Michael Crichton – Airframe – Comment

 

Crichton once admitted in an interview that he always had a pile of books by his bedside on the subject for the novel he was about to write. Some of his novels, but not all, has a reference page in the back revealing his main sources of research. Reading Airframe again after almost 30 years, it occurred to me the amount of research he must have done for this book. Airframe is technical, and for the neophyte- aircraft- engineering-geek, like me, an educational experience.  

Apart from a deep dive into the airline industry, the novel is also a scathing critique on the mainstream media. The author focusses on the television media, lamenting the slow demise of print, and the total disregard of TV journalists for the facts. Television is about the image, the soundbites, and the specifics about a story, the real facts are ignored all for a sensational 5 minutes of a talking head ranting opinion. In present day, these "journalists” spread disinformation and present their opinions as facts. One of the main reasons the corporate media is attacking social media is because they are no longer trusted.  

The novel begins with a graphic description of a midair air disaster where fifty-six passengers are injured and three are reported dead. The commercial airliner inexplicably nose dives then turns upward, climbing, and nose dives again. The cabin is total mayhem. Anyone who has travelled on a commercial airline after reading Crichton's descriptions will be terrified.  

The plane is a N-22, built by Norton Aircraft and it is up to our protagonist, Casey Singleton, along with her expert team of engineers, to figure out what caused the accident. The point is: was it an accident or something else nefarious? 

Again, the technical aspects of this novel reveal to the reader how complex the building of an aircraft really is. People jump on any flight and have no idea the amount of machinery is involved to get the plane off the ground, travel thousands of miles, and land without a hitch. It really is quite remarkable.  

The novel has been described as a lightning-fast page turner. The pace of the story begins and continues to pick up speed as the reader moves from one chapter to the next. Most of the chapters are short and precise, ensuring the reader has no other choice but to move the reading along.  

A classic is a classic because the work will stand the test of time. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, for example, is still relevant after 100 years.  

Crichton's Airframe is a classic.