Pilot Error
From The Bionic Wiki
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| Production 41206 Original Airdate: September 27, 1974 | |||
 Senator Hill tries to pull out of a steep dive | |||
| Produced by Lionel E. Siegel and Joe L. Cramer | |||
| Written by Edward J. Lakso | |||
| Directed by Jerry Jameson | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Pat Hingle as Ed Hill Alfred Ryder as Joe Lannon | |||
| Co-starring Suzanne Zenor as Airman Jill Denby Stephen Nathan as Greg Hill | |||
| With Chet Douglas as Reporter Hank Stohl as A.F. Maj. Phillips Dennis McCarthy as A.F. Doctor Hank Brandt as Master Sgt. Cole | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 2 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "The Pioneers" | "The Pal-Mir Escort" | ||
| Related episodes | |||
| - | |||
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Senator Ed Hill, who secured the secret funds that paid for Steve's bionics, is under suspicion of pilot error in a recent aircraft accident. Steve Austin is called to testify before the board of inquiry, and both Hill and Oscar Goldman attempt unsuccessfully to prejudice his testimony prior to leaving San Diego. When the transport to Washington is delayed, Senator Hill decides to take his own small plane, and invites Col. Austin to fly as co-pilot.
Unbeknownst to all, Senator Hill has a brain tumor, and during the flight suffers a lapse of awareness. The passengers awake from a nap to find themselves off course in a storm. An engine leak sprays hot oil into Steve's face, and he is blinded. They make an emergency landing in a remote desert location.
While stranded, Hill's advisor Joe Lannon schemes to assassinate Steve, convinced that once they are rescued Steve's testimony will bury Hill. Meanwhile, Steve works with Hill to repair the plane. Steve, Lannon, and Hill's son Greg clear a runway and they take off. Once airborne, Hill again lapses into a waking trance, and Steve must fly literally blind, using his fingers on the dials, Greg Hill's eyes, and an air-traffic controller named Denby.
Once back in civilization, the Senator resigns from office, and turns in his wings. An eye doctor treats Steve's normal eye, but as to the other-"that's a little out of my line." Oscar and Steve reassure him they have a specialist.
[edit] Novelization
"Pilot Error" is one of only a few episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man to be adapted as a novel. The novelization of the episode was written by Jay Barbree. See Pilot Error (novel).
[edit] Deconstructed
[edit] Quotes
Steve: Well thanks for the ride, Oscar. I'll try and forget the conversation.
Oscar: This conversation's not over yet, Steve. I asked you to give a guy a break. I think you're entitled to know why. The fact is: I owe Senator Edward Hill, and so do you.
Steve: How?
Oscar: Two years ago, I needed six million dollars for a very special project. He ran that money through the senate appropriations committee with no questions asked because he respected my need for secrecy. To this day he doesn't know where that money went.
Steve: I see. So I'm in the Senator's debt. (sighs) Well, there's not much I can do about it.
Joe: Listen, Ed, this is really stupid. I don't want you to fly.
Hill: You sound like a broken record, you know that? Will you give me one good reason why I should not fly there myself?
Joe: Let's get the hearing over with first. Why take chances? You're whole career is on the line.
Hill: Joe, you're afraid to fly with me, is that it?
Joe: Are you fit to fly? That's the question.
Hill: Now let go of it. You've been sounding like an old lady ever since that accident. Right now you're convincing Austin that something's wrong here. (brightens up) Joe, go get your bag and get in the airplane!
Phillips: You're early, Jill.
Jill: Oh, am I?
Phillips: Hm-hm. Don't worry though, after the third day the thrill wears off.
Jill: Well this only my second day.
Hill: (having just crashlanded a private plan) God knows where we are, but we're alive. (turns to Steve Austin) Well, you alright?
Steve: Oh, everything is peachy senator, just peachy. Except I got this little problem.
Hill: What's that?
Steve: I can't see.
(Steve Austin has just straightened out a bent propeller with his bare hands.)
Steve: How's that, Senator, is it straight?
Hill: How did you do that?
Steve: Well Senator, two years ago you got Oscar Goldman six million dollars for a secret project. I was that project.
Hill: But the strength in your arm...
Steve: They gave me some expensive new parts. It comes in handy sometimes, for... well, like, repaying Oscar's old debts.
[edit] Trivia
- This is one of the few times in the series where Steve Austin wears a necktie (as part of his Air Force uniform). Lee Majors had a well-publicized hatred of neckties and refused to wear one unless absolutely necessary.[citation needed]
- Years earlier, Majors and Hingle shared screen-time in the 1969 feature, "The Ballad of Andy Crocker."
[edit] Gaffes
[edit] Bionic Limitations
- One would hope Rudy Wells took note of how Austin's bionic eye was so easily disabled and made improvements to eliminate this weakness.
[edit] Continuity
- Although the episode provides substantial backstory regarding how Steve Austin came to become bionic, it does serve to contradict elements of the original pilot film.[citation needed]
Credibility
- It is strange that, after flying through a terrible storm that disabled the small plane, the men immediately make an emergency landing in perfectly clear and sunny weather.
[edit] Gallery
 Episode collage |
 Steve adjusts his tie |
 Steve wins an argument |
 Steve catches 40 winks |
Ed Hill tries to pull out of a steep dive |
 Steve effects repairs |
 Joe Lannon schemes against Steve |
 Steve breaks the glass to feel the needle |
