Pilot Error

Plot in a Nutshell: Steve gets on a plane.  It crashes.

Story Summary: Steve is test piloting a flight simulator and, as hard to believe as it is, he crashes it. Steve, clearly an expert on aerodynamically challenged flying-machines (re: The Six Million Dollar Man, Survival of the Fittest, Little Orphan Airplane, The Coward, Nuclear Alert, The Pioneers), has been called upon to testify at the inquiry into the crash of a plane piloted by Senator Hill.  The Senator wants to make sure Steve testifies that he wasn't at fault. But Steve gets a little miffed at him.

Oscar drives Steve to the airport for his flight to the inquiry.  During the trip, Oscar tries to manipulate Steve into testifying in the Senator's favor.  This doesn't sit well with Steve so he lifts Oscar's car off the ground to get him to shut up.

Steve enters the airport, but the Senator and Steve's flight to the hearing is cancelled due to a foul-up, so they decide to fly the Senator's Navion to their destination.

It's clear skies on take-off, but a storm is rolling in. Unfortunately, the Navion's radio is set to easy listening, so they don't get the warning from the tower.  As they fly into the storm, the Senator seems to lose control of several of his bodily motor functions.

Predictably, the plane crashes. I swear, if Steve tossed a paper airplane it wouldn't get two feet before it nose-dived into the dirt.

Luckily, the storm is localized to only hit flying planes, so they land on a nice sunny day.

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Steve has been injured by a small explosion on the plane that renders him blind.  He spends the rest of the episode with gauze on his eyes.  As the Senator's son is patching Steve up, they make jokes about how it would have been easier if Steve had been bitten by a snake.

The situation looks dire.  They've crashed in 100-degree weather after flying through an icy storm.  The oil line is broken, the propeller is bent, everyone is thirsty, and their clothes are dirty.  What will they do?  Steve hatches an incredible do-or-die plan that involves flying back out the same way they came in.  The first step is for him to bend the propeller back into shape in front of everyone.

We are then treated to an extended rock-and-brush-clearing montage.

Meanwhile, the Senator's right-hand man, Snidely Whiplash, begins forming a plan to rid them of Steve Austin, the one man he believes has the power to destroy the Senator's career.

Needless to say, Snidely's plan backfires and he ends up bitten by a snake. He'll survive, we've already been informed that the kid went to snake-bite school, but now they have no choice but to get back into the air to get Snidely to a hospital.

Off they go.   Unfortunately, they fly right back into that airplane-only storm just as the Senator has a repeat of his previous motor-function problem and has to relinquish control of the plane to sightless Steve.    Getting directions from the Senator's son, the tower, and using his own fingers to read the gauges, Steve lands the plane.  Once on the ground, the skies are again clear and sunny.

Later, it is discovered that the Senator suffers from a brain tumor.  His flying and political days are over.

Meanwhile, even with only one eye, Steve has no problem with the ladies.

The End.

Overall Grade:  

Final Thoughts:  Season 2 takes a bit of a backward step.  After the excitement of the previous episode, we get an extended rock-clearing montage, completely different weather depending on whether the plane is airborne or on the ground, and a villain with the slimmest of motivations for attempted murder.  One Steve for the plot and an extra Steve for the brilliant Pat Hingle.  Pat can't save the episode, but he does make it worth watching.