Blue Thunder (1983) - 3 questions

Question: Why didn't Murphy tell his boss about Cochrane's plan to kill him? He tries to when he gets back, but notices some strange behaviour and walks off. Is it because he (a) doesn't trust the department and thinks the boss is in on it (b) doesn't think he will believe him (since Lymangood hid the proof) (c) decides to deal with it himself (d) just the writers' way of advancing the plot.

Question: Just a question and an observation: When does Lymangood find out what JAFO means? He didn't know when he got into Blue Thunder for the first (and last) time: "When are you going to tell me what JAFO means?" 1. They find out about the evil plot. 2. Lymangood gets the tape after they land. 3. He leaves a recording for Frank inside Blue Thunder using "Big Brother", the cabin recorder. 4. He drops the tape off at a drive-in movie dumpster. 5. He calls and leave a voice-mail for Murphy. 6. He goes home and is attacked. So when was he told what JAFO means? Also, someone had a sense of humor about naming the Special helicopter. It was to be used in project THOR (Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response, the "proposed use of military helicopters to quell disorder"). Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. Did they name the helicopter Blue "Thunder" because it was going to be used in Project THOR? It would have been nice to connect the two references in the movie.

Answer: There was plenty of time from Lymangood asks what Jafo means to when he gets killed. For all we know it could have been weeks. It was only a simply question really. As for any connection between blue thunder and Thor, it could have been an in-joke, but only the filmmakers really know.

Question: Near the end, Cochrane wants to kill Murphy. Why do it in the air? Even if Cochrane did wipe him out, the only way he would have to do that was to destroy the helicopter completely when he had the chance; instead, he injured Murphy and disabled the cannon somewhat, which is painful to watch and understandable, for fear of collatoral damage or simply because he did not want to blast it out of the sky and foot the bill. But the helicopter costs '$5 million', and even if Cochrane had the money, it would have been cheaper to take Murphy out on land instead of in public and in broad daylight.

Answer: Murphy has been deemed a threat to the public at large by the authorities, having "snapped" and stolen an armed helicopter. Cochrane is using that determination as cover to finally kill Murphy, whom he's long despised. Killing Murphy on the ground would be harder to get away with. He would not be responsible for paying for the helicopter anymore than the Air Force or the other police helicopter crews would be had they sucessfully knocked Blue Thunder down.