- Dr. Rumack does his best to reassure the passengers in the cabin, but from the Pinocchio effect this speech has on his nose, they're not convinced.
- Meanwhile, a vulture lands behind Ted. This image doesn't seem to bode well for our hero.
- Ted reports to Elaine who reports to Kramer how the plane is handling, trying to get a feel for the aircraft.
- In the cabin, a Good Samaritan is able to help "translate" for one of the jive dudes who's fallen extremely ill. This "jive lady" is played in a very earnest cameo by actress Barbara Billingsley, best known for her role as the mother on the 50's sitcom Leave it to Beaver. Not exactly the most jive environment. A genius casting move.
- Back on the ground, McCroskey holds down the fort with Air Traffic Controller Johnny.
- Captain Oveur's wife receives a call in bed from the airport, and leaves her equine lover for the airport.
- Meanwhile, Ted tries to get himself to concentrate. He's an easily distracted kind of guy and starts paying attention to voices in his head.
- Ted, understanding that he needs to take control, consults Kramer and McCroskey on the ground, who fear that the airplane is off course. This would be impossible, though, Kramer asserts, because they're "on instruments"
- In typical Airplane! style, this comment is played as a literal pun—cut to a shot of the crew playing Dixieland jazz.
- He asks a traffic control to check the radar range. The controller opens a microwave oven and tells him the chicken won't be done for another 2 minutes. (A company back in the Pleistocene Era manufactured the first microwave called a Radar Range.)
- McCroskey's bad habits escalate ("looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines").
- The press shows up to "take some pictures." They start taking pictures off the walls.