In this book the authors tell us what they think is wrong with the airlines and the FAA. Although they make a number of valid points and observations, the tone of the writing is overly negative and alarmist.
They blame Reagan for deregulation, the airlines for wanting profits at the cost of pas sanger safety, and the FAA for being a slothful bureaucracy that takes too long to enact and enforce its rules. These problems are discussed in some detail, with examples that include some gory descriptions of crashes survival. Considering the fact that airline travel is extremely safe, I thought the authors were being too sensationalistic in presenting their case. Consider two examples from the book: child safety seats and deicing procedures:
FAA and others (eg. see Michael Kinsley editorial in an early July issue of Slate on ValueJet) argue that the extra cost will force more people to drive rather than fly to their destination, and a child is more likely to be killed in a car crash than a plane crash. Nader rejects this argument, but I didn't find his rebuttal convincing. What do you think?
I was supersized to find the same opinion voiced in R. Buck's book The Pilot's Burden. From the pilot's point of view current regulation give the pilot the responsibility, but no realistic methods for detecting the ice. In most jets the pilot cannot even see the wings from the cockpit and ice can be difficulty to see though a cabin window. Throw in a busy evening with a long takeoff line, what pilot will give up his take-off slot and go deice, because it seems that there maybe ice on the wings?
Both Nader and Buck suggest the same solution - something that's done at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The planes pass through a giant deicing machine just before takeoff.
Towards the end of the book Nader and Wesley make a number of suggestions on how to improve airline safety and the FAA. Most of them are quite reasonable and are supported by various pilot organization. Finally, in the end of the book the authors provide the airline passenger with advice on how to improve one's chances of survival in a crash. Although, somewhat macabre (i.e. practice putting your smoke hood on) the suggestions are good. However, what Nader and Wesley don't say is that the best way to insure that your next trip ends safely is to drive extra carefully on your way to the airport.
Publisher: Tab Books, Inc. 1994, ISBN: 0-8306-4271-4(h)
This book is a suspense novel that starts with an incident on a wide-body passenger jet during a transpacific flight. For two minutes the jet is out of control, throwing passengers around the cabin. Three are dead before the pilot gains the control of the aircraft and flies it to an emergency landing in L.A.
What follows is a story of the investigation by a manager from the fictional Norton Aircraft company into the cause of the accident. Mixed in are corporation managerial politics, with some union unrest thrown in.
Given that I have seen the coverage that aviation gets on TV - I thought the portrayal of the media people as fumbling idiots who are only interested in getting a story that looks good on the screen, never mind the facts, was accurate, though mean-spirited.
However, reading this book you get the impression that Crichton is writing straight for the screen. The story is told in short scenes, with some chapters taking barely one page. It makes for easy reading, I finished the book in one day, but the characters are shallow and the ending is too clean, with the clues appearing just at the right moment.
The book "No Highway", by Neville Shute, covers similar ground, but there the story is a mystery told from the engineers point of view. In "Airframe" the engineers are there, but only as jeering nerds, it is the manager who is the hero.
By all means read this book, it's fun, but borrow it from a friend or from the library.