text: ‘One final unselfish act’ The following is an official transcript recovered from the ‘black box’ of downed flight 217. After being told that a terrorist cell had placed a deadly airborne plague agent in the climate control system of the plane, the pilot and copilot agonized over what to do. After they elected to reveal the horrible truth to the passengers, the captain waxed philosophic for some time over the speaker system. His calming words of wisdom offer a glimpse into the state of mind of the dedicated crew and passengers of the doomed flight. Far beyond that, it reveals genuine proof of one last unselfish act by everyone involved in the horrible tragedy. Pilot and crew remarks are in quotations. Internal FAA notations or clarifications made regarding specific circumstances are listed in parentheses. (The pilot Paul Reardon addressing the entire plane over the PA system) “Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard flight 217 with nonstop service from Boston to Atlanta. We ask that you pay attention to the safety demonstration by the flight attendants and keep your seats buckled at all times. Exceptions being for using the lavatory or when we have the seatbelt sign turned off. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 37 thousand feet and our air travel time today is expected to be three hours and 35 minutes. At the moment it is partially cloudy and 86 degrees Fahrenheit in Atlanta. As always, we thank you for flying with us.” (Over the course of the next 37 minutes, the pilot and copilot (Matt Dobbs) discuss the routine flight operations among themselves. Those basic details about air speed, elevation, fuel consumption and other aviation related things have been omitted here because they bear no relevance to the official FAA investigation. Around 38 minutes into the flight, Captain Reardon received an urgent call over the radio. The details of which, lead to the premature demise of all 147 souls aboard. “Flight 217, this is air traffic control. I have a priority one message for the captain’s ears only. Do you read me?“ (The captain responded that he was listening privately after the Copilot removed his headset in full compliance with the controller’s privacy request) “Please hold for Earl Greenberg of the CDC.” “This is David Earl Greenberg. Am I speaking with Paul H. Reardon, the captain of flight 217 from Boston to Atlanta?” (The pilot answered in affirmative) “There’s no easy way to say this, Captain. I’m sorry to have to report to you that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are here with me. They’ve officially verified that an embedded terrorist sleeper cell has infiltrated security sections inside Logan International Airport. Under intense interrogation the suspects admitted releasing an extremely virulent, very weaponized strain of neurotoxin into the climate system of your airplane. Incubation is less than 8 hours and there is no treatment for this airborne virus. I repeat. We have no vaccine or cure. (The pilot can be heard uttering “Oh my God!” over his headset at the declaration.) This biological weapon is highly contagious and 100% fatal. Every man, woman and child on that plane will be dead within 36 hours. That is a fact. I’m deeply sorry.” (Captain Reardon interrupts) “Is this some kind of sick joke? There must be a mistake here. I feel fine. (Then he addresses the copilot) You feel ok don’t you, Matt? As soon as we land, we can have the CDC or NSA test the air in the plane for whatever it is you think...” (The caller cuts him off) “You can’t land that plane. There is no antidote or vaccine. It’s incredibly contagious and absolutely fatal. I know you served in the Air Force, Captain. I’m calling on your years of training and distinguished service to do the right thing for all involved. No one on that plane must survive. There will be a terrible epidemic if anyone does. Millions will die. Atlanta was the chosen target because our offices would be overrun and incapacitated. This weaponized strain infects every person who comes in contact with it. Then they were planning to release the same neurotoxin-laced virus in every other major U.S. city to set off a biological pandemic. To save millions of American lives, I implore you. You must crash the plane and sacrifice everyone aboard including yourself. There can be no survivors.” (There was ‘dead air’ for nearly thirty seconds as Captain Reardon took in the devastating news. Matt Dobbs expressed grave concern at the somber tone of the one-sided conversation. He demanded to know what was going on. The Captain appeared to be hesitant to reveal what he’d just been told. It was a horrific thing to learn. Eventually Reardon did inform Dobbs of what was said. Both men were in shock.) “Captain, can I depend on you to do the right thing here for the sake of the country?” (When there wasn’t an immediate agreement from him, the conversation took on a darker direction.) “Reardon, listen. The President of the United States has authorized the Air Force to shoot you down if necessary in the interest of public safety. We are all hoping to avoid that. There would probably be eyewitnesses and an official inquiry. If you steer your plane into lake Allatoona, just north of the Atlanta airport, it can be written off by the FAA as a tragic accident. We don’t need to create a huge panic about these individuals having a deadly biological weapon on American soil. We must contain the situation. If you crash the plane, millions of others will avoid this agonizing death. You can also spare everyone aboard the horrible fever by crashing the plane while everyone is still asymptomatic. It’s a matter of weighing the lives of those on the plane versus hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions.” (The Captain again expressed disbelief and asked for an official confirmation from another source. He demanded to hear it from the lips of an individual authorized to speak on matters of National Security. The microphone was handed over to authenticate the agonizing scenario.) “This is Richard A. Farnsworth, director of Homeland Security. I’m sorry Captain but the news is true. My colleague here from the CDC can advise you of the technical details but based on what I’ve seen, this thing you’ve been infected with is a nightmare. It makes Ebola look like a case of the sniffles. Whether you crash the plane or land somewhere, you and everyone else aboard will be dead in less than two days. The difference is that, if you all die in the crash, no one on the ground will be infected and die. The president has already scrambled fighter jets to shoot you down. They are in route as we speak. He doesn’t want to risk you or the copilot trying to be heroes but I’ve asked him for the favor. He agreed to allow you a few minutes to accept this horrible fate and die in the unselfish service of others. Over the next few minutes, both men went through the universal stages of doubt, anger, grief, bargaining, and then finally acceptance. Just five minutes earlier, both men had been completely dedicated to full safety of all passengers and crew arriving at their destination. Now they were being asked to deliberately murder almost 150 innocent lives. It was beyond surreal. “This is not a drill, captain. The suspects have confessed. The runway tube has tested positive for particulate residue of the deadly virus. The ground crew who emptied the lavatory tanks for your plane this morning are already dying in CDC isolation. Make peace with your maker and do what needs to be done for the greater good.” Reardon and Dobbs had a marathon ethics discussion over what to do. Both men went through waves of anger and prolonged sadness. The air traffic controller instructed them to alter their flight path slightly to take the plane over the massive North Georgia lake. Despite their shock and bitter misgivings, they did as they were directed. They were also advised to not tell any of the crew or passengers but that didn’t sit as well with Captain Reardon. He told the copilot that the people deserved to know what was coming, even if it brought them deep fear and misery. It would also allow them to make peace with what was happening and understand that their deaths served a purpose. More importantly; their sacrifices as tragic as they were, would save others. First he had the depressing but necessary duty of informing and preparing the crew. “Attention. I need all available crew members to report to the cockpit for an important ‘Tulsa’ briefing.” (His wording was ‘airline speak’ for an emergency situation that the crew recognized. Once they entered the pilot’s area they could be heard expressing apprehension and fear over the ‘panic code’. They knew enough to worry but they weren’t prepared for what the pilot was about to tell them. Honestly, how could anyone be? They were all consummate airline professionals; and while aircraft crashes are always a possibility, this was a very different story. The plane itself had no operational issues. The pilots were lucid and highly capable; and yet they were told they were all going to die in just a few minutes. The crew went through the same five stages of grief and anger. The natural human impulse was to deny what they were told or fight against it. They all desperately wanted to live but the somber facts and necessary path was clear. Once they’d composed themselves, they returned back to the cabin to complete their very courageous flight. At this point, the pilot made the toughest announcement of his life. “Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Paul Reardon. Your copilot is Matt Dobbs. I want to thank each an every one of you for making this journey with us. What I’m about to tell you is incredibly painful and difficult to express but I feel you all deserve to know the truth. I say that because as terrible as it is, I would want to know if I was seated out there across the aisle from you. About 45 minutes ago I was informed by the CDC and Department of Homeland Security that our plane had been sabotaged by terrorists. Some form of deadly neurotoxin virus was placed in the air conditioning system of this plane. I’ve been on the radio with the CDC and Homeland Security. What we’ve been exposed to is both highly contagious and incurable. I’ve been given the option of deliberately crashing this plane, or we will be shot down to prevent causing an epidemic on the ground that will potentially kill millions. I am so sorry, Ladies and gentlemen. I know that no one here was prepared to die but... we must accept this fate to save others. I’ve been assured that our deaths will save millions. I’d rather face death with each of you, than be shot out of the sky. I wish there was any other choice. I wanted to give every single person here a few minutes to pray or just meditate. Please forgive me for what I’m about to do. Prepare to die.” (Cellphone video recovered from the wreckage recorded the reaction to the Captain’s gut-wrenching speech. Understandably, there was fear, panic, chaos, and denial for the next few moments. The people wept and cried but unlike an unexpected crash, they had a brief period to overcome their lamentations. As if on queue, two F-17’s arrived and were visible outside the windows. The moment arrived as the plane rapidly approached the proposed destination for the planned crash. The insinuation was clear to Dobbs and Reardon. If they didn’t take the plane down, it would be immediately shot down. Faced with that ‘choice’, the pilot did what was requested. The last transmission was by Mr. Dobbs. He announced that they were going down. Simultaneously, the crew and passengers recited ‘The Lord’s prayer’ or other sacred mantras. According to recovered black box data, the crash occurred at 11:43 EST. All lives were lost. The FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies worked to investigate the circumstances of the crash. At the time, no one knew why Captain Reardon and his copilot deliberately diverted and crashed their jet. Only later did the startling details of the diabolical plot to deceive the pilots come to light. A real terrorist network installed sophisticated jamming equipment into the plane’s communication system. The purpose was to make it appear as if the pilot was talking to actual air traffic controllers and government agents. The plan all along was to deceive the innocent crew members into downing the plane and taking their lives. After capitalizing on a few of these sophisticated attacks, they planned to claim responsibility for them and strike terror into the heart of the country. Once the pilot diverted the flight plan and failed to explain his actions to real air traffic controllers monitoring their flight progress, it triggered civil defense fighter jets. They were scrambled to escort the unresponsive, suspicious acting commercial airline back to its regular trajectory. It was an ingenious and successful plan to hack the air traffic communications grid but the courageous victims had no way of knowing it was a sadistic hoax. In the end, they gave their lives for a noble cause they believed in. Their reluctant martyrdom was a final unselfish act.