Beech Baron 58 (Beech 0827)

Twin-engine Beech Baron 58 light aircraft, tail number Beech 0827, tracks on radar over Richland, Washington, without responding to air traffic control and nearing the Saw Mill River Nuclear Reactor. Situation Room principals track it urgently; F-15 fighters scramble and gain missile lock until a panicked radio transmission reveals the false alarm. Nancy, Fitzwallace, Leo, Bartlet, and the general debate rules of engagement around its approach.

2 appearances

Purpose

General aviation aircraft for short-haul passenger and cargo transport

Significance

Ignites a live-fire test of presidential command during policy rift over Qumar; false alarm crystallizes Bartlet's fear for Zoey and memory lapses, prompting Cabinet assembly and 25th Amendment power transfer.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Air Alarm Forces a Rules Debate — Bartlet’s Judgment Tested

The Beech Baron 58 (Beech 0827) is the focal threat object: unresponsive to radio, flying near Richland and a nuclear plant, triggering an intercept. Its silence and proximity force the scramble and the calculus over shoot/no-shoot decisions.

Before: Airborne over Richland, Washington; transponder/incoming communications unresponsive or absent.

After: Controlled and communicating after pilot reports mechanical trouble; identified as a false alarm and not engaged.

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S4E23 · Twenty-Five

Bartlet's Crisis: Fear, Memory, and the Transfer of Power

The Beech Baron 58 is the tracked, unresponsive aircraft that catalyzes the Situation Room's tension—its lack of transponder signal and proximity to a nuclear reactor force military and presidential decisions until the pilot radios an apology.

Before: En route over Richland, Washington, not answering ATC and lacking transponder signal (per controller reports).

After: Identified via radio as experiencing mechanical trouble; radioed compliance and the immediate kinetic threat was defused.

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