This book is written by Stephen Carbone, who has worked for more than 30 years in the aviation industry. First he did this as specialist in aviation security systems, but later as researcher at the NTSB and as safety inspector at the FAA. And this you can see in the book, with as storyline a series of accidents with passenger airplanes due to the premature activating of the engine reverser (yes, this kind of aviation words are difficult to translate in Dutch), during the flight. Daniël Tenace, the main character in this book, is as a NTSB researcher asked to find the cause, before more fatal accidents will happen.
The story begins with an almost catastrophe, because the reverser of engine number 2 is activated during the flight. The experienced crew manages, despite huge problems, to land the plane safely. The incident is not treated as an accident by the NTSB and firstly no investigation is started. But than a tragic accident takes place with an airliner, of which the reservers are also too early opened and the plane crashes at the landing. All alarm bells go off at NTSB researcher Tenace and he starts an investigation into the cause.
This investigation is followed step by step. Different scenarios are looked at and Tenace comes closer and closer to the solution, despite a lack of cooperation of his direct chef, who even on a lot of occasions works against him. This book does ask though of the reader that he is somewhere familiar with the present modern airplanes and the used systems and procedures, else some conclusions and findings are hard to understand.
Certainly in the beginning it is a matter of remembering a lot of names and also the course of the investigation is broadly set out, but than a beautiful and exciting plot starts to develop and finally the solution is found during a test flight with a thrilling and dramatic conclusion.
It is a fiction story but written with a high reality level. Names and places shall be known by the aviation lovers. The writer knows very well what is going on in the aviation world and is also seen his background, known with the investigation procedures, that are described.
A very nice book for everyone who is interested in how the investigation commission actually works, to come to a solution of the how and why of an airplane crash.
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