The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation [Hardcover]

ADAIR B (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

The immediate human toll of this 1994 disaster was staggering: all 132 people aboard died on a Pennsylvania hillside. The subsequent investigation was a maze of politics, bizarre theories, and shrouded answers. Bill Adair, an award-winning journalist, was granted special access to the five-year inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) while its investigators tried to determine if the world's most widely used commercial jet, the Boeing 737, was really safe.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1994, a Boeing 737 operated by USAir suddenly and inexplicably nosed over and went into an uncontrollable dive. In 28 seconds, some 132 people died. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators worked for five years to determine the cause. While NTSB, the FAA, Boeing, the pilots' union, and the airline pursued the engineering issues, survivors and lawyers pursued the personal need for closure, revenge, and compensation. Each party had its own agenda, and orchestrating the many voices over a lengthy and frustrating investigation was difficult. Adair, a writer for the St. Petersburg Times, closely follows the investigation as it creates and discards hundreds of theories, from bird impact to Mafia assassination. He dissects the enormously complicated investigation and ably explains the many competing issues that make aircraft disasters so difficult to bring to closure. His examination of the behind-the-scenes work that shapes airline safety policy is detailed and absorbing. Recommended for aeronautics, public policy, and journalism collections. Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Bill Adair covers aviation, national politics, and Congress for the St. Petersburg Times. He has won numerous awards, including the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Washington correspondence. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588340058
• ISBN-13: 978-1588340054
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,200,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ideal crash investigation book, April 19, 2002

By 

Dave English (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation (Hardcover)

The idea of a book about an airline crash and the following investigation is not new. There have been plenty of books using this formula. But this one is special. Very readable. As an airline pilot who has taken (but thankfully never had to use) crash site courses the technical aspects are pitch perfect, and as a reader of tons of aviation books, the writing is engaging and accessible. Just about anybody could read, understand, and become involved in this text.

The epic story of the world's most popular jet with an unknown fleeting flaw is the story. Adair avoids the clichés of the Airplane! genre, but the whole book smoothly reads like a novel. He seemed to have interviewed everybody involved in the 737 investigations. And as a professional journalist he knew how and what to ask. Balanced without preaching. It is clear the 737 was safe, but had a fatal flaw. Thanks to folks at the NTSB that never gave up, and people like Adair who track and report on the detective story, airline flying becomes even safer.

If you want to know what it is really like inside a crash investigation, without the hyperbole, but with all the smells and politics, this is a super book to start with.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adair Has a Good Grasp on a Tough Subject, May 31, 2003

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation (Hardcover)

I am generally skeptical of aviation accident books, but Adair's account of the USAir 427 accident is near the top of the heap. As an airline pilot who has flown (and generally disliked) the 737 among other airliners for a major US airline, I was pleased with the pains that Adair went through to be balanced in telling this story. It is generally a very accurate account of the accident sequence and investigation.

Of particular note is the ability Adair has to tell the story from all points of view, particularly from the victim's family and NTSB's point of view, without giving short shrift to Boeing (despite their general arrogance). In fact, the book, if anything, goes too easy on Boeing. The mantra about how safe the plane is repeated frequently. The reader is constantly told how safe the plane is, and then is told that the NTSB says it is less safe than it's peers, which seems hard to swallow. That it has a low accident rate (but NOT the lowest, as some have incorrectly stated, by any accepted statistical methodology, i.e., accidents per departure, accidents per flight hour, etc.) seems to permeate the book without emphasizing that so do all western built airliners. At the end of the day when the NTSB does rule against the 737 rudder, it almost seems that Boeing is redesigning the rudder actuators out of the goodness of it's corporate conscience, rather than the FAA mandates, which doesn't really square with reality. (Bottom line, airlines have until 2007 to replace the faulty system with the new design, so basically you have 737s flying around with a known defect for upwards of 13 years, which is one reason I personally avoid flying on 737s unless there is absolutely no other choice available.)

My hat is off to Mr. Adair. Though I may quibble with the tone of certain sections of his book, it is, nonetheless, a masterpiece. Enjoyable for professionals and laymen alike.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding recount of the accident and investigation, March 6, 2002

By 

Todd K. Boyer (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for any commercial aviation enthusiast. It details the investigation of USAir Flight 427 which crashed on approach into Pittsburgh in September 1994. The crash claimed the lives of 132 passengers and crew. The book humanizes the passengers and crew, the victim's families and the investigators themselves as they undertake the longest aviation investigation in aviation history.

The book follows path of the investigation from the moment the passengers board the ill-fated 737-300 until the final report is released by the NTSB five years later. It documents what the victim's families went through dealing with USAir, the lawyers and the government. It reads more like a fiction novel rather than a non-fiction piece. I read the entire book in 6 hours and could not put it down. It is the best piece of work on the crash of Flight 427 I have seen, and I have read them all. I definitely recommend to anyone interested in air safety.