Things Get Shaky In 'Turbulence'

This trip takes a little detour.

According to CSI Files sources, "Turbulence" opens with Mac on a plane, heading to Washington, DC to give his testimony during a trial. The plane hits some turbulence, and Mac tries to calm the man across the aisle from him, Ned Riley. Ned is an inventor on his way to Washington to file a patent. While Ned is talking, Mac sees one of the flight attendants rush by.

A second flight attendant moves toward the back of the plane and Mac watches her close the curtain behind herself. Mac gets up and heads to the curtain, showing a flight attendant his badge and asking what is going on. The woman opens the door to one of the plane bathrooms and shows him the cause of their distress: a dead body on the floor.

Mac asks who discovered the body, and one of the flight attendants speaks up. She saw blood coming under the door while she was belted into her seat during the turbulence. Mac kneels down to look at the victim and at the source of the blood: a wound on his neck. Mac tells them the man's carotid artery was severed, but they can't see anything that would have caused the damage.

Mac pushes the man's jacket aside to get a good look at something on his belt: a badge. This man was a Federal Air Marshal. He pushes the jacket farther back and sees that the man's shoulder holster is empty. Whoever killed him stole his gun. They could be dealing with an even more serious situation here.

Mac returns to his seat and asks Ned to accompany him to the back of the plane. Ned is the only passenger that Mac is sure could not have killed the Marshal--he was beside Mac the whole flight. Mac tells Ned to keep an eye on the rest of the passengers, looking for any suspicious behavior.

One of the flight attendants gives Mac a first aid kit, and he puts on the rubber gloves inside. He checks the victim's pockets, but he doesn't find his identification. The man had been sitting in row 16, but there is no name listed for that seat. A flight attendant tells Mac that Air Marshals sometimes change seats. Mac goes to look at row 16 but finds nothing.

On the way back, Mac sees a spilled drink on a lowered tray in front of an empty seat. He checks the flight manifest and asks the attendant where James Turner is. She remembers the man and points him out, now sitting in row 30. He's sweating and looks nervous, and Mac sees a spot of blood on his shirt cuff. He's found his primary suspect.

An aircraft hangar is hastily prepared for the investigation. NYPD, Homeland Security, FBI, Port Authority Police--everybody's taking part in this. Stella, Hawkes and Adam come to the hangar to help. Things get more complicated when they discover that their Federal Air Marshal isn't really an Air Marshal at all--the real Marshal is dead, and their victim was impersonating him. So who killed their imposter?

Please note that the above plot details have not been confirmed by CBS, Alliance Atlantis or Bruckheimer Films, and until such time you should treat this information as you would any other rumour. The above information comes from early script drafts and the details of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

"Turbulence" is expected to air October 8 on CBS.

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