- An inflatable raft washes ashore with three survivors from a missing Navy helo; the pilot also is missing; Gibbs and company plus Borin (of the CGCIS) investigate. The team and the other Abby find the pilot, the truth, and the chopper.
- An inflatable raft washes ashore in Maryland, carrying three survivors of a missing Navy helicopter; the pilot also is missing; Gibbs and company investigate in cooperation with Borin (of the CGCIS). Gibbs and Duckman, using their "covert prowess", speak with the two conscious crewmembers; Tony, McGee, and Borin meet a local scavenger, and Tony and McGee find the body of the pilot, with a gunshot wound in his head; Gibbs and Ducky contemplate the possibility of suicide. The crew chief of the chopper says much to Gibbs, as does the widow; Gibbs and Ziva visit the carrier and have a confrontational chat. Tony and McGoose visit the third survivor, who has regained consciousness, and who contradicts the other two; the musketeers further check out the crew, and they learn more; skillful questioning elicits tearful confessions from the first two shipmates; the team and the other Abby arrest the bad guy. Gibbs prepares to deliver an item to the son of the dead pilot.—DocRushing
- A couple does inventory in their seaside convenience store. The man sees the cooler to the water open and thinks it's kids stealing. He goes over and finds a severely dehydrated Marine guzzling water.
At NCIS, Tony keeps the details of his going with McGee on a "double date" a secret, but he tells McGee that they should "go out with the girls again", knowing that the story about their having gone out for drinks has piqued Ziva's curiosity.
Gibbs comes in and tells them to grab their gear for the crime of the week - determining what happened to the crew of Ghost Runner 12, a helicopter that went down four days earlier.
At the scene, the learn that three of the four crew members have survived. Happ, the pilot, is still missing. While talking to the store owner who found the man guzzling water, Gibbs learns that another agent was there before him and finds out that Agent Borin was running the search and rescue.
In the ambulance, one of the crew says the helicopter was hit by a second aircraft.
Ziva is annoyed that McGee and Tony went out without her. Seeing Agent Borin (Diane Neal) behind him, Ziva dares him to pick up the next woman he sees.
Back at NCIS, they run down the information about the helicopter's crew; the persons on board were Chief petty officer Josie Sparks, Co-pilot Lt. Hank Joplin, rescue swimmer, Adam Portis, and the missing pilot,Oliver Happ.
In MTAC, Gibbs and Borin listen to the helicopter's last transmission with Navy Captain Logan Doyle (Rick Worthy) and Navy Lieutenant Commander David Hernandez (Derek Ray) . The radar showed the helicopter went down near the coast of Delaware, but they realize something isn't right since debris washed up off the coast of Maryland. Borin wants to talk to the crew, but Doyle tells Borin and Gibbs that they're not allowed to speak with them until crew has recovered.
The crew members that were found are taken to Walter Reed Medical Center. To get information about the crew, Ducky walks through the hospital as if he's one of the doctors making rounds. Ducky reports to Gibbs that two crew members, Sparks and Joplin, are recovering from acute dehydration and have no significant injuries; the third crew member, Portis, is in a coma. Ducky then hands Gibbs the master key that he covertly acquired so Gibbs can gain access the crew's rooms.
Gibbs talks to Joplin, who says they were flying low - the next thing he knows is that they were bottoms up scrambling for the raft. Joplin tells Gibbs that he's worried about the pilot. Contrary to the report in the ambulance, Joplin says that the only thing the helicopter hit was water.
As they pick up debris on the beach,Tony and McGee dare each other to ask Borin out to settle their bet with Ziva. A scavenger pulls a knife on them, angry that they're taking "his" scrap. Borin pulls her gun on him and calmly explains that they need the debris as evidence. The man, Seamus Quinn, asks Borin out and she accepts.
Continuing to pick up junk on the beach and along the water's edge, McGee notices something caught between some rocks. Tony and McGee walk over and find Happ's lifeless body has washed ashore, with a bullet wound in his head.
Back at NCIS, Tony jokes that he should have asked Ziva out since she said the first woman he saw. "Cute, but you did have your chance," she says.
Joplin and Sparks are discharged from the hospital.
The agents learn that the pilot, Happ, has a great service record. Happ is married with a six-year-old son who has been diagnosed with the genetic medical condition, neurofibromatosis (or NF2). Mrs. Happ visits NCIS with her son. She tells Gibbs about her son's condition, and that Happ had promised his son that the boy could wear his flight helmet for Halloween.
In the morgue, Ducky concludes that Happ survived the initial crash. Gibbs wants to know if Happ shot himself, but based on the condition of the body, Ducky can't say for sure.
Borin visits Abby in the garage as she goes through the debris. She hasn't found any helicopter pieces, but the bullet that killed Happ was a .22, not Navy issued. Josie Sparks is the registered owner of a .22-caliber pistol.
Tony sets McGee up to ask Borin out by getting tickets to an 80s cover band concert. McGee fumbles his way through trying to ask Borin out until he is interrupted by Gibbs.
Gibbs goes to interrogation and meets with Josie Sparks and JAG Officer Nora Patel, who represents her. Sparks was disciplined last month for carrying the .22. When Gibbs accuses her of killing Happ, she says Happ was the one trying to kill them.
Happ just found out his son has an incurable disease. He got in a fist fight with a superior officer and she found him drinking on the job another time. On the flight they found him messing with the radar system. He said he couldn't handle going back, facing that his kid was going to die. He put them into a dive. She pulled her gun, but they crashed before she could use it. She calls Happ a coward.
Gibbs meets with Mrs. Happ, who says her husband was fine. He confronts her with empty liquor bottles they found around her house and tells her he tried to commit suicide. She tells Gibbs that Happ didn't commit suicide because he wouldn't give up on their son.
At the beach, Borin calls in a request to get water samples tested in hopes of finding where the helicopter may have gone down based on oil and other residue that might be in the water. Tony and Borin have a brief discussion about their jobs and Borin seems somewhat dissatisfied with her work. Tony tells Borin about having passed up his chance to move up. When she asked why, Tony told her it was because he had "better people" to work with. Quinn then drives up, but Borin dismisses him.
As Quinn leaves, Borin tells Tony she's not going out with Quinn; that she only agreed to because she knew about Ziva's bet. Borin then tells Tony that she thinks it sounds like he has better people to ask out.
At sea, Doyle says he was friends with Happ and would have known if something was wrong, but Doyle doesn't know about the fight Happ started with Hernandez. When asked, Hernandez says it was just over training times and wasn't a big deal.
In the NCIS lab, Abby tells Borin that there is nothing indicative of a crash in the water samples.
Gibbs learns that the Pentagon is about to announce that Happ caused the crash; he then comments on the impact the announcement would have on the Happ family and says they should hold off on making the announcement while the investigation is on-going.
After they receive a call that Portis has regained consciousness, McGee and Tony go talk to him at the hospital. Though Portis is still hooked to a ventilator and might have brain damage, they ask Portis if Happ tried to commit suicide, he shakes his head no.
Back at NCIS, they've been running background on the squadron and found four of them applied for stamps needed to open an off-shore account. Happ was the only one of the crew who hadn't applied, the fourth was Hernandez, who was originally scheduled to fly that night.
Gibbs and McGee talk to Hernandez, who immediately gets caught in an alibi lie. He says they were going to sell the helicopter, but Hernandez bailed and called in sick. Sparks and Joplin watch his confession from the other side of the glass, but still insist they didn't kill Happ.
After talking to Hernandez, Gibbs talks to Joplin. Sparks tells Ziva they faked the crash.
They flew south and landed on a ship waiting to meet them. They were selling the helicopter for $300,000. They told Happ once they were in the air, and Sparks says he went along with it until they landed, and then Happ pulled his weapon on them. Sparks then says that Happ was shot by the ship's captain. She said the captain was supposed to take them back to the "crash" site, but after the murder he disabled the raft transponder and dumped them. Sparks says they deserved it. Sparks then volunteers the name of the ship's captain - Seamus Quinn, the beach scavenger.
The team heads to Quinn's warehouse and he immediately opens fire. Tony and McGee tackle him and find he has a .22 like Sparks, the murder weapon.
Back at NCIS, Borin asks Tony and McGee out for a congratulatory drink. Ziva then busts them for their "double date". The guys had stayed in and played video games. Borin asks Ziva instead, who is glad someone finally asked her. Tony and McGee rush to join them.
Gibbs looks on the news and sees Mrs. Happ and her son. He remembers her asking for her husband's flight helmet for her son. Gibbs picks up the helmet and says, "Game on."
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