In the series premiere episode, Pilot - Flight 627 was a commercially scheduled, overnight, trans-Atlantic flight that ended in tragedy for all aboard.
While enroute from Hamburg, Germany to Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Glatterflug Flight 627 is caught in an electrical storm. Most of the cabin lights are off, and flashes of lightning illuminate the cabin area. Various passengers are speaking German and English.
Elsewhere on the plane, a nervous-looking passenger cradles his head in his hands, his eyes wide. He sits back and takes a few breaths, then opening an attaché case and taking out a dosing pen, injects himself in the fleshy portion of his stomach. The man beside him tries to reassure him that the storm was nothing to worry about and offers him some gum. The nervous passenger declines, takes a few more breaths, unfastens his seatbelt, and starts walking up the aisle.
A cabin attendant sees him and goes after him. Once she reaches him he stops and turns with a look of horror on his face - the skin on his face and hands seems to be decaying rapidly and dissolving. Unable to control himself, he vomits all over the hostess, who screams and turns to look at the other passengers. Everyone begins to panic as they realised their own flesh is degenerating as well. Another cabin attendant telephones the captain and reports a problem.
The co-pilot opens the door to find out what is causing the noise from the cabin. He sees the passengers of the craft in their decaying state and stands in shock. The pilot asks him what is wrong, while engaging the craft's auto-pilot system and turning to look at his co-pilot. The co-pilot turns as his own skin began to decay, and lets out an agonised moan as the skin around the bottom of his face dissolves and his jaw falls off. The auto-pilot engaged, Flight 627 flies on through the storm.
Following the initial investigation of the events on the flight the aircraft was destroyed by civil authorities. How it was destroyed is unknown:
- Simple incineration would not have been performed - due to the fact that the plane was pressurized to keep the air and possible contaminants inside.
- The destruction of the plane without releasing any contaminants into the air would have been an extremely costly task to complete.
Despite these facts, the plane was shown to be partly incinerated. It is possible that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention simply set fire to the plane.
- 147 people died on Flight 627, the exact same number as Flight 718