Adrift (1) - S6-E24
Continuity mistake: The USS Patrick Henry in "JAG" has always used the hull number "74" on the sailors' ballcaps, as well as the scenes of the ship. (CVN-74 in real-life is the USS John C. Stennis). However, in the scene just before the pilots' briefing, the stock footage of the carrier was of a different vessel, hull number 59. In real-life, "59" was the USS Forrestal (CVA-59), the ship that had one of the deadliest shipboard fire on July 29, 1967. The fire killed 132 crewmen, injured 62, with 2 missing & presumed dead. The fire raged for several hours & would have destroyed the carrier, if not for the actions of the heroic crewmen to save her.
Chosen answer: When landing on an aircraft carrier, a pilot "calls the ball" by confirming to the landing signal officer (LSO) that they have the carrier, and more specifically its landing guidance systems in sight. Carriers use a Fresnel lens system which is a light only visible at a certain angle, so if a pilot sees the "ball" they are at the correct altitude and glide slope for landing.
Sierra1 ★