Not long after the Gulfstream had landed, the BAU received breaking news: the fire at the crash site had been extinguished, and the remaining flames were under control. To everyone's surprise, a survivor had been found.
The copilot, Frank Canfos, had miraculously survived and was en route to the local hospital. Hotch immediately instructed Jack and Reid to proceed to the crash site while JJ and Emily diverted to the hospital.
The plane crash had occurred around 4 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, and Colorado was in the Mountain Time Zone (UTC -7). This meant the crash had taken place around 10 a.m. local time.
When Jack and Reid arrived at the scene, just under two hours had passed since the incident, and it was now midday.
The crash had occurred in a desolate desert area. The emergency rescue team and the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) had taken nearly an hour to reach the site.
What awaited the two was a nightmarish, apocalyptic scene.
The wreckage and the bodies of passengers were scattered along the crash path, covering an area of several kilometers. The air was thick with the acrid stench of burning and the vapor of jet fuel.
The site was surrounded by a variety of vehicles: red fire trucks, ambulances, white Durango Police Chevrolet patrol cars, and black refrigerated coroner's vans.
An NTSB officer named Lilo Box greeted them, wearing a standard 3M mask. As previously reported, the fire from the crash hadn't lasted long.
Jack and Reid also donned 3M masks. The fire had likely produced a lot of toxic gases and dust. Though they were in an open area and didn't have to worry about lingering toxic fumes, protection from dust was still essential, especially after lessons learned from 9/11.
To hear each other over the noise of the scene, they had to shout to communicate.
"How wide is the debris field?" Reid yelled.
"About two square miles (5 square kilometers). The plane broke into five parts: two wings, the tail, the rear fuselage, the front fuselage, and the cockpit. Most of it is concentrated nearby," Lilo Box replied as he marked the debris locations on an aerial map with a red pen before handing it to them.
"So, the plane disintegrated before hitting the ground?" Reid asked, studying the map.
"Yes and no. It broke apart, but not completely," Lilo Box clarified, seeing their confusion.
"If it had fully disintegrated midair, the debris would have spread over tens of square miles. But as you can see, except for the wings that detached first, the farthest piece of wreckage is only about 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) away. So, the disintegration likely happened just before the plane hit the ground."
As they walked deeper into the site, Lilo Box pointed to the mangled remains of the passengers.
"As you can see, some passengers are still strapped to their seats, meaning the crash wasn't sudden. Most people had time to fasten their seatbelts before impact."
Rescue workers were busy retrieving bodies, marking remains, and moving wreckage to search for survivors. Some were placing the relatively intact bodies on stretchers to be taken to the coroner's van. Forensic experts from across Colorado would gather to analyze the cause of death for each victim.
This process would be vital for the NTSB to reconstruct the crash later and determine the cause.
"We're still searching for the black box. The good news is, in this aircraft model, the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder are combined, so we only need to find one," Lilo Box explained.
This was a little-known fact that Jack had casually looked up on their flight. The team had learned to do their own research to avoid triggering Reid's infamous half-hour lectures, which usually lost everyone after the first five minutes. Out of courtesy, no one ever interrupted him, creating an awkward situation.
Everyone knew that despite being called a "black box," the device was typically yellow or orange. However, few realized that some planes had just one, while others had two separate black boxes.
The flight data recorder automatically logs the aircraft's operational parameters and engine status after takeoff. The cockpit voice recorder, on the other hand, records conversations between the captain, copilot, air traffic control, and other sounds in the cockpit, like engine noises and alarms.
These devices were sometimes installed together, sometimes separately, usually in the tail of the plane, where they were protected by an extremely durable casing.
"I really should call Captain Torrance and thank him again," Jack said, looking over the grim scene. He shuddered to think what might have happened if it weren't for the pilot's extraordinary skill during their previous close call. Even if he had survived using his unique abilities, there was no guarantee he could have saved JJ.
"Where was the surviving copilot found?" Jack asked, speaking aloud to break the silence.
"He was discovered about 20 yards from the cockpit. He was thrown clear with his seat still attached. Honestly, I can't understand how he survived—it's nothing short of a miracle," Lilo Box pointed to a large crater nearby, caused by the plane's nose plowing into the ground.
Jack glanced at the copilot's detached seat and then up at a towering powerline pole, where the high-voltage cables had been torn down.
"Maybe the copilot's seat was ejected before the nose hit the ground, and it got caught on those power lines, which cushioned his fall and changed the angle of impact," Reid suggested.
"That's possible, theoretically," Reid nodded after a moment's thought.
His attention then shifted to a large piece of cabin carpeting covered in dirt and bloodstains.
"Vomit? Looks like several passengers threw up before the crash," he muttered.
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