A beechcraft crashed on the Island sometime after April 2001. It carried a Nigerian drug smuggler disguised as a priest, the body of a real priest, and heroin hidden inside Virgin Mary statues. It also had an on-board radio and maps of Nigeria.
Off the Island[]
Drug smugglers' plane, getting ready to leave Nigeria ("The 23rd Psalm")
While in Nigeria, Eko, Goldie, and Olu loaded the plane with Virgin Mary statues containing heroin to be taken out of the country. Eko's brother Yemi had come to warn Eko not to get onto the plane. At this point, the military appeared and tried to stop the drug smugglers. Olu was gunned down by the military, and Yemi was shot when he jumped in front of Eko, shielding him from the bullets. Goldie helped Yemi onto the plane, but then shoved Eko out and took off without him. ("The 23rd Psalm")
On the Island[]
The Beechcraft crashes. ("Because You Left")
At some unspecified time prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, the Beechcraft crashed on the Island. Before the crash, Goldie parachuted off, but ended up stuck in a tree and died. The plane, with only Yemi left on board, crash-landed on the edge of a cliff. ("Deus Ex Machina")
Nikki and Paulo were the first survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 to come across the Beechcraft shortly after the crash of their plane. They saw the drug smugglers' plane on the edge of the cliff, but Paulo refused to go up because he was sure it would fall. Nikki was far more interested in their own search for the diamonds they had smuggled on board Oceanic 815, so she made them leave. ("Exposé")
A short while after that, Locke saw the drug smugglers' plane in a dream, a vivid vision of the plane crashing, his mother, and Boone covered in blood. Locke then took Boone into the jungle, following his foresight. First they found Goldie's dead body hanging down from his parachute, then they discovered the plane itself. Suspecting there could be a radio inside, Boone climbed into the plane at the behest of Locke, whose legs were not functioning properly at that time.
Locke helps the severely injured Boone out of the fallen plane ("Deus Ex Machina")
Inside the plane, Boone tried to send a distress call using the cockpit radio. As the plane began to tip from Boone's weight, he heard a return transmission on the radio. The plane then fell to the ground below, fatally injuring Boone. ("Deus Ex Machina") It was later revealed that the person on the other end was in fact Bernard, a survivor from the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815, using the radio they found in the Arrow. ("The Other 48 Days")
A few days later, Locke took Sayid to the wreckage of the Beechcraft, to show him that his story of how Boone fell was true. ("The Greater Good") A few days after that, Sayid and Charlie came by the plane when they were looking for Danielle Rousseau, who had abducted Aaron Littleton. Sayid, not knowing about Charlie's past as a heroin addict, showed him the Virgin Mary statues. Charlie secretly took one of the statues with him, and later returned for more. ("Exodus, Part 2")
Some time after the plane fell, Tom was tasked with moving it on top of the Pearl hatch. ("Exposé")
Upon finding one of the Virgin Mary statues in Charlie's possession, Eko urged him to take him to the plane. They stumbled across Goldie's dead body in the jungle, and Eko found the dead body of his brother Yemi inside the Beechcraft. He took the cross his brother was wearing, put a statue in his arms, and ceremonially burned the plane.
Some time later, Locke and Eko returned to the Beechcraft while looking for the question mark from the blast door map. They discovered that the plane was lying near a huge question mark on the ground marking the site of the entrance to the Pearl ("?") where it had previously been moved by Tom. Again some time later, Locke returned to the site along with Sayid, Desmond, Paulo, and Nikki to find Eko and visit the Pearl. Eko investigated the plane and discovered that Yemi's body had disappeared, despite large boulders blocking the doors.
After Ben moved the island, Locke, after being pulled through time, spied the plane swooping low over his head. Before the plane crashed, it spilled a statue of the Virgin Mary before Locke. Locke then followed the smoke to the crash site, seeing it trapped up in the trees like it was prior to Boone making it fall. Locke yelled up to the plane to see if anyone was still alive. Just as Locke was climbing the branches to the plane and calling for survivors, Ethan appeared and shot Locke. After Locke fell to the ground, Ethan questioned Locke regarding his identity. Just prior to a time flash and much to Ethan's disbelief, Locke told Ethan that Ben had made Locke their leader. After that flash, the plane was now on the ground as it was after Boone made it fall. Locke heard something in the bushes and reached for his knife. Richard appeared out of the jungle and immediately proceeded to remove the bullet from John's leg. Locke questioned Richard on how he knew where to find him. Richard responded to Locke by telling him that he told him--or will tell him. Richard gave Locke the compass and told him next time he sees Richard to give it to him. ("Because You Left") Later future Locke would bring Ben and Richard here and tell the latter to give a compass to the man that will soon come out of th jungles. Then time-travelling Locke appeared. ("Follow the Leader")
Contents[]
Yemi's cross
- Goldie--was thrown out of the plane when it crashed
- Yemi--burnt, and then went missing before "The Cost of Living"
- Eko's Cross--Eko took this from Yemi's body
- Virgin Mary statues containing heroin - numerous, mainly by or for Charlie, were taken, others smashed
- A radio used by Boone to make contact with the radio the Tailies had
- A map of West Africa including Nigeria and the Sahara region.
- A variety of debris, including a box with the stencil, "Hilton Tool and Machine Co." and addressed to the Bronx.
Trivia[]
- Damon Lindelof has stated that the crash was not button related, but was caused by the Island's magnetic attraction. [source needed]
- The Beechcraft 18 has a range of 850 miles/1400 kilometers. The distance from Nigeria to Fiji is 11,000 miles/18000 km.
- In "Fire + Water", an Easter Egg is visible for those who are viewing the episode in widescreen format. As Charlie was looking at the angels of Claire and his mother, the plane can be seen in the background coming in for a crash landing. (Season 2 DVD)
- The plane has featured on the Island in all three Eko flashback episodes. Eko and Charlie found the plane in "The 23rd Psalm", Eko and Locke found the plane when searching for the Pearl station in "?", and Eko along with several other characters found the plane when visiting the Pearl in "The Cost of Living."
Prop[]
Two different Beechcrafts used, as evident from the different registration numbers.
The actual Beechcraft fuselage prop used by the production crew is stored in the same Dillingham Airfield (Waialua, Hawaii) as the Lockheed L-1011 pieces.
The registration number of the plane in the runway scene was 5Z-GWN6. However, the number of the plane as discovered on the Island is N3785A. The 5Z- designation is used for Kenyan military aircraft (as compared to 5Y- for civilian) [1] [2] [3], whereas N3785A is the real callsign of the plane, which was a Beechcraft formerly registered in Maui, Hawaii.[4]
Unanswered questions[]
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- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Beechcraft/Theories
- What was the smugglers' original destination?
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