MAIT Team

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MAIT Team
Episode # 215
Air Date January 13, 1979
Briefing How the accident happened (drawn on chalkboard)
Title Screen

Brief Plot

Plot

Cahill is injured.

Sindy is involved in a major accident and Ponch and Jon respond. Our heroes arrive at the same time as the emergency vehicles. It isn't until later that someone notices Sindy's cruiser. Eleven people died. Luckily Sindy is alive but unconscious. She was the only survivor and witness.

Ponch and Jon become part of the M.A.I.T. team to investigate the accident. Several witnesses claim to have heard a siren just before the crash.

The next day, pictures and measurements are taken at the scene of the accident. Everything seems to be pointing to Sindy as the cause. Trouble arises when a Senator joins the investigation. While Ponch and Jon do a (safe) re-creation for the Senator, Getraer is following up clues and ends up chasing a truck which lost a part at the scene of the accident. When Getraer slips and tips over, Ponch and Jon take up the chase. When they catch the guy, Ponch makes the arrest. It turns out he ran because he thought they were getting him for excess parking tickets.

When Sindy regains consciousness, she remembers nothing. Ponch suggests they recreate the accident.

The next day, they have a truck and multiple old cars to play with. On their second run through, they get it almost exact. When Ponch and Jon get blinded by the reflection of the sun, Ponch realizes why the truck drove on the wrong side.They recreate it once again with the reflective sheets on top of the hill which were being delivered at the time of the accident. Jon is blinded and drives on the wrong side. The accident almost happens again.

When Ponch and Jon visit Sindy in the hospital, they bring her an 8-track player. When Ponch realizes he forgot the batteries, he runs out to get some.

Great Quote

"Didn't you guys have any witnesses?"
"None that were any help."
-Sindy (in the hospital) and Jon (referring to the dead accident victims)

Guest Stars

Also Starring

Co-starring

Crew

Fun Facts

  • Ponch and Jon are wearing long sleeves during this episode.
  • We see Rescue Squad 51 and Engine 51 respond to the accident. These are from the firehouse made famous in the 70s drama, "Emergency!"
  • Erik Estrada is sporting a scar over his left eye.
  • The crash scene was filmed on Forest Lawn Drive, close to the Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The housing development shots were filmed at another location. View in Google Maps

Mistakes

The driver is missing before impact.
  • The driver of the orange car that hits the trailer is missing before impact.
  • When Sindy is playing dead just before the theme, she's hanging out of her cruiser. Aren't all officers supposed to wear safety belts?
  • After Ponch arrives at the accident scene and drives between the wrecked cars, he gets off his motorcycle, takes off his helmet, and puts it on his motorcycle. Watch his helmet fall off the motorcycle.
  • How do they know exactly where the reflective sheets were aimed? Even the slightest deviation at that distance would have made it reflect at something other than Jon's truck.
  • It would be highly unlikely that Sindy (being a trained driver) would intentionally cross the center lane to avoid a vehicle coming at her head on. Training would dictate her going to the right to avoid a head on collision.
  • The lightbar on Sindy's cruiser changes from a Twinsonic before the crash to a Yankee-Deitz style lightbar during and after the crash.
  • Jon and Ponch apparently forgot that moving crash victims could be bad...
  • Sindy appears to be wearing some sort of hosiery when being moved onto her bed in the hospital.
  • During the recap before the re-enactment, Borlov mentions that the construction foreman did not see a blue pickup at the crash site. Getraer responds by telling them it was a false lead. Shouldn't Borlov have known this since he interviewed the driver of the blue truck already?
  • When the truck jackknifes, it ends up with the cab at about 90 degrees to the trailer, but it's parked perpendicular to the road when the orange car goes under it.
  • When the car jumps into the truck's cab there is damage to the front of the truck which wasn't there seconds earlier, even though nothing hits the front of the truck.
  • At the end of the second re-enactment, two green cars and a dark red car pull up just short of the truck. When the camera angle changes, the cars are in different positions.

Buy this episode


Preceded by:
"Repo Man" 		MAIT Team
215 		Followed by:
"Pressure Point"
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