Customer Reviews

93 Seconds to Disaster: The Government's Great Cover-up

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book
As both an retired American Airlines captain on Boeing 767's and a former Journeyman Air Traffic Controller at Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 93 SECONDS to DISASTER. It is a well researched book that is written in a manner that creates a deep emotion in the reader whether that person is an experienced commercial airline pilot a student pilot or simply has a love for aviation. Unfortunately, those of us familiar with the lax attitudes regarding aviation safety of both the FAA and NTSB continue to realize their long-time and continued method of 'Preventative Maintenance' is what I refer to as 'THE AUTOPSY METHOD'. In the writing of the book, you developed the situation initially in 'aviation speak' familiar to those of us in the industry and then referred to the situation in language that those who are not in the industry would understand the end result objective you had in mind. Very well done Captain! I congratulate you for your fine work in telling the world that the Government agencies invovled the manufacturer airline training procedures all need to be improved to have one common goal: safety of the flying public. Everyone employed in the aformentioned needs to remember that a passenger flying at any given moment is probably someone they love more than anyone a Wife Husband Son Daughter Mother or Father! The capital letters show the importance of each. Thank you so for the writing of this book and I know all who read it will be impacted by it's content. Even though I could write much more of what the book meant to me, I should now sign off. Dan Corsello

Captain Brian Power-Waters has authored many great books related to aviation and is more than qualified as a commercial pilot. So, when he presents us the facts and his conclusions in his book "93 Seconds to Disaster: The Government's Great Cover-up" he has my fullest attention.

I have about two-thousand hours flying as a crew-chief in Huey helicopters and am a huge reader of aviation books. I am a retired safety manager for the federal government. I have also been personally involved in many aircraft crashes as crew member and have survived--all this gives me a unique special interest in what the author had to say in his book. This book is a fascinating read but is not something you would want to read while waiting in an airport lounge for your flight to board. But this is a book that all passengers should read and absorb his message.

In the post 9/11 days there was another aircraft that crashed in the New York City area. It was the American Airlines A-300 Airbus Flight #587. It crashed shortly after take off into a neighborhood in Queens, New York on November 12, 2001. This book deals with the investigation and the possible causes of that crash and the rush to judgment made by the government which blamed the co-pilot. His book gives us an insider look at what went on and his intelligent and educated conclusions. He also adds some personal interest to the book by giving some background information on the crew so we get to know them as real people and not just a name on the investigation reports.

This book is well researched and hard hitting. I think all pilots, either private or commercial, would get a great deal from this reading experience but there is something of interest for all non-pilots as well. The book is a great education on aviation accident investigations but it is also entertaining. The author gives us lots of details of the accident and what they think happened. This book is a must read book! I personally endorse it and ask you to read it.

Thanksfor writing your excellent book conserning the tragedy of American Airlines flight587, in it ,you have raised questions that need to be answered,and in doing so,you have helped make the rest of the world aware of these questions

Andrew J. Michalak
Captain American Airlines Ret.

93 Seconds to Disaster" Book

Reviewed by AVweb's Kevin Lane-Cummings

The job of the FAA is to promote aviation safety and to encourage and develop civilian aeronautics -- an "economic" influence that some say interferes with its safety duties. The NTSB, on the other hand, is all about safety: investigating accidents and promoting ways to reduce them. But government watchdogs question the independence of even that organization.

When American Airlines Flight 587 crashed just after departing JFK airport in November, 2001, the accident investigation teams jumped to work as they always do. The conclusion from the NTSB was that the probable cause of the accident was, "The in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer as a result of the loads beyond ultimate design that were created by the first officer's unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs."

Captain Brian Power-Waters has assembled an extensive evaluation of the accident and the investigation into its causes, and is convinced that undue blame has been placed on Flight 587's first officer.

Captain Power-Waters' new book, 93 Seconds to Disaster, has chapters covering the chronology of the pilots and the flight, information about large-aircraft upsets, an evaluation of use of composites for aircraft, pilot training and a review of the abilities and pressures put on NTSB investigators.

Using a mixture of official reports and his own interviews and eyewitness accounts, Captain Power-Waters has created a very readable book that puts a new perspective on the accident that, he says, should have changed how airliners are made and how pilots are trained.

You can order the book from Captain Power-Waters' Web site.
www.brian power-waters.com


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Approach System's

I have read every one of Captain Brian Power-Waters books. This in my opnion is his second best effort. Safety Last ( his first book ) was ahead of it's time in discussing aviation mishaps. I had personal knowledge of one of the accidents described in that book. His latest book attempts to make a little more sense of a terrible loss of life that could have been prevented. The rush to attribute blame and cause by the NTSB and the FAA is nothing new. I was an Air Traffic Controller in New York at the time of this crash. One of my best friends was the last controller to talk/give instructions to the doomed pilots. Anyone who is interested in commercial airline safety should seriously consider this book. Brian all I can say is " well done "....R. St. Amour Retired ATCS 1964/2004

Early in this book, we read a quote from a Capitol Hill lawmaker to the effect that the Federal Aviation Administration is essentially useless. The quote dates to about 2001 and remains valid today. In this book, Brian Power-Waters demonstrates that the government did a poor job of analyzing what remains, at this writing, the most recent major loss of an airliner in the United States. The author explains why the National Transportation Safety Board didn't do its job very well, either. The result, whether the government intended it or not, as Power-Waters tells us in detail, is that a fine airline pilot was scapegoated after he could no longer defend himself. This is a well-designed, thoughtful book that brings an important story in front of us in an attractive and affordable way.

Norman Rhodes was a member of the Rothman's Aerobatic team. He flew the slot position on the Rothman's Aerobatic team. He is presently a senior Captain on the Boeing 777, flying for a major UK carrier. The following comments appear on his website...

So what did actually happen to AA587 during that terrible time post 9/11?
Captain Brian Power-Waters XIII has a theory that he presents in his book `93 seconds to disaster' iUniverse, 2005) Brian sets the scene including extensive background information on the crews involved. If you knew these people then the story is one of sorrow, most of us involved in the industry recognise the characters well, either as ourselves or those we know and love. What follows is a stinging indictment of Airbus, the NTSB and the FAA. He accuses them of collusion and coverup, highlighting flaws and errors made by the US authorities in the post crash analysis during the aftermath.
[If you recall the fin and rudder departed the main structure of the aircraft during an encounter with wake turbulence thrown off by a preceding aircraft.]

Brian is a highly experienced pilot and has engineering qualifications that add some weight to his claims. I cannot attest here to the accuracy of the work nor the accusations he makes as I have not researched the accident nor sifted through the evidence myself. But Brian puts his case well and if his work is valid, there are questions to be answered that have to date been papered over and forgotten by the authorities.

For example, the FAA send the NTSB seem to support (certainly at the time) the assertion by Airbus that composite structures can be satisfactorily inspected visually or by using the `tap method.' Ask the same question of independent composite structures engineers and they will laugh at you. So how do you explain the current position of the US authorities? Do they still hold the same view I wonder and if they don't, have they re-opened the investigation into AA587's crash?

What on earth would prompt current line Captains of enormous experience to lobby their company, the FAA and the NTSB to re-open an investigation to establish the the facts if the investigation had been properly carried out and the truth established?
To step up to the line and make such claims always places the claimants at risk of their livelihoods - the industry does not forgive nor excuse challenges of this nature and I have friends who can attest to that to their heavy cost. Brian is one such man, his courage is proven as he has paid such a price himself for principle and less commonly seen displayed - action.

To simply blame the handling pilot for the losses on that terrible day would seem to be cowardly and .... somehow a familiar strategy. There are many unanswered questions raised by Brian's book and although I would like to have seen an extensive bibliography and references to research carried out, it does hit the spot it is aimed at.

Unbelievably compelling and informative. My hats off to Captain Brian Power-Waters for having the guts to take on the commercial airline companies as well as the FAA (Fedeal Aviation Administration), who are the very ones that are suppose to be policing our skies but are instead sleeping with the corporate executives while looking the other way, and the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) for their negligent incompetance and rush to judgement to place blame on the Cockpit Crew of American Airlines Flight 587...Captain Eddie States and First Officer Sten Molin, who were piloting the aircraft that crashed into Belle Harbor Queens, New York on November 12th, 2001, just 2 short months after the devastation of September 11th, 2001. He exposes the continous corruption and greed that is a constant in the Aviation Industry which allows for too many aircrafts to go up to the skies in a "known" safety compromised manner. His in-depth knowledge comes from piloting commercial aircrafts for over 28 years while employed by US Airways. In Chapter 6 of 93 Seconds to Disaster, he explains aircraft dynamics and facts about the Airbus(which was the type of aircraft used on Flight 587), such as Airbus Certification..."G Meters"...and Vertical,Lateral and Longitudinal Axis' thoroughly but simple enough for anyone to comprehend, and that allows for even the non-technical reader, such as myself, to understand how and why this horrible accident was able to transpire. In Chapter 9, entitled "Wake Turbulance", which is ultimately what caused the demise of American's Flight 587 and all who were aboard, he explains this phenomenom which is unstable radical air caused by the aircraft taking off ahead of yours that cannot be seen and the necessity for a minimum of a 2 minute wait time before following in the same air path. I could not put this book down. As an American Airlines Flight Attendant of over 32 years, I always feared that there was much more to the "explanations" that I and other Flight Attendant Crewmembers received from American Airlines management after this tragedy occurred...Thanks to the honorable Captain Brian...now I know the TRUTH! He is my "HERO" for taking on such a powerful force which is that of the Aviation Industry's airline companies' corrupt and greedy corporate so called leaders and their despicable government buddies, who think and care nothing about the health and safety of the millions and millions of passengers who travel our skies as well as the Flight Crewmembers who work for them...Captain Brian wrote this book to get the TRUTH out...knowing full well the retaliation and intimidation he would receive for his safety advocacy. He is a TRUE pilot whose first and foremost duty is to protect his passengers and Flight Crewmembers. Everyone should read this book. It will teach and inform everyone who uses commercial airlines for their form of transportation, of things that they need to know "before" they step onto an airplane from ANY airline. GREAT BOOK... Thanks Cap! Alicia Lutz-Rolow/American Airlines Flight Attendant

Robert J Goebel, Lt.Col. USAF Ret, 07/24/2007 Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5
Minding the store, No Longer!
Before I read ' 93 Seconds to Disaster' I felt comfortable with the notion that several government agencies staffed by the most capable people available and dedicated to maintaining the highest level of Commercial Air Transportation safety were 'minding the store' No Longer. Capt. Brian Power-Waters, through his persistent and relentless investigation, has raised serious questions about how technical requirements and administrative matters are handled today. He has shown courage in voicing these concerns,where he has found culpabilities ,even at the highest levels . We all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Randal L Long, a pilot since 1993, is educated in Professional Aeronautics, focusing on Safety Investigations with over 20 years analyzing accident reports and working toward improving the growing technologies in Aviation.

"93 Seconds to Disaster is a must for anyone's collection on the growing improvements and problems of today's Aviation industry. Captain Brian Power-Waters XIII has completely captured the issues that our government's agencies appear to neglect. By removing all the clutter that so often fills accident reports, Captain Power-Waters focuses the reader's attention on what are the obvious and in most cases irrefutable facts. What kind of professional design causes a vertical stabilizer to simply snap off in air while a pilot attempts to control the "properly designed" rudder pedals? What are we doing flying the public around in aircraft made of composite materials made from carbon and glass fibers that have not gone through the years of rigorous testing and knowledge comprised by the military? How can the FAA just sit calmly aside stating that such aircraft are fine and need only a visionary check? Who will force the FAA to make airlines conduct testing that would show fatigue problems hiding below what the human eyes can observe? Must more innocent people die before someone takes action? Captain Brian Power-Waters has taken the facts and broken them down into easily understandable issues that prove this was no accident caused by human error, but a poor design that can still be fixed before more human tragedies."