AFGHANISTAN

When one of America's early Rogallo satellites fell out of orbit and landed just beyond the Pakistani border, MacGyver was sent to Afghanistan on a mission to retrieve the classified data capsule from the downed satellite. In order to get to the target quickly, MacGyver flew an obsolete military jet into Afghan airspace and waited until the last possible second to eject and parachute from the jet as the Soviets fired ground-to-air missiles to bring it down. Captain Osharansky, in command of the Soviet Headquarters in the area, ordered that the plane and the pilot be found, and Khalil, an Afghan tribal leader who cooperated with the Soviets, ordered his men to recover the pilot, knowing that the Soviets would pay handsomely for his capture.

MacGyver succeeded in disarming the booby-trapped mechanism on the satellite, and he recovered the data capsule, but when he became trapped on the top of a mesa by Soviet and Afghan forces, his only means of escape was to piece together parts of the downed satellite to build a hang glider. During his flight from the mesa, he was shot in the right shoulder and hand by Afghan militia, but he was rescued by Ahmed, a young Afghan boy who brought him home to his mother, Zia, the widow of an Afghan resistance leader. Although fearful of the consequences, Zia and Ahmed nursed MacGyver back to health, even as both the Soviets and the Afghans narrowed in on his location. When Sergeant Borsov, a young Soviet soldier, approached Zia's home, MacGyver overpowered him, but let him go unharmed. With no choice remaining to them, Zia and Ahmed joined MacGyver as he made his way to the Pakistani border, where they once again encountered Sergeant Borsov. In return for MacGyver's earlier compassion, the young sergeant allowed them to pass and to make their escape into Pakistan.

Location: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Road, Agua Dulce

Cross Reference: Ahmed, Sergeant Borsov, Khalil, Captain Osharansky, Rogallo Satellite, Zia

Episode Reference: To Be a Man