Althea On the Plane

On a 727, the co-pilot hands off cockpit-visit duty and flight attendant Turner brings in Althea, an excitable little girl who insists she has what it takes to fly. Captain Burke tries to give her a gentle tour, but Althea keeps jumping in with loud, wildly personal facts about her family, her relatives and her own body, plus earnest pledges about drugs and marriage. She grabs at the controls, sings, and shows off her doll while Burke grows more desperate, answering her with dry put-downs and paging the cabin crew with increasing panic. When Turner finally returns to collect her, Althea gets in one last embarrassing remark about the captain, and Burke announces an end to cockpit visitors.