The demon takes advantage of George Phelps' shot nerves by possessing him in the bathroom before he boards United Britannia Airlines Flight 2485. Midway through the flight, the demon rips a door open to make the plane crash. However, there are several survivors of the crash.[1]
The demon immediately sets out to finish them off; it possesses the flight staff of the plane a survivor boards and attempts to kill the survivor in a second crash. It succeeds in killing the co-pilot of United Britannia Airlines Flight 2485, Chuck Lambert, one of the survivors, by preying on his PTSD from the previous crash to possess him and force him to crash the plane he is piloting.[1]
Possesing the co-pilot.
Next, the demon goes after flight attendant Amanda Walker, another survivor, who had been flight attendant on Flight 2485. To accomplish this, it possesses the co-pilot of United Britannia Airlines Flight 424. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean, who have been called in by Jerry Panowski to investigate, realize the demon's plan and determine that it is possessing the co-pilot. They enlist Amanda's help by having her lure the demon out so that they can subdue and exorcise it. While they are successful in forcing the demon out of the co-pilot's body, it escapes into the air duct and forces the plane into a dive. Sam is eventually able to complete the exorcism, sending the demon back to Hell and stopping the plane from crashing.[1]
The demon does not appear, but it is stated that without Sam and Dean to stop it in Phantom Traveler, the demon was able to bring about the disastrous crash of United Britannia Flight 424, killing not only the demon's intended target of Amanda Walker but also 107 other innocent people. After Dean realizes this, he ends the djinn-induced dream this occurred in so that the lives that he and Sam saved in reality will not have been lost.[2]
Powers and Abilities
As a regular low-level demon, he possessed all the powers of one.
UniqueDemonic Possession - Unlike other demons, this demon could posses people through their eyes.
Super Strength - The demon was strong enough to open a plane door in mid-air despite the intense pressure outside. However, Sam and Dean were able to overpower it together while performing an exorcism.
Electromagnetic Interference - After being expelled from the co-pilot's body and into the plane, the demon caused the power to fail in an attempt to make the plane crash.
Invulnerability - The demon was able to survive its vessels being blown out of a plane and killed in a plane crash.
Immortality - Being a demon, he was immune from aging and disease.
Voice Manipulation - He was able to modify his host's voice at will, making it change into more monstrous and demonic sounding.
Weaknesses
As a regular low-level demon, he possessed all the weaknesses of one.
This is the first demon that Sam and Dean encounter in the series (excluding Azazel) in chronological order.
Demon smoke possessing a person through the eyes is likely a continuity error, as this is the first formal appearance of a demon on the show, and later appearances exclude this particular manner of possession. Also the demon's voice in this episode is much more monstrous and low pitched while all later appearances demons take on the voice of the vessel they're possessing.
The demon appeared to have knowledge about what happened to Jessica Moore implying that it served, or at least had some connection to, Azazel. Dean was dismissive of this, attributing the demon's knowledge as it being able to read minds to find ways to taunt people, though this was never confirmed.
When comparing the exorcism of the Disaster Demon to later demons exorcised by the Winchesters, they made several mistakes stemming from their inexperience with fighting demons. For example, they resorted to pinning the demon's vessel down and splashing it with holy water to keep it subdued as they performed the exorcism instead of using a devil's trap.
The Winchesters using "Christo" to identify this demon is a trick that is never seen nor mentioned again on the show when facing demons.
