The Black Box
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Mar 25, 2022
- 2 min read
FADE IN
Act 1
INT. STUDY - 10:00
Having screen time, PETER is listening to radio news.
PETER (V.O.): MU5735's 2nd black box is still missing.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The black box is actually painted in a highly visible colour known as "international orange".
INT. DINING ROOM - 13:30
Having noodles, Peter chats with his WIFE.
PETER: I've just bought more shares of 0670.HK: China Eastern Airline Corp.
WIFE: Is that right?
PETER: It's my emotional way to show some support of others' misfortune.
Sighing.
Act 2
INT. PETER'S NT HOME - 15::00
Penthouse. As he is about to open a veranda door, Peter sees a bee flying nearby.
PETER (V.O.): It's a big but slim one.
Observing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It hasn't had anything for the past week.
Opening the slide door, the bee flies back to nature.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I didn't come back, it might not have survived the ordeal.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm glad that I've made the right decision to come back today and saved one life.
Later, inside his silver coupe at the park lane, Peter switches the ignition key.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): No response?
After trying a couple of times, the coupe starts.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even if it doesn't, I'm safe on the ground.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If I was flying a plane, I don't know if I could glide calmly.
Sitting by a bookshelf in the sitting room, Peter picks up a book on Air Law.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While I was doing my LLM in UCL from 1986-1987, I studied it every day.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Of all the subject matters in the Annexes to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, Annex 13 is easy to remember.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's on Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation - all the details of the legal standards and recommended practices are there.
Wondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): How could a jet suddenly nosed over at cruise altitude and dove?
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've watched lots of Mayday episodes on TV. I can visualize what the hell it was like for the crew and the passengers in the last 1 minute and 35 seconds of their lives.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There're whole-airplane parachutes that can save lives from engine failure to unrecovered spins.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But they're just good for small planes. Humankind is still primitive in technological development.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But an instance can only live once.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And the family would be bereaved.
DAYDREAMING SEQUENCE
A Feeling a telepathic communication, Peter flies in light speed to the sky of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
B. Seeing MU5735 plunging, Peter saves the plane by swiftly using his body to support it, just like a mini-shuttle carrier aircraft.
C. As the MU5735 lands safely in Guangzhou Airport, Peter sneaks away in light speed back to Hong Kong.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Act 3
INT. STUDY - 21:00
Peter works on a laptop.
PETER (V.O.): I've been examining life and making mine worth living.
Typing.
Typing.[V.O.) (Cont'd): Everything that happened to me and everything that I've done are just the way they're.
Typing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As I don't have any perspective they aren't, I've no regrets in having just one life.
Finishing typing, Peter takes a look of his laptop.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's my black box.
FADE OUT
THE END
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