Airframe (1996), a Techno-thriller by Michael Crichton: summary

Michael Crichton was American author, physician, and film maker. The well-known author for Jurassic Park and medical TV series ER switched his major English to Anthropology at Harvard University. Then he attended Harvard medical school, he supported himself for through that time by writing novels; between 1966 and 1970 he published seven thrillers. Writing in his DNA, he was the son of a journalist.

Crichton’s last novel, Next (2006), deals with genetic research and controlling DNA. I’ve read that sci-fi book seven years ago, it was a good one, and I really enjoyed it. At first scene, Airframe brings us to panic situation of United 93 film, AA Flight 93 hijacked by four Al-Qaeda terrorists as part of 9/11 attacks, but the novel has nothing to do with hijacking. The failure of landing is connected to engine failure, malicious plot, and twisted by media. The techno-thriller based on true events and was delivered in mostly conversation. The author did well-researched on aircraft, term, plant, aircraft crew, and airframe manufacture. He passed away in 2008. 

Airframe (1996), a Techno-thriller by Michael Crichton: summary 

  

Transpacific 545 made emergency landing at LAX, the report indicated fifty-six injured, and three dead. The plane was an N-22, built by Norton Craft in Burbank. Khaterine Casey Singleton was the Quality Assurance rep on The Incident Review Team -IRT. She was the only daughter of an editor at the Detroit News. She had grown up in suburbs of Detroit. Her two older brothers were both engineers at Ford.

After she graduated from Southern Illinois in journalism, Casey had followed her brothers to Ford. But she found writing press released uninteresting, so she took advantage of the company’s continuing education program to get an MBA from Wayne State. Along the way, she married Jim, a Ford engineer, and had a child. Eventually they separated, Jim moved to California. Casey decided move too, she wanted her daughter to grow up seeing her father. She had never imagined she would work for an aircraft company.

Norton Aircraft was one of the great names of American aviation. The company had been started by aviation pioneer Charley Norton in 1935. Norton Aircraft was divided into great factions – production and engineering – which were perpetually at war. Quality Assurance stood uneasily between the two. John Marder was the chief operating officer at Norton. He had been program manager on N-22, which meant he supervised the manufacture of that aircraft. He was a ruthless and occasionally reckless man, but he got result. Marder also married to Charley Norton’s only daughter, that made him second most powerful man in the company after the president.

The captain was John Chang, forty- five years old, resident Hong Kong, six thousand hour’s experience. He’s very skilled and Trans-pacific’s senior pilot for the N-22. Few days earlier, Norton’s president Hal Edgarton, received an order from Beijing government to purchase fifty N-22s. The future of Norton Aircraft was riding on the investigation. Harold Edgarton, the newly appointed president of Norton aircraft, he had previously worked for Boeing.

Casey’s new assistant was Bob Richman, a youthful member of the Norton clan, Yale law man. He had been in marketing for the last three months. Hong Kong crews had often flown for the Royal Air Force and extremely well-trained. Crew list showed eighteen in all, including seven flight crews. The N-22 was designed to be flown by two-man crew, just captain and first officer.  All the Asian carriers were expanding rapidly, and they generally carried larger crews for extra training hours. One of the flight attendants reported that the captain said he had uncommanded slats deployment. The slats control was in a lever in center pillar between the chairs. But the captain changed his story, he reported Traffic Control he got turbulence.

Felix Wallerstein ran the Norton Flight stimulator and Pilot Training Program noticed it couldn’t be the slats. In either case, the autopilot will compensate and maintain control.  John Chang was a superb pilot. It’s more than skilled and it’s a kind of instinct. It couldn’t be pilot error. All modern aircraft maintain flight stability with computer. Moment to moment the computers continuously made small changes, to stabilize the aircraft.

Jack Roger was solid reporter. Marder and Edgarton were each other’s throats. Marder expected to be named president, but the Board passed him over. Marder’s wife controlled eleven percent of company stock. He reported the company had a cash-flow problem. They were already building planes without buyers. Company needed the sale, and everybody wanted it, including Marder. Marder got a call from TV news producer Jennifer Malone . She made a request for plant access, insisted they be allowed. A media star like Marty Reardon was more heavily booked than president, and arguably.

Frederik Barker, a former FAA official, now controversial crusader for aircraft safety. Of course Barker was experienced, not only on television but in courtroom. He served as an expert aviation witness. Norton Aircraft was troubled company. He publicly told it was the slats. When visiting the plant and interviewing Marder, Jennifer Malone wasn’t interested in facts, in FAA, how to build the airplanes. She was just doing a hatchet job. But she started to worry that entire interview was weak. She worried about Baker’s record. Newsline’s information was inaccurate and biased.

Television news program were under no obligation to present all sides of an issue. They run the sorties and Norton was powerless to stop them. Casey found Richman on the plant with suspicious acts. He released the report. Richman and Marder had a plot. If China sales finished, Hal Edgarton was finished. If the China sale went, Marder would go. Marder would be a new president of Norton Aircraft. Marder had made a much bigger deal with Korea- sixteen billion dollars, the biggest order in history. He sent Casey for television interviewed in the hope that she would fail. Media star, Reardon, had reputation as a hatchet man. He was one-trick performer. Casey would be interviewed by him.

Television was not about information at all. Information was active, engaging. Television was passive. Information was disinterested, objective. It was entertainment, and they only wanted the media moment. They didn’t really care about airplanes and the victims. TV news got nothing from the interview with Casey. Surprisingly, Casey offered flight test using the same aircraft that was involved in the accident. Marder and Richman were unhappy with Casey’s schedule flight test to media, and Jennifer Malone enthusiastically attended the test flight. Norton was interest in of the company to allow Newline to film the flight Test. Flight tests were documented with dozen of video cameras, the Newsline people could watch the entire test on monitor, on the ground. N-22 has proved its excellent safety.

Casey passed Malone the crew manifest submitted to the FAA with flight plan. John Zhen Chang was the captain. Thomas Chang was first officer. The other crew manifest they got from Transpacific the day after the incident indicated Thomas Chang as engineer. Thomas Chang was listed as first officer and second list appeared as an engineer. The Changs was a family pilot. Thomas Chang was a pilot, qualified on several commuter aircraft. He was not type certified to fly N-22.

At the time incident, Captain John Chang left the cockpit and walked to the back plane for coffee. He was aft when the accident occurred, the hospital thought it was the first officer but his identity now been confirmed as John Zhen Chang. John Chang permitted a pilot who was not type certificated to fly N-22. The aircraft was autopilot and Chang left his son momentarily in charge of the flight.

Jennifer Malone found failure to attack Norton Aircraft. The media game got nothing to do with accuracy, or facts, or reality. It was just circus. Norton Aircraft announced an eight- billion –dollar sale on fifty N-22 widebody jets to People’s Republic of China. Marder has left Norton Aircraft to head The Aviation Institute, an aerospace consulting firm. Bob Richman was arrested in Singapore narcotics possession. If convicted under the nation’s draconian drug laws, he faced the death penalty. Harold Edgarton named Khaterine Casey Singleton as the new head of Norton Aircraft’s Media Relation Division.

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2015

  

Sekapur Sirih

Wright bersaudara tentu tidak pernah menyangka bila temuannnya akan secanggih dan seperlu saat ini. Menaiki pesawat sudah menjadi hal biasa dan umum, dengan adanya pesawat berongkos murah, ditambah lagi negara kita adalah kepulauan besar hingga menjadikannya salah satu dari lalu lintas ramai dalam dunia penerbangan. Keunggulan sulit dilepaskan dari kelemahan; sederetan berita duka dalam dunia penerbangan pun tak terhindarkan. Dalam novel ini, kecelakaan pesawat menewaskan dua ratus penumpang di Indonesia (asumsi pesawat jatuh Medan) termasuk disebutkan. Airframe berarti badan pesawat di luar mesin, sebuah karya thriller yang berdasarkan kisah nyata, diterbitkan pada tahun 2006.

Michael Cricton adalah penulis ternama khususnya teknologi sci-fi dan thriller. Dikenal dengan karyanya Jurrasic Park dan serial televisi ER, selain itu, dia seorang pembuat film dan dokter. Penulis berkebangsaan Amerika, putra dari seorang jurnalis, tumbuh-besar dalam dunia tulis-menulis. Sempat berkuliah di jurusan Sastra Inggris lalu berpindah Anthropologi di Universitas Harvard. Berbiaya sendiri dari hasil 7 novel thrillernya, dia mendaftarkan diri berkuliah di kedokteran Harvard.

Latar awal, pembaca dibawa dalam kondisi kepanikan seperti dalam film United 93, kisah pembajakan empat teroris Al-Qaeda dalam pesawat AA Penerbangan 93, bagian dari rentetan serangan 9/11 tahun 2001. Tapi misteri tekno-thriller ini sama sekali bukanlah pembajakan, plot misteri jatuh pesawat dikaitkan dengan bisnis. Sebuah pesawat baru telah mendarat darurat diduga akibat kesalahan mesin hingga membuat 3 orang meninggal dan 52 lainnya terluka. Tokoh utamanya Pejabat Kendali Kualitas dari pembuat pesawat Casey Katherine Singleton menyelidiki tragedi pesawat. Memang dalam buku ini didominasi percakapan dan tuturan detil mengenai rangka pesawat, bahasa-bahasa teknis pesawat, dan manajemen penerbangan. Tentu saja dunia penerbangan bangga dengan novel ini, sebuah tema cerdas, jarang, dan unik. Bila Anda menyukai tema rangka pesawat, mekanisme penerbangan, dan dibalut dalam thriller maka buku ini tepat dimiliki.

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