Operation
Crash-Dive

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For a detailed overview of this episode, click here.

When Fireflash planes keep crashing, International Rescue are called in to help.
Original UK broadcast date: December 16th, 1965

Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors


Synopsis

After a Fireflash plane disappears, it is decided by the International Air Minster that all Fireflash planes are to be grounded. This news quickly spreads across the world, and everyone at International Rescue is interested, having saved the Fireflash during its maiden flight. The aircraft is thoroughly checked for faults, but when none are found, a test flight is arranged. The Fireflash takes off from London Airport, and Alan uses Thunderbird 5 to monitor communications between the pilots and the control staff in London. However he finds out that the position the pilots have given is actually 20 miles out. The Fireflash then ends up crashing into the sea, where it sinks. Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4 are sent out, with Scott setting up a scanner at the coastline. Virgil drops Thunderbird 2's pod into the sea, and Gordon uses Thunderbird 4 to start searching for the Fireflash.

Gordon sees that the pilots are still alive. Brains tells him to use the laser beam cutting to remove the Fireflash's engines. Gordon does so, and once the engines are cut, the Fireflash floats back up to the surface. However a console catches fire in the cabin, which quickly gets out of control. Gordon cuts through the cabin's glass to get the pilots out, and they are taken away in a rescue capsule deployed by Thunderbird 2. The Fireflash explodes moments later.

Wanting to find out what is going wrong with the Fireflash, International Rescue contact London Airport, and arrange for Scott to fly one of the planes. Thunderbird 2 arrives at the airport, and Scott is to pilot a Fireflash along with Captain Hanson. The Fireflash takes off without any problems, but as it leaves London, Scott contacts Alan and gives his position. Alan says the position he gave is wrong, and is again 20 miles out from where he really is. The Fireflash's radio then breaks, and the elevator power unit also fails. However, Scott has a separate radio, allowing him to contact Thunderbirds 2 and 5.

Virgil and Gordon have been following the Fireflash in Thunderbird 2. The Fireflash begins to go into a dive, so Gordon is winched into the plane from Thunderbird 2. As he starts to take a look around, he soon finds the fault: the elevator power unit's cable has been cut! As he reports this to Scott, someone shoots at him: a saboteur is onboard! He says the Fireflash is finished, and gets into a shootout with Gordon.

Despite Gordon warning him that his parachute will never open in time, the saboteur jumps out of the open hatch. Gordon goes back to the elevator power unit and sees that he can't rewire the cable, so he instead takes the two ends and holds them back together. The Fireflash's elevator power unit is restored, allowing Scott and Hanson to pull the plane up at the last second. It avoids hitting the water, and flies back to London.

Later on, the Tracy family are watching a news report about what's happened, which states that the efforts of International Rescue have led to the unmasking of the international gang bent on aircraft espionage. Power to the TV is then cut, as Grandma Tracy appears and says that a fuse blew in the cooker, causing the outage. Virgil says Gordon will soon fix that. Scott reminds Gordon of what he said after the Fireflash episode -it was just like fixing a fuse. Gordon says here he goes again!

Notes

-The additional footage needed to turn Trapped in the Sky from a 30 to 60 minute episode was filmed during the production of this episode.

-The script for this episode refers to the title of it as "The Test Crew".

Errors

-When Jeff, Tin-Tin and John are first seen watching the TV, there is nothing actually displayed on the TV screen.
-When Gordon starts searching for the Fireflash, there is a shot which has been flipped -note the "FIRE" on the extinguisher in the background is written in reverse.
-Thunderbird 4 seems to be too big when its cutting through the Fireflash's engines.
-When the Tracy family is watching the news report about International Rescue saving the day, again, the TV is not actually displaying anything when first seen.
-Virgil says Scott's take off from England was delayed, but Scott actually took off from Ireland. The DVD subtitles fix this error.
-Thunderbird 2 appears to be far too small in a few shots when it's flying under the Fireflash.