Here is my retrospective view of what transpired between the final episode of Season 7, and episode 1 of Season 8. The majority of this story stays true to the facts as they have been provided to us by Blue Bloods and CBS. However, a small portion is how I would like to see the story line advance.
NOTE: The entire premise of Linda being killed on May 28, 2017 shows the lack of due diligence by the show's writers, producers, and fact checkers. May 28 was a Sunday, the day before Memorial Day. Detectives do not work Sundays. Also, there was no need for Linda and Danny to swap shifts as their family was living with Frank and Henry (post fire) so it's not like they would have to leave the boys unsupervised if Danny was required to have pulled an earlier tour. Linda did not have to remain at home with them and could have worked her normal Sunday shift. Also, Church and Sunday Dinner? Hello! Neither Danny nor Linda would have had shifts scheduled for a Sunday. Very sloppy writing.
Now, for my story:
A CHAIN OF EVENTS is a causation theory in the field of aviation, that multiple contributing events typically lead to an accident rather than one single event and had this chain been broken at any point between the first and the final event, the accident would not have occurred. – U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
The First Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY
6:09 a.m.
Danny sat alone at the kitchen table, already engrossed in his second cup of coffee. He had spent the previous hour going through his, Linda's, and the boys' list of what they lost in the fire and was now reviewing the insurance policy, or at least as much of the legalistic mumbo jumbo as he could make out. For once he envied Erin's and Jamie's law school education as they would have no problem figuring out what it provided. He would have to ask one of them for their help but as the oldest, he detested relying upon his younger siblings for help. He was supposed to be there for them, not the other way around.
He was so engrossed in the legalese of the contract that he didn't hear Linda as she slipped beside him, putting her arm around his neck, momentarily startling him.
"Danny, you didn't come to bed again last night." She said.
"I did, for a couple of hours. I didn't want to wake you." He replied.
Linda knew that Danny was unable to sleep, having constant worries over their current housing situation, not to mention the guilt he was carrying over the loss of their house being collateral damage from doing his job.
"I'm trying to figure out exactly what this says." Danny stated while holding up the policy.
"Ask Erin or Jaime". She wisely counselled.
"Guess I'll have to." He reluctantly agreed.
Linda had seen this too many times. The sin of pride. "Danny, they are your sister and brother, you don't have to feel ashamed to ask for their help. They want to help us in any way they can, so knock off the eldest sibling attitude and ask." She firmly ordered.
"After Church." He replied, knowing that no business was done on a Sunday until after the family returned home from Sunday Mass.
As Linda was helping herself to her first cup of coffee, Danny's phone rang.
"Reagan" he answered.
"I'm taking the night tour, so it will have to wait until then." He replied while mouthing "Baez" to Linda, who nodded in acknowledgement.
Linda watched as Danny's frustrated face appeared and the anger began building up behind his now squinting eyes.
Danny looked up to Linda. "Any chance we can swap shifts today? I have to head in. We caught a lead on a serial killer and the Lieutenant wants me back in forthwith."
"Let me call the hospital and find out." Linda advised while pulling her own phone from her pocket.
"She's checking" Danny advised Maria.
After a couple of minutes passed by, Linda nodded. "I can switch to tonight." She concluded. "Just make sure that you are back by 3:00 p.m. for dinner" she warned.
"Thank you." Danny replied before advising Maria that he would be at the squad within the hour, and headed upstairs to shower and dress.
Neither Danny or Linda realized that a simple swapping of shifts, something they had done on numerous occasions since Linda returned to work five years earlier, would constitute the first link in a chain of events that would lead to a tragic scenairo that nobody could see coming.
The Second Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Long Island City, Queens, NY
8:42 a.m.
The Bell 430 twin engine helicopter sat basking in the morning sunlight at its East River helipad located along Vernon Road, south of the Queensborough Bridge in Long Island City, New York.
Having just completed another run from an accident site in Yonkers to a hospital in Brooklyn.
The pilot completed the log for the flight and signed it. Next, he wrote up what had to be his 10th complaint regarding a vibration in the tail which he would file with the maintenance supervisor on his way out. He was scheduled to be back on duty at 6:00 p.m.
The Bell 430 was owned by MediVac Air Ambulatory Services, Ltd., a New York corporation which itself was a wholly owned subsidiary of Life Flight One, Inc., a Delaware holding company which owned 12 assorted medical transport entities.
MediVac had been acquired by Life Flight One nine months earlier when MediVac's prior owner, MediVac New York City LLC had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, having drowned in the debt of maintaining its aging fleet of nine helicopters, of which the Bell 430 in question was the oldest.
A surprise inspection of its aging fleet by the Federal Aviation Administration resulted in MediVac having the Air Worthiness certificates on six of its nine choppers suspended until both the required maintenance and corresponding records were brought current and approved by the FAA, along with Medivac paying a fine of $5,000 per violation, of which there were several, because this was not the first time the FAA had found the fleet to be out of compliance on these matters.
MediVac was unaware that Life Flight had dropped a dime to the FAA when a MediVac mechanic who had been terminated for drinking on the job sought employment with Life Flight and spilled the beans as to the maintenance conditions of the MediVac fleet.
With the cost of the fines and compliance exceeding the company's means or ability to finance those costs, bankruptcy was MediVac's only solution and Life Flight One was only too happy to step in and with one swoop of the mighty pen, put a competitor out of business while acquiring another company and its nine additional helicopters to add to its own aging, and marginally maintained fleet, not to mention the accounts, contracts, and most importantly, billables that came along with the package.
The Bell 430 currently basking in the glow of a new day had been operating in twenty hour cycles for the past five months, having barely regained her Air Worthiness Certificate. Numerous pilots had noted a perceptible shimmy coming from the aft end of the aircraft and had both complained about it and noted it in their logbooks. Mechanics and their supervisors had all signed off that the helicopter performed as designed and there were no maintenance issues discovered upon inspection.
The Third Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY
3:25 p.m.
Made famous by Nathan's Hot Dogs and the Cyclone roller coaster, Coney Island is America's most storied and famous amusement park, or so we mistakenly believe. In fact, Coney Island is a peninsular residential neighborhood, beach, and leisure/entertainment destination on the Coney Island Channel which is part of the Lower Bay in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. In actuality, the Coney Island Cyclone is located in Luna Park which is an amusement park located on Coney Island.
The historic wooden roller coaster opened 90 years ago on June 26, 1927, declared a New York City landmark on July 12, 1988, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 26, 1991.
What most people see and therefore believe, is that the cars sit on the track like a locomotive train and that their weight and gravitational forces keep the cars "glued" to the track so that they don't fall off. What we don't see, and what would spoil the fun in knowing, is that there is a separate set of guide wheels which ride along the underside of the track rail and which are attached to brackets that keep the wheels fixed to the track for a safe and thrilling experience.
Both due to its age and being constructed of wood, the ride requires constant maintenance to insure its safe operation. Maintenance personnel are hired by the ride's operator and spend their days attending to all the details which include the cars, their wheels, the tracks, the wooden frame, and the operating system, all of which must be in perfect working order to ensure that the only terror we perceive is an illusion as opposed to the real thing.
Each car holds eight people in a two abreast by four in line configuration. Three cars are connected to form a train. There are three trains in operation though only one train is actually riding the tracks at any given time while the other two trains are in the process of loading and unloading riders.
While three trains may be in operation, not all cars can operate all the time and each require inspection and maintenance. As such, there are other cars which form other trains which are exchanged as required so that all cars are regularly serviced.
Mobaku Motumbo was born in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo. He had migrated to New York City a year earlier along with his now very pregnant wife who was due at any moment.
Mobaku was employed by the Cyclone's operator to maintain the roller coaster's cars and it was his job to inspect each set of track wheels and guide wheels for wear or damage, and to ensure they were securely fastened to the cars.
Mobaku was diligent and took pride in his work and was keen that he was responsible for the safety of so many having a fun time on his ride, particularly the children. One of his greatest wishes was to one day bring his child to ride the Great Cyclone as he called it, and to show what he did to make it safe for others to ride.
At 3:25 p.m. Mobaku had completed his work on the first two cars of a spare train and was in the process of loosening the left front wheel on the third car when his cellphone rang.
He put down his tools and answered it whereupon he was informed by his wife that their child wanted to come into the world and she did not think it would wait much longer to do so. She had called an ambulance and informed him to get to the hospital.
Mobaku was ecstatic and completely forget what he was doing, let alone the gravity of his interrupted routine.
He quickly tossed his tools into his toolbox and ran to the maintenance building where he clocked out and informed the supervisor he was about to become a father. The supervisor looked up from his television, wished him luck, and returned his attention to the Yankees game then taking place in the Bronx.
The Fourth Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY
7:47 p.m.
Combine Pugsly from "The Addams Family; with Augustus Gloop from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", and a real-life version of Eric Cartman from "South Park". Then turn that person into a 19 year old female and you have the one and only Martina (lard ass) Grasso of South Hackensack, New Jersey.
To put it kindly, she was a loud-mouthed, obnoxious, narcissistic pig, a human food processing machine who would eat anything and everything in her path. At 5'8" tall, she porked out at a healthy 249 pounds.
She had arrived at Coney Island two hours earlier and had proceeded to eat a path through the midway, starting at Nathan's and hitting every possible chicken, fried food, pizza, pretzel, ice cream, hot dog stand, and sugar shack she could lay her ham hocks on though in all fairness, she only consumed diet beverages.
It was no wonder that when she rode the Cyclone at 7:47 p.m. and that the forces of gravity met the swill of sewage then occupying her stomach, that she wound up establishing a new world's record for projectile vomiting at speed.
Having defied the laws of physics, she had managed to squeeze her 60-inch ass into the front right seat of the second car which resulted in those ahead of her receiving a puke bath, while those behind her were treated to an aerial spray. More importantly, the train was now coated in her barf.
When the train returned to the gate, 23 fuming passengers poured out of the train, leaving fat ass Grasso who had to be physically extricated because her 60" caboose was firmly wedged into the seat, along with a coating of rancid egg smelling diarrhea.
Having finally freed the foul and offensive beast from the clutches of the Great Cyclone (Mobaku would have had a hearty laugh but he was at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center holding his newborn son) the gate supervisor immediately gave the train the "heave ho", pardon the pun, and ordered a spare to replace it which is why 15 minutes later, the incompletely repaired train Mobaku had been working on when he received the call causing him to beat feet for the hospital, was making its way into position at the platform gate, ready to take on more thrill seekers, who had no conception of the magnitude of the ride to which the Cyclone would treat them.
The Fifth Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY
9:18 p.m.
"But Mom, I wanna go again"! Cried out 12-year-old Scotty McIlroy of Breezy Point, Queens. "Please?" He begged.
Rory McIlroy looked at her watch. "Okay, but this is the last ride. By the time we get home and you have your shower, it will be after 11:00 p.m., and even if tomorrow is a holiday, that's still past your bedtime. She informed her precocious son.
"Okay Mom, last ride and then we're out of here." He smiled.
"Go." Rory ordered and Scotty ran up the steps.
At that time of night things were starting to slow down and by the time the train was ready to board, Scotty found himself sitting in the right rearmost seat in the third car of the train.
Now, if you asked most people where they prefer to sit in a roller coaster, they would undoubtedly tell you the front car, because that's where you see the dips, drops, and spins the best, however, those who are very good with science and physics will usually head for the back because the laws of nature act more forcibly on the rear of the train than they do on the front, which causes it to have a whip effect, just like a tail.
Scotty was an excellent science student and he knew just where he wanted to sit and to his great fortune, there was nobody else in the third car so he had the forces of gravity and physics all to himself.
Unbeknownst to its passengers, this was the spare train that Mobaku had been working on earlier and it had made its first run of the night at 8:04 p.m. This run would be number thirteen.
Scotty waived as the train pulled away from the gate platform before slowly making its way up to the chain track which would carry it 85 feet to the top, at which point the nose of the lead car would begin its dip to meet the 58.1 degree angle on the first drop in order to begin its 60 miles per hour run across the 2,640 feet of track. The entire ride lasts 1 minute and 50 seconds.
As the train slowly climbed towards the top of the first apex, the front left bolt on the left front guide wheel of the third car, which Mobaku had previously loosened and had been subjected to the forces of the previous twelve runs across the track, finally fell out. This put additional load forces on the remaining front bolt as well as the two rear bolts which had also been loosened. As the train began its descent from the top of the first peak, the third car began to vibrate as it laterally pitched, barely held on the track by the weakened guide wheel.
The train approached the first turn and when it did, the forces now applied to the guide wheel pulled free the second front bolts leaving only the two rear bolts having any effect of holding the guide wheel in place.
As the train dropped again to gain speed to climb the second apex, the third bolt fell out which now permitted the left front of the third car to begin swaying side to side but the straw that broke the camel's back, and Scotty's, was the plunge from the second peak.
As the train gained speed, the fourth bolt let go and the guide wheel shot out. This transferred the load forces to the remaining wheels of the car which were unable to accept them as the third car began leaning into its now overstressed right side. As the train hit the bottom of the second apex, the third car snapped free of the second car and shot off the track.
To ride the Cyclone, you must be 55" tall. At 56" Scotty barely made it and at 100 pounds he was a willowy kid. The safety bar which went across his lap was designed to hold and protect individuals who were larger in average build. In addition to the posted signs, Scotty had been verbally warned to at all times hold onto the lap bar, but he was twelve years old and excited so just one time he wanted to toss his hands in the air as everyone else did, which unfortunately was at the exact moment that the rear of the train snapped up like a serpent's tail and ejected him out of the car as if he had been shot from a canon, directly into the Cyclone's wooden frame.
As Scotty lay motionless across a wooden crossbeam, Rory McIlroy began to scream.
Several calls were made to 911 and in true fashion, New York City's Bravest responded in force.
The Sixth Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
St. Victor's Hospital, Trauma Ward
Manhattan, NY
9:29 p.m.
"TRAUMA TEAM 1 – ALERT: TRAUMA TEAM 1 – ALERT" The hospital speaker in the trauma wing began blaring, along with a flashing red light.
Linda was the supervisory trauma nurse on duty. Part of her swapping shifts that day required that she cover for the trauma team nurse as opposed to working her standard shift in the emergency room. Had she not swapped shifts...
She quickly picked up the phone.
"Trauma One" she stated.
"Trauma One, MediVac flight inbound to St. Victor's helipad. ETA 3 minutes. Report of roller coaster accident involving minor child, Coney Island. FDNY on scene. Trauma Team One respond." The dispatcher reported.
"Trauma Team One, acknowledged." Linda replied before paging the remainder of her life flight staff.
Within 3 minutes Linda, along with Dr. Stephen Weissman and nurse Karen Gard were standing on the helipad, gear in hand. The Bell 430 landed long enough for the medical personnel to board her. As soon as the door closed, they commenced their climb and direct flight to an improvised landing area at Coney Island that the NYPD and FDNY had cleared for them.
As much as Linda appreciated the NYPD, and Danny, Frank, Jamie, and even Joe for their professionalism, dedication, and courage, she had an even greater admiration for the FDNY for they truly were New York's bravest.
As the helicopter began its descent towards Surf Avenue, Linda thought she felt a thud behind her but when neither pilot reacted, she figured it was just a normal thing with a whirly bird, a form of turbulence.
She looked down and what she saw amazed her. A sea of FDNY apparatus, command vehicles, and EMS ambulances.
Linda knew that the FDNY had a lot of engine and ladder companies, and seven squad companies, but it was the five Heavy Rescue companies that were the elite and the pride of the FDNY, so when she saw Rescue 2 from Brooklyn and Rescue 5 from Staten Island both on scene in addition to Squad 1 and Squad 41, she knew this was no ordinary rescue operation.
A Battalion Chief approached them. "Damned coaster ejected a kid right into the crossbeam over there" he pointed. "I've got two Rescue Companies trying to figure a way to stabilize and get him off the beam and down from there without moving him too much. For right now, he's breathing but barely. Fortunately, one of my guys on Rescue 2 was a corpsman in the Navy so he's the one handling the stabilization.
He pointed to the 100' aerial ladder truck and the 95' platform ladder truck parked alongside the Cyclone.
"We're set up to bring him down whichever way works better, either in the bucket, or we can secure him to the aerial and lower it down."
"Do you have any information on his vitals or other specifics?" Linda inquired.
"Hold one" the Chief responded before grabbing his mike.
"Battalion Four Three to Rescue 2 or Rescue 5" He stated.
"Rescue 2, go." Came the response.
"Life flight is here. Request vitals, K?"
"From Rescue 2: Patient is unconscious. Breathing very shallow. Suspect punctured lung, broken ribs, Possible spinal damage. Definite cerebral trauma. Pupils are dilated and not responsive. Pulse is weak. BP 83 over 49. Respiration thready, K."
"10-4, K." The Chief concluded.
An NYPD patrolman from the 60th precinct approached. "We have the boy's mother if you'd like to speak with her." He offered.
"We would, thank you." Linda replied.
"Rescue 5 to Battalion Four Three".
"Go for Four Three" The Chief replied.
"Chief, we're going to have to brace him on a backboard to get him down. Best way I can see doing it from this angle is strap it to the aerial and lower it down, K."
"10-4 Rescue 5, proceed as required, K" the Chief ordered.
Linda obtained the necessary information and signatures from Rory while the FDNY painstakingly extricated her son from the Cyclone's clutches. They both watched as the backboard was secured to the forward section of Ladder 166's aerial. The aerial began retracting, drawing Scotty closer towards the truck before turning to the right and leveling off. It swung around towards where the EMS crew was waiting and then gently lowered Scotty towards them until it he hovered next to the waiting gurney.
Linda and her staff immediately descended on Scotty, transferring him from the aerial to the gurney, checking his vitals, and preparing him for the flight back to St. Victors.
"I want to come with him." Rory pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but there isn't enough room." Linda gently replied.
"I'll bring her in" the Battalion Chief volunteered. "Go" He directed Linda.
"Let's get him aboard" Dr. Weissman ordered.
The pilots began the startup process and within two minutes, the helicopter began to rise from Coney Island destination, St. Victor's helipad.
The Final Link:
Sunday, May 28, 2017:
Above the Narrows
Brooklyn, NY
10:14 p.m.
MediVac Flight One began its routine climb out from Coney Island on a planned course that would take it over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and then straight up Upper Bay and into St. Victors. As the helicopter climbed to 2,000 feet and began building speed, Linda both heard and felt an acute vibration above her but she kept her attention focused on Scotty, who by some miracle was barely hanging onto life.
As they approached the bridge, it felt as if someone had slapped the back of the helicopter with Thor's hammer while at the same time, there was a terrible banging noise and finally, a series of shrilly alarms started going off.
Up front, the pilots went into survival mode.
"Mayday, Mayday, this is MediVac Flight One" The Co-Pilot began as the Pilot wrestled with the now crippled aircraft.
"Inbound from Coney Island to St. Victor's Hospital. We have structural failure of the tail rotor mechanism, possibly the drive shaft or the tail rotor gear box. Six souls on board, approaching eastern side of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge from the south. Mayday Mayday."
Without the tail rotor to counter the main rotor's torque, the helicopter began spinning wildly on its axis. The pilot tried to slow the spin so that the stricken helicopter could safely auto rotate down, but there was too much energy suddenly released when the tail rotor failed and he couldn't counter the spin. They were dangerously close to the bridge and he valiantly tried to bring the nose up to go above the bridge rails but to no avail. The swinging tail boom struck the south side of the bridge frame causing the helicopter to roll over onto its side and careen into the Narrows below.
Linda's last conscious thought in this lifetime was not of Danny and their sons, but of a secret she had kept from them.
