Airframe by Michael Crichton
Authors: Michael Crichton
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Psychological, Romance, Thrillers, Suspense fiction, Espionage, Aircraft accidents, Aircraft accidents - Investigation, Adventure stories; American
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stewardess he's got slats. Right now I bet he's telling the carrier a whole different story. Fact is, we don't know what happened in that cockpit."
"It's obviously slats," Marder said.
"No, it's not," Bume said. "The passenger Casey talked to said the rumbling sound came from the wing or the engines, isn't that right?"
"Right," Casey said.
"But when she looked at the wing, she didn't see the slats extend. Which she would have seen, if it happened."
"Also true," Casey said.
"But she couldn't have seen the engines, because they'd be hidden by the wing. It's possible the thrust reversers deployed," Burne said. "At cruise speed that'd produce a definite rumble.
Followed by a sudden drop in airspeed, probably a roll. The pilot shits, tries to compensate, overreacts—bingo!"
"Any confirmation thrusters deployed?' Marder said. "Damage to the sleeves? Unusual rubstrips?"
"We looked yesterday," Bume said, "and we didn't find anything. We'll do ultrasound and X
rays today. If there's something there, we'll find it."
"Okay," Marder said. "So we're looking at slats and thrusters, and we need more data. What about the NVMs? Ron? The faults suggest anything?"
They turned to Ron Smith. Under their gaze, Ron hunched lower in his seat, as if trying to pull 60
his head between his shoulders. He cleared his throat.
"Well?" Marder said.
"Uh, yeah, John. We have a slats disagree on the FDAU printout."
"So the slats did deploy."
"Well, actually—"
"And the plane started porpoising, beat hell out of the passengers, and killed three. Is that what you're telling me?"
No one spoke.
"Jesus," Marder said. "What is the matter with you people? This problem was supposed to be fixed four years ago! Now you're telling me it wasn't!"
The group fell silent and stared at the table, embarrassed and intimidated by Marder's rage.
"Goddamn it!" Marder said.
"John, let's not get carried away." It was Trung, the avionics head, speaking quietly. "We're overlooking a very important factor. The autopilot."
There was a long silence.
Marder glared at him. "What about it?" he snapped.
"Even if the slats extend in cruise flight," Trung said, "the autopilot will maintain perfect stability. It's programmed to compensate for errors like that. The slats extend; the AP adjusts; the captain sees the warning and retracts them. Meanwhile the plane continues, no problem."
"Maybe he went out of autopilot."
"He must have. But why?"
"Maybe your autopilot's screwed up," Marder said. "Maybe you got a bug in your code."
Trung looked skeptical.
"It's happened," Marder said. "There was an autopilot problem on that USAir flight in Charlotte last year. Put the plane into an uncommanded roll."
"Yes," Trung said, "but that wasn't caused by a bug in the code. Maintenance pulled the 'A'
flight control computer to repair it, and when they reinstalled it, they didn't push it in the shelf far enough to fully engage the connector pins. The thing kept making intermittent electrical connection, that's all."
"But on Flight 545, the stewardess said the captain had to fight the autopilot for control."
"And I'd expect that," Trung said. "Once the aircraft exceeds flight params, the autopilot actively attempts to take over. It sees erratic behavior, and assumes nobody is flying the plane."
"Did that show up on the fault records?"
"Yes. They indicate the autopilot tried to kick in, every three seconds. I assume the captain kept overriding it, insisting on flying the plane himself."
"But this is an experienced captain."
"Which is why I think Kenny is right," Trung said. "We have no idea what took place in that 61
cockpit."
They all turned to Mike Lee, the carrier representative. "How about it, Mike?" Marder said.
"Can we get an interview or not?"
Lee sighed philosophically. "You know," he said, "I've spent a lot of time in meetings like this.
And the tendency is always to blame the guy who's not there. It's human nature. I've already explained to you why the flight
"It's obviously slats," Marder said.
"No, it's not," Bume said. "The passenger Casey talked to said the rumbling sound came from the wing or the engines, isn't that right?"
"Right," Casey said.
"But when she looked at the wing, she didn't see the slats extend. Which she would have seen, if it happened."
"Also true," Casey said.
"But she couldn't have seen the engines, because they'd be hidden by the wing. It's possible the thrust reversers deployed," Burne said. "At cruise speed that'd produce a definite rumble.
Followed by a sudden drop in airspeed, probably a roll. The pilot shits, tries to compensate, overreacts—bingo!"
"Any confirmation thrusters deployed?' Marder said. "Damage to the sleeves? Unusual rubstrips?"
"We looked yesterday," Bume said, "and we didn't find anything. We'll do ultrasound and X
rays today. If there's something there, we'll find it."
"Okay," Marder said. "So we're looking at slats and thrusters, and we need more data. What about the NVMs? Ron? The faults suggest anything?"
They turned to Ron Smith. Under their gaze, Ron hunched lower in his seat, as if trying to pull 60
his head between his shoulders. He cleared his throat.
"Well?" Marder said.
"Uh, yeah, John. We have a slats disagree on the FDAU printout."
"So the slats did deploy."
"Well, actually—"
"And the plane started porpoising, beat hell out of the passengers, and killed three. Is that what you're telling me?"
No one spoke.
"Jesus," Marder said. "What is the matter with you people? This problem was supposed to be fixed four years ago! Now you're telling me it wasn't!"
The group fell silent and stared at the table, embarrassed and intimidated by Marder's rage.
"Goddamn it!" Marder said.
"John, let's not get carried away." It was Trung, the avionics head, speaking quietly. "We're overlooking a very important factor. The autopilot."
There was a long silence.
Marder glared at him. "What about it?" he snapped.
"Even if the slats extend in cruise flight," Trung said, "the autopilot will maintain perfect stability. It's programmed to compensate for errors like that. The slats extend; the AP adjusts; the captain sees the warning and retracts them. Meanwhile the plane continues, no problem."
"Maybe he went out of autopilot."
"He must have. But why?"
"Maybe your autopilot's screwed up," Marder said. "Maybe you got a bug in your code."
Trung looked skeptical.
"It's happened," Marder said. "There was an autopilot problem on that USAir flight in Charlotte last year. Put the plane into an uncommanded roll."
"Yes," Trung said, "but that wasn't caused by a bug in the code. Maintenance pulled the 'A'
flight control computer to repair it, and when they reinstalled it, they didn't push it in the shelf far enough to fully engage the connector pins. The thing kept making intermittent electrical connection, that's all."
"But on Flight 545, the stewardess said the captain had to fight the autopilot for control."
"And I'd expect that," Trung said. "Once the aircraft exceeds flight params, the autopilot actively attempts to take over. It sees erratic behavior, and assumes nobody is flying the plane."
"Did that show up on the fault records?"
"Yes. They indicate the autopilot tried to kick in, every three seconds. I assume the captain kept overriding it, insisting on flying the plane himself."
"But this is an experienced captain."
"Which is why I think Kenny is right," Trung said. "We have no idea what took place in that 61
cockpit."
They all turned to Mike Lee, the carrier representative. "How about it, Mike?" Marder said.
"Can we get an interview or not?"
Lee sighed philosophically. "You know," he said, "I've spent a lot of time in meetings like this.
And the tendency is always to blame the guy who's not there. It's human nature. I've already explained to you why the flight
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