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Airframe (novel)
Encyclopedia
Airframe is a novel by American writer Michael Crichton
, first published in hardcover in 1996 by Knopf
and as a paperback in 1997 by Ballantine Books
. The plot follows Casey Singleton, a quality assurance vice-president at the fictional aerospace manufacturer
Norton Aircraft, as she investigates an in-flight accident aboard a Norton-manufactured airliner
that leaves three passengers dead and fifty-six injured.
-based Transpacific Airlines Flight 545, a Norton Aircraft-manufactured N-22 wide-body aircraft
, flying from Hong Kong to Denver. An incident occurs on board the plane about a half-hour west of the California coast and the pilot requests an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport
, stating that the plane encountered "severe turbulence" in flight. The pilot gives air traffic control conflicting information regarding the type and severity of injuries, but does inform them that crew members were hurt and "three passengers are dead."
The incident seems inexplicable. The N-22 is a plane with an excellent safety record and the pilot is highly trained, making the possibility of human error unlikely. Passengers and flight crew give concurring accounts of the circumstances of the disaster, and the most likely explanation turns out to be a technical problem that was thought to have been fixed years before. As the vice-president of Quality Assurance at Norton Aircraft, it's Casey Singleton's job to try to protect the design's (and Norton's) reputation, especially since it jeopardizes a crucial aircraft purchase deal with China. However, not only does she have to deal with a ratings-hungry media intent on assigning blame for the incident, she must also deal with Bob Richman, an arrogant and suspicious junior executive assigned to assist her. All the while, she has to navigate the murky politics of the factory union and try and soothe the tempers of disgruntled Norton workers who fear the fallout from the incident will bankrupt the company and cost them their jobs.
As Casey investigates further, she discovers a deeper plan at work. Bob Richman had secretly plotted with another Norton executive, John Marder, to oust CEO Harold Edgarton from his position and seize control of the company. They intended to wait for an incident that would put the N-22's reputation in question and torpedo the company's deal with China. Then, once in control of Norton, they would secretly negotiate with a South Korean airline for an even larger aircraft deal worth several billion dollars. Casey manages to thwart the plan by finding and then publicly revealing the true cause of the incident. It was not caused by any technical fault in the plane, but was in fact human error. The plane's captain had allowed his son, who was a pilot but not certified to fly the N-22, to take the controls in flight. At this point, a mechanical malfunction occurred, caused not by a design flaw at Norton but by poor maintenance practices at Transpacific Airlines. The son panicked and attempted to correct the problem, unaware that the plane already had a failsafe system for such an event. The conflicting control signals caused the plane to maneuver wildly, causing the fatalities.
With the N-22's reputation cleared, the China deal goes off without a hitch and the company's future is secured. Afterwards, Edgarton promotes Casey to be the head of the company's Media Relations Division. Richman is fired and later arrested in Singapore for narcotics possession, while Marder leaves the company, supposedly on good terms.
procedures are a central theme in the novel. Crichton challenges public perception of air safety and how the blame for accidents sometimes gets directed at the wrong party.
Another central theme, which compounds the issue mentioned above, is investigative journalism
, and the consequences when sensational media agencies distort the truth to produce a better-selling story.
The book also continues Crichton's overall theme of the failure of humans in human-machine interaction. Despite malfunctions due to improper maintenance the plane itself was functional. The incident was a result of human error by an insufficiently trained pilot.
The New York Times
' Christopher Lehmann-Haupt said of Airframe, "By playing hide and seek with his plot, Mr. Crichton writes as if he were an engineer and his readers were all outsiders. Yet at the same time, he has taken on a complex subject in Airframe and made its subtleties dramatically vivid."
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
, first published in hardcover in 1996 by Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
and as a paperback in 1997 by Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
. The plot follows Casey Singleton, a quality assurance vice-president at the fictional aerospace manufacturer
Aerospace manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft....
Norton Aircraft, as she investigates an in-flight accident aboard a Norton-manufactured airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
that leaves three passengers dead and fifty-six injured.
Plot summary
The novel opens aboard Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based Transpacific Airlines Flight 545, a Norton Aircraft-manufactured N-22 wide-body aircraft
Wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with two passenger aisles, also known as a widebody aircraft or twin-aisle aircraft. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers...
, flying from Hong Kong to Denver. An incident occurs on board the plane about a half-hour west of the California coast and the pilot requests an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
, stating that the plane encountered "severe turbulence" in flight. The pilot gives air traffic control conflicting information regarding the type and severity of injuries, but does inform them that crew members were hurt and "three passengers are dead."
The incident seems inexplicable. The N-22 is a plane with an excellent safety record and the pilot is highly trained, making the possibility of human error unlikely. Passengers and flight crew give concurring accounts of the circumstances of the disaster, and the most likely explanation turns out to be a technical problem that was thought to have been fixed years before. As the vice-president of Quality Assurance at Norton Aircraft, it's Casey Singleton's job to try to protect the design's (and Norton's) reputation, especially since it jeopardizes a crucial aircraft purchase deal with China. However, not only does she have to deal with a ratings-hungry media intent on assigning blame for the incident, she must also deal with Bob Richman, an arrogant and suspicious junior executive assigned to assist her. All the while, she has to navigate the murky politics of the factory union and try and soothe the tempers of disgruntled Norton workers who fear the fallout from the incident will bankrupt the company and cost them their jobs.
As Casey investigates further, she discovers a deeper plan at work. Bob Richman had secretly plotted with another Norton executive, John Marder, to oust CEO Harold Edgarton from his position and seize control of the company. They intended to wait for an incident that would put the N-22's reputation in question and torpedo the company's deal with China. Then, once in control of Norton, they would secretly negotiate with a South Korean airline for an even larger aircraft deal worth several billion dollars. Casey manages to thwart the plan by finding and then publicly revealing the true cause of the incident. It was not caused by any technical fault in the plane, but was in fact human error. The plane's captain had allowed his son, who was a pilot but not certified to fly the N-22, to take the controls in flight. At this point, a mechanical malfunction occurred, caused not by a design flaw at Norton but by poor maintenance practices at Transpacific Airlines. The son panicked and attempted to correct the problem, unaware that the plane already had a failsafe system for such an event. The conflicting control signals caused the plane to maneuver wildly, causing the fatalities.
With the N-22's reputation cleared, the China deal goes off without a hitch and the company's future is secured. Afterwards, Edgarton promotes Casey to be the head of the company's Media Relations Division. Richman is fired and later arrested in Singapore for narcotics possession, while Marder leaves the company, supposedly on good terms.
Major Characters
- Casey Singleton – The protagonist and a vice-president; Serves as a Quality Assurance representative for the company's Incident Review Team (IRT).
- John Marder – Chief Operating Officer at the Norton Plant in Burbank, California; Also oversaw the production project for the N-22 widebody that was involved in the incident.
- Jennifer Malone – Producer for Newsline that investigates the incident in order to create a televised segment against the N-22.
Minor Characters
- Doug Doherty – An engineer that is the Structure and Mechanical expert for the Incident Review Team.
- Nguyen Van Trung – Avionics expert on the Incident Review Team, overseeing the operation of the autopilot.
- Ken Burne – Powerplant expert on the Incident Review Team.
- Ron Smith – Electrics expert on the IRT.
- Mike Lee – Carrier Representative for TransPacific Airlines to Norton Aircraft.
- Barbara Ross – IRT Secretary
- Norma – Casey Singleton's secretary who has been with the company forever and knows all the history.
- Bob Richman – Casey Singleton's recently appointed assistant; a relative in the Norton family tree working his way through the corporate divisions.
- Harold Edgarton – President of Norton Aircraft.
- Ted Rawley - A test pilotTest pilotA test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
for Norton Aircraft. - Dick Shenk – Segment Organizer for the fictional TV program Newsline, based in New York City.
- Marty Reardon – "On-Talent" interviewer for Newsline
- Frederick Barker – A former FAAFederal Aviation AdministrationThe Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
employee and severe critic of the N-22 aircraft.
Major themes
Air safetyAir safety
Air safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
procedures are a central theme in the novel. Crichton challenges public perception of air safety and how the blame for accidents sometimes gets directed at the wrong party.
Another central theme, which compounds the issue mentioned above, is investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
, and the consequences when sensational media agencies distort the truth to produce a better-selling story.
The book also continues Crichton's overall theme of the failure of humans in human-machine interaction. Despite malfunctions due to improper maintenance the plane itself was functional. The incident was a result of human error by an insufficiently trained pilot.
Reception
Reviews for the novel were mostly positive.The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
' Christopher Lehmann-Haupt said of Airframe, "By playing hide and seek with his plot, Mr. Crichton writes as if he were an engineer and his readers were all outsiders. Yet at the same time, he has taken on a complex subject in Airframe and made its subtleties dramatically vivid."