Mitch’s problems continue when Neely announces that she has quit her job, and he decides to let her come back to Baywatch. Later, while Mitch, Craig, and Ashley wait for Neely’s mom to pick her up, Neely’s ex, Peter, suddenly shows up.
Mitch is shocked to learn that, contrary to the story Neely told, not only did Peter never see Neely in Alaska, he is not married and does not have a child. Mitch points out that he actually does, and Peter meets Ashley for the first time.
Mitch is dismayed to learn that Neely must be up to her old tricks and confronts her. She finally confesses to lying because she’s in love with Mitch and didn’t want anything to separate them.
April finds out that Calvin Klein in New York wants her to come for an interview and she has to leave the next day. Coincidentally, Cody is going to visit Lani and will be on the same flight. On the plane, April gets to sit in first class, while Cody is relegated to coach, where Barb, the flight attendant, seats him next to precocious youngster named Tyler. In first class with April is her flight attendant, Paul, a hot action movie hero named Hans, who starred in the box-office smash “The Oblitereator”, and Francine, an expectant mother. El Ni?o strikes again as the plane is taking off, hitting a microburst — a rare occurrence that causes a massive air pocket.
The plane gets caught in the powerful downdraft and splits in two. First class goes one way, coach the other. Cody and Tyler survive the crash in pretty good shape, but back in the first class compartment April is knocked unconscious, and when she comes to, she is disoriented. Cody and Barb help survivors into inflatable lifeboats. Tyler, terrified, clings to Cody’s leg. Finishing loading the passengers, Cody is just about to load Tyler onto a lifeboat when a part of the fuselage breaks away and water comes pouring in. Barbara and Cody can barely hang on, but once they are safe, they discover that Tyler is missing. In the front part of the plane, April, Francine, Hans, and Paul are the only survivors but they are trapped because the plane’s door is jammed shut and there is no answer from the cockpit.
Back in his office, Mitch confesses to Craig that he can never trust Neely again. As they go out, they see Neely manning the phones. She tells them, in a frightened voice, that a plane has gone down. To make the situation worse, Mitch and Neely learn that the plane is the one carrying Cody and April. Not wasting a moment, the three rush to the rescue in full alert mode. Cody and Barb, in lifeboats, watch in horror as the tail section of the plane rises into the air, then sinks beneath the surface. Mitch finds Cody, who tells him that April was in a different part of the plane that broke off. There is still no sign of Tyler. Some of the passengers panic when they see shark fins in the water but Cody is able to kick a shark out of the way.
CRASH PT 2
In the first class compartment, Francine starts having contractions. David becomes hysterical, claiming they are all doomed and April tries to calm him down. Paul, the flight attendant is trapped under a galley cart and directs April to some supplies, including a flashlight and some medical equipment. When they hear a coast guard helicopter overhead, April assures everyone that help is on the way. Suddenly, the first class cabin upends and sinks to the bottom of the ocean as a terrified Mitch, Cody, Craig, Neely, Manny and Newmie look on.
April, Francine, Paul and Hans are trapped in a small air pocket. Outside the window, they see Craig, diving down to survey the scene and determine how they can be helped out of the plane wreckage. April’s tries to give everyone hope that they will be rescued. When Craig resurfaces, he gives the bad news: April and a couple of others are still alive, but they don’t have much air and there is no way to get into the first class section without potentially killing everyone if they try to blow the door while there is still air pressure inside. Craig believes they will have to flood the compartment before they can blow the door. Fortunately, Mitch was a Navy SEAL and has some knowledge about executing an operation like that. Back beneath the surface, Francine, in labor and suffering great pain, slips under the water. April dives down and pulls Francine back into the air pocket.
Back on the scarab and planning April’s rescue, the lifeguards start to notice that the wrecked airplane has left a huge oil slick. Mitch, Craig and Newman watch in horror as the gas suddenly ignites. A wall of fire starts racing towards them…the three men realize they are doomed. Neely, seeing the trouble they are in, races by the flames, shooting water from her wave runner and putting out the fire about five feet before it hits them.
They put on their scuba gear and swim toward the submerged first class section. To tell April what they have to do, they write on a slate that they will be flooding the wreckage and then blowing the door. Paul remembers there is a stash of medical oxygen, so everyone takes a deep breath. Craig breaks the window and the cabin fills with water. Mitch detonates the explosion and the door to the first class cabin is blown off. The divers swim in and rescue the passengers.
On the surface, Cody is still searching for Tyler, who is nowhere to be seen. One of the lifeboats hits a piece of fuselage and starts to sink, so the Baywatch team must go off in a different direction. While diving to save an old man, Neely is hit on the head by a piece of wreckage and sinks beneath the surface. Mitch notices that Neely is gone, and free dives to find her. He brings her to the surface and revives her. The next morning, Cody keeps trying to find out what happened to Tyler, who is sadly never found. Barb tells him he saved over a hundred lives and should be proud of that, and not blame himself because he couldn’t save Tyler. April goes to visit Francine, who tells her that she plans to name her new baby girl after her. Mitch returns home to find that Neely has packed – she knows things can never work out between them. She will live in Lani’s apartment and work out a custody arrangement with Peter. Back at headquarters Mitch tells Craig that he and Neely are breaking up – and both are surprised when they Neely shows up. She and Mitch might no longer be married, but that doesn’t mean she has any plans to leave Baywatch.
