Do you believe in bad luck?

Is this your idea of responsible journalism?

Don't you think that high attrition rate is just a little bit curious in light

of the monster revelation, sir?

Get this out of my face, okay? Well, maybe feelings of guilt are affecting

performance.

Back off, lady. And we understand a Howler pilot made an emergency landing

afternoon. You don't get it, do you?

Those men lay it on the line every day. Some die. For this country. For you.

If you can't support that, then just back the hell off.

Maybe I will take a couple of days.

I've got a couple of leaks on the roof and a broken dishwasher when you're

I saw some dry rot. I hope you don't mind.

Oh, no.

A woman never minds having her house fixed.

Mm -hmm.

You're home early.

Took half a day.

Couldn't let you play hooky all by yourself.

They, um... They've offered me a transfer to Baltimore.

Are you going to take it?

I don't know.

I don't really know anyone down there, so...

Except me.

And Baltimore's only an hour from D .C.

Harm, you've got your own life to live.

You don't want to spend it looking after me and Josh.

That's not how I look at it.

You think Luke would see it as a betrayal if I moved on?

He loved you, Annie.

He would want you to be happy.

Even if it meant... Even if it meant... Would you?

Hello?

Um, sorry, I... There was no answer in front. I heard the music.

It's no problem. Annie, this is my partner, Mac.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah, you too.

What's up?

You got a second?

Yeah.

What is it?

I thought you'd want to know. Ayer's turned in his wings.

What? When?

After Bishop assigned him to fly in the missing man formation at Lieutenant

McKee's for your own while.

He's still on the carrier?

He came back on the morning call.

But I had Bud follow him.

How long has he been in there?

Going on four hours.

Praying, I guess.

After what happened yesterday, I'd try anything.

Don't tell me you're buying into this.

No, sir.

It's just that I found something weird.

The seven howler crashes since the Gulf War. Six went down on Islamic holy days.

Kind of freaky, huh?

Sure about this?

I checked it three times.

Tomorrow is another holy day.

If I was here, I wouldn't want to fly either.

Thinking of

converting?

Yes, sir.

I don't blame you for being shaken, Lieutenant. Anyone would, especially

losing a partner.

But quitting isn't going to make you feel better, trust me, I know.

I just don't want to do it anymore, sir.

And this has nothing to do with the jeans?

No.

I don't want to do it anymore.

Then what are you doing here?

You're looking for forgiveness, is that it?

My weapon killed those people.

I acquired the target.

I armed the missile.

You didn't turn off the signal. You didn't park a SAM site on the doorstep

mosque. You're not to blame.

Then why are we all falling out of the sky?

If God was seeking vengeance, you'd be dead.

He was just waiting.

For what?

An Islamic holy day.

That's why you have to go up tomorrow.

No way. All you have to do is survive and you put an end to it. Or get another

pilot killed.

Forget it, all right?

I quit. No one else has to die. What if some of your buddies start thinking that

maybe this jinx wore off on them somehow?

You have to put an end to this, or the Howlers could be destroyed.

So what, I force someone to fly with me?

No one wants to do it.

Except for Bishop, and he has to be at the funeral.

Well, he fought bedtime all the way.

But I think exhaustion finally set in.

He's had a little too much excitement this week.

Yeah, he's a good guy.

He thinks you're all right, too.

Yeah?

He asked me how long you were going to stay.

What did you tell him?

I said I didn't know.

I don't want to confuse him.

Well, I think I'm the one who's confused.

Me too.

I thought I was done with you live -life -on -the -edge types.

Slow it down.

Yeah, right.

That's why you're going up there tomorrow when no one else will.

Well, I'm not jumping up and down about it.

He just needs me.

Story of your life.

Is that why you come here?

Because you think we need you?

At first, yeah.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped coming just to check in on you.

Harm. I don't want to start something for the wrong reasons.

You just do more damage than good when you leave.

Then maybe I shouldn't leave.

No, you have to.

Why?

Because I want you to stay.

Well, now I know I'm confused.

Sorry.

Just the thought of you and me and Josh.

A little overwhelming for me.

30 knots overtake.

20.

10.

Line it up.

Approaching point alpha.

From a grateful nation.

Neptune strike, firefighter 104, flyby complete, inbound at 50 miles for the

flight of four Tomcats, over.

Roger, 104,

take one recovery, tankers at angels 20, over. Roger.

Why do they need to tank?

Standard operating procedure, ma 'am. They always practice tanking before they

land. It's usually just a couple of dry plugs.

Sir, you can skip tanking if you want to. That's not really important for you

practice. We're up here to prove a point, Pete, and let's take it all the

all right?

Yes, sir.

Taker is 30 miles at 10 -30.

50 knots overtaking.

Firefighter 1 -0, cleared for maneuvers, over.

Roger.

Starting in.

No, not now!

Roger.

Confirm direct to MCAS El Toro. We'll alert emergency rescue. Over.

You did it, Commander.

We did it, Lieutenant.

We did it.

Neptune, approach El Toro Tower.

We have a 104 on deck.

And he looks okay.

Here you go, sir.

Let me give you a hand.

It's okay. I'm all right.

All right, guys. That's it.

What is it, Lieutenant?

A piece of plexiglass, sir.

It was jammed under my ejection firing pin.

My feet wouldn't have fired if we had tried to punch out your ejection seat

would have cooked me.

Well, it's a good thing we didn't.

Well, Lieutenant, looks like your luck's changing.

Thought you didn't believe in luck, sir.

Only the good kind.

Well,

Lieutenant, I'd fly with you anytime.

You're untouchable.

All right.

I got some stitches myself.

What happened?

Had a little turbulence. I made the gold up.

Mom's inside, right? Yeah.

Well, well.

It's a Jaguar, your jinx breaker.

Can you come to fix the roof?

Can't. Afraid of heights.

Oh.

Guess I'll have to let the next tenants worry about that.

You took the job?

I figured I better do it before I lost my nerve.

Well, now, what happened to being overwhelmed?

Finding it gets in the way of things.

Like happiness?

Friendship.

I'm breaking away from here, and I want to make sure I can do it on my own.

It's going to take some time to start over.

But when I'm on my feet, I'm going to call you.

Well, now that's something worth waiting for.