Final Approach by John J. Nance Page B

groups, but there were immediate things to be done, and areas to emphasize.
    â€œAs fast as possible,” Joe was saying to one of them, “I want the flight and voice recorders out of the Airbus. We have allegations of sabotage of an airliner with a sophisticated electronic flight-control system, and most of you know there have already been worries that strong electronic signals might interfere with such a control system. The FAA has issued guidelines to keep the Airbus 320 a minimum distance away from powerful microwave transmitters and other such radio sources, so we’ll need all the information we can get about that, as well as about the so-called mystery car somebody saw leaving the cargo area.”
    â€œGod, Joe, is sabotage really a possibility?” Barbara Rawlson, chairman of the systems group, was shaking her head and looking incredulous.
    â€œWho knows, Barb. Let’s just make sure we account for the entire flight-control system quickly. Were there any strange devices? Could anyone have tampered with it? That sort of thing.”
    Joe looked at some notes on a steno pad before continuing. “Now, of course we’ve also got the horrifying possibility that something went wrong in the side-stick controls or the flight-control computers, and the plane crashed itself.”
    â€œWhy horrifying, Joe?” Susan asked. It was the first question she had managed, and Joe seemed slightly startled, though pleased.
    â€œWell, the Airbus is very sensitive to this type of problem. They went way out ahead of everyone with this new electronic-control technology in the 320, and they would be horrified themselves if anyone started seriously thinking that with so much redundancy and so many backups, the flight-control system could malfunction. They insist it can’t happen, and so far we’ve no reason to believe otherwise.”
    â€œUntil now.”
    â€œWell, maybe until now. Maybe not,” Joe said, looking Susan in the eye long enough so that she found herself averting her gaze, a reaction which puzzled her. He was in his element here, she knew, and she was only learning. Perhaps that was it, but it made her feel insecure and vulnerable, and she had spent her professional life fighting vulnerability.
    â€œOkay,” Joe continued, turning back to Barbara, “we have windshear, possible sabotage, possible flight-control malfunction, and as always, possible human error of some sort, which is Andy’s bailiwick. Andy, what’s the status of the crew?”
    Andy Wallace had functioned as Joe’s right-hand man many times before, even when he held an equal position to the other staff members on field investigations. Joe could always rely on him. No political backstabbing, and no laziness. Andy was always ahead of the game.
    â€œThe captain of the Airbus is named Richard Timson, chief pilot for North America and a staff vice-president. He survived with a bad concussion and some internal injuries, plus a damaged hand. He’s in serious condition, but he’ll make it. The doctors tell me it will be tomorrow at the earliest before he can talk to us.”
    â€œHow about the copilot?”
    â€œFighting for his life. Massive cranial damage.”
    They covered several other items before Joe tapped the table with his pen and gave them all an exceptionally serious look. “Warning: I expect and demand that each and every one of you, and those people from the airline, FAA, ALPA, Airbus, and so on who are assigned to your groups, go absolutely by the book when around the wreckage. That means gloves at all times, hard hats when appropriate, and absolutely no chances taken. You may not mind slicing your hand open, but consider that the piece of metal which bites you may carry blood cells from an accident victim infected with AIDS, or some other disease. I will not tolerate any risk taking. Understood?” Joe looked sequentially at everyone but Susan, each staff member