Product Description

Three passengers are dead. Fifty-six are injured. The interior cabin virtually destroyed. But the pilot manages to land the plane. . . .

At a moment when the issue of safety and death in the skies is paramount in the public mind, a lethal midair disaster aboard a commercial twin-jet airliner bound from Hong Kong to Denver triggers a pressured and frantic investigation.

AIRFRAME is nonstop reading: the extraordinary mixture of super suspense and authentic information on a subject of compelling interest that has been a Crichton landmark since The Andromeda Strain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100794 in Books
• Published on: 1997-09-28
• Released on: 1997-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.com Review
Cruising 35,000 feet above the earth, a twin-engine commercial jet encounters an accident that leaves 3 dead, 56 wounded, and the cabin in shambles. What happened? With a multi-billion-dollar company-saving deal on the line, Casey Singleton is sent by her hard-driving boss to uncover the mysterious circumstances that led to the disaster before more people die. But someone doesn't want her to find the truth. Airframe bristles with authentic information, technical jargon, and the command of detail Crichton's readers have come to expect. Check out Amazon.com's Airframe feature and read an excerpt from the book!

From Publishers Weekly
Like his role model, H.G. Wells, Crichton likes to moralize in his novels. In this slight, enjoyable thriller, the moral is the superficiality of TV, especially of its simplistic news coverage. Readers willing to overlook the irony of this message being broadcast by the man who created TV's top-rated drama (E.R.) will marvel again at Crichton's uncanny commercial instincts. The event that launches the story, conceived long before TWA Flight 800's last takeoff, is an airline disaster. Why did a passenger plane "porpoise"-pitch and dive repeatedly-enroute from Hong Kong to Denver, killing four and injuring 56? That's what Casey Singleton, v-p for quality assurance for Norton Aircraft, has to find out fast. If Norton's design is to blame, its imminent deal with China may collapse, and the huge company along with it. With Casey as his unsubtle focus-she's one of the few Crichton heroines, an all-American gal who's more plot device than character-Crichton works readers through a brisk course in airline mechanics and safety. The accretion of technical detail, though fascinating, makes for initially slow reading that speeds up only fitfully when Casey is menaced by what seem to be union men angry over the Chinese deal. But as she uncovers numerous anomalies about the accident, and as high corporate intrigue and a ratings-hungry TV news team enter the picture, the plot complicates and suspense rises, peaking high above the earth in an exciting re-creation of the flight. It's possible that Crichton has invented a new subgenre here-the industrial thriller-despite elements (video-generated clues, for one) recycled from his earlier work. It's certain that, while this is no Jurassic Park, he's concocted another slick, bestselling, cinema-ready entertainment. 2,000,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; film rights sold to Disney for a reported $8-$10 million; simultaneous large-print edition and Random House audio and CD editions.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA. Crichton's newest novel is billed as a "technical thriller" but the technology seems to outweigh the thrills. Casey Singleton is called upon to lead the investigation of the near air disaster of Flight 545. The pilot landed the plane safely but three passengers were killed. All of the evidence is conflicting?the pilot attributed the incident to turbulence but there was none. The flight attendant says the pilot fought the autocontrol but he didn't. What really happened to this flight? As Casey tries to piece the puzzle together, a national TV network plans an expose of the accident. The program is not focused on the truth but rather on discrediting the airline. Casey's race against time is further complicated when attempts are made on her life. Airframe is full of technical jargon and explanations of how airplanes fly and why they sometimes don't. Crichton incorporates enough suspense to keep readers going but a degree in engineering would be helpful in understanding this novel.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Middle School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

This was like an airplane ride!
Reading this book, for me, was like riding on a commercial airplane.

You get on the plane, all excited. You hear about what's coming up in your city of destination. You strap yourself in. You're all fidgety with anticipation.

Then you wait. And wait. And wait.

You feel like getting off the plane, you're so sick of waiting.

FINALLY, it takes off!!

That's how "Airframe" seemed to me. I nearly gave up on it, I was so weary of all the aeronautical acronyms and explanations of airplane processes and functions, I wanted action!

I'm SO glad I waited. The last quarter of the book is completely worth the boredom of the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the book. Still, I wish those sections had been a little less yawn-inducing.

This is why you need to keep your seat belt fastened
As the novel opens we see a young family nearing the end of a very long flight across the Pacific. The sun has come up, the passengers are waking to the sounds of the crew getting the breakfast service ready when suddenly, and without warning, the plane hits very rough turbulence. By the time the makes an emergency landing there are deaths and over 50 injuries.

The manufacturer of the plane, Norton, finds itself blamed for the event by the FAA, the carrier and the media. Casey, the vice-president in charge of Quality Control begins the detailed investigation into the cause of the accident, one that she soon discovers to be complicated by various hidden agendas that have nothing to do with passenger safety.

AIRFRAME is written in the usual Crichton taut style of short sections, some only a couple of paragraphs, that jump from character to character, as they progress in chronological order over the course of a week. Unfortunately although Crichton has stuck to his trademark style and done his usual thorough research this one is just not as compelling as JURASSIC PARK or ANDROMEDA STRAIN. The novel starts out strong but begins to drag towards the middle and by the end, this reader at least, was at the 'only a few pages to go, might as well finish' stage. Still, a less than average Crichton novel is better than many other authors' best effort so AIRFRAME is an excellent read. Just not the best choice for a reluctant flier to take on their next flight.

A different M.C.
I enjoyed this book. A bit different than the author's previous books. Quite a bit of mystery to the story which was very readable. The main character is very human and easy to identify with. The story goes into some interesting technnical aspects of airframe design and the ins and outs of contract grabbing.

Some have criticized this book as being slow but I don't think so. This book is a good read.