We all know that Lucas Grey killed his boss, Eugene Cobb, aboard Cobb’s private jet and bailed out before it crashed into the Pacific.
Several lines of dialogue in Bangkok (and some deleted dialogue from Marrakesh) tell us that after months of searching, the plane’s fuselage was finally found…but the black box was mysteriously missing, leading to conspiracy theories.
For those who don’t know, a “black box” is the nickname for the device deep inside the tail of a plane that records in-flight audio and other data for investigators to recover in the event of a crash, and it’s hardened to withstand immense pressure even underwater.
So…who stole the black box??
I have a theory that IOI maybe wanted to address this point further. Imagine a DLC level in which Grey, as the Shadow Client, hires the ICA to recover the black box from the wreckage before the authorities do to prevent his involvement in Cobb’s death from being exposed. Or maybe Grey just goes diving himself.
Or maybe Providence ultimately gained access to the black box and that’s how the Constant was able to identify Grey as being aboard the plane like he tells the Partners in HITMAN 2.
What’s y’all’s headcanon on this? Could this have been a small, but overlooked plot point?
As for my personal head-canon… I’ve never gave it a lot of thought before.
Rico Delgado had a sub, so… But it’s doubtful Rico’s cartel would do a job for Grey. But Grey could’ve had access to it, or wherever the plane crashed wasn’t too out of the way while they were running drugs via submarine - so they pick up a little side quest before heading back to base. Maybe. But I’d kinda doubt that too since getting to it quickly would’ve been a priority.
It’s also possible that Grey sent his coordinates (a “feature” we’ve seen with Ambrose Island) when he made the jump to have the Cartel come get him… him and the black box. Grey could’ve left a tracking device to locate the plane and/or black box itself (if the plane was in pieces).
Don’t know anything about planes but could Grey or someone on his order not have removed the black box before the flight? I assume they would have had to also disable some kind of alarm that would’ve shown the pilots it was not active.
As head of security, it’s possible Grey could’ve used a security sweep as cover to remove the box or have someone else remove it while the jet was still grounded, yeah. Apparently, they can’t be disabled mid-flight, so it was either dealt with before the flight or after the crash.
A plane went down? Yes… But, that’s not Cobb’s plane. That was a different one (not a private jet - I believe) that was carrying a board for Jorge to use in his cocaine machine.
The black box went to live upstate on the Farm of Unresolved Hitman Plots Points, along with the Mystery Man from Silent Assassin, Alpha Zerox from Blood Money, Birdie from Absolution and many, many others.
Yes, was just gonna say. Also, the Delgado Cartel did shoot a President Hernandez’s plane out of the sky somewhere over South America, courtesy of IAGO providing the flight plans. And then Zaydan planned to have Strandberg’s plane to Argentina downed…