Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds: A True Story of Tragedy and Triumph [Paperback]

Gary M. Pomerantz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

“An ode to the beauty and dignity of the human spirit.” —Dominick Dunne

Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds is a heart-pounding real-life drama about how ordinary people rise above their fears and muster extraordinary courage and strength in the face of danger. In this gripping and inspiring story, Gary Pomerantz brings readers deep inside the hearts and minds of twenty-nine people whose fates take a dramatic turn when the plane they are on crashes in a west Georgia hayfield. You will be amazed by how they react in those fateful moments, and by their remarkable personal journeys in the days and months that follow.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An American could fly on a turboprop run by a regional carrier once per day and not expect to die in a crash for 8,000 years, according to one estimate. That's small consolation to the 29 people who found themselves on ASA Flight 529 in 1995, when a faulty propeller cracked and destroyed one of their plane's engines. As Gary M. Pomerantz notes in Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds--the title refers to the length of time between the engine blowing and impact--"Of all the emergency checklists, there was none on how to fly with one wing." Pomerantz says his book is "not about a plane falling, but the human spirit rising." That's only part right. Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds has plenty of human-interest angles, but it mainly holds a morbid fascination akin to rubbernecking at the scene of a highway accident. Ever wonder what people do when they know they're about to crash and believe they might die? Herein lie the answers. (Unexpectedly, they don't scream.) Pomerantz conducted hundreds of interviews for this book, from the flight's 19 survivors to family members of the deceased to the mechanic who refurbished the bad propeller before it went back on the plane. It is by turns interesting, poignant, and harrowing. Readers drawn to stories of adversity will find it riveting. --John Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The first tape of Pomerantz's account is almost unbearably dry: a detailed report of a young man's career decisions; a repair job on a stress-fractured propeller; groups of seemingly unrelated, meticulously recorded facts. And Gaines's objective, deadpan reading does not spice it up. But the story and narration pick up considerable speed. The title refers to the amount of time the 29 passengers and crew aboard flight 529 from Atlanta to Mississippi had to say their prayers, watch their lives flash before their eyes and prepare themselves for the inevitable crash after the airplane's left engine failed. The plane crashed in a Georgia hayfield and fire consumed the fuselage. Pomerantz's unnerving journalistic distance, iterated by the professional, subdued reading by Gaines (who starred in Contact and other Broadway shows), begins to seem appropriate as the nightmarish crash plays out. Pomerantz interviewed survivors (19 in total) and eyewitnesses, giving the account a stark, terrifying immediacy. Melting clothing (tip: always wear cotton clothing for flights), burning flesh, dead nerves and panic become all the more real (and grisly) for the flat prose and tone. Heroic accounts of men and women unselfishly working to save as many lives as possible make the story ultimately engaging and uplifting. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Forecasts, July 23).

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609810162
• ISBN-13: 978-0609810163
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Aviation > Commercial

More About the Author

GARY M. POMERANTZ is an author, journalist, and visiting lecturer in the Department of Communication at Stanford University. His fourth and newest book, THE DEVIL'S TICKETS, is a narrative from the Roaring Twenties about a sensational killing and murder trial in Kansas City and the contract bridge craze that swept America. National Public Radio hails it as "deliciously detailed and splendidly written." The Kansas City Star writes, "This is history with a whole lineup of compelling characters . . . Pomerantz handles it all with a stirring sense of story and human behavior."

Pomerantz's first book, WHERE PEACHTREE MEETS SWEET AUBURN, was named a 1996 Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. The Times also named his third book, WILT, 1962, a period piece about race, celebrity, and basketball star Wilt Chamberlain's celebrated 100-point game, a 2005 Editors' Choice selection.

A 1982 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Pomerantz worked for nearly two decades as a daily journalist, on staff for The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, initially as a sportswriter and then writing columns, editorials, and special projects. He later served for two years as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at Emory University in Atlanta. His second book, Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds (2001), about an air crash, has been published in China, England, and Germany and was termed by The London Evening Standard "a masterpiece of nonfiction storytelling."

Pomerantz lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and their three children. Vist his website at www.garympomerantz.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent human interest story, December 11, 2001

By 

c_leong73 "c_leong73" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds: The Tragedy & Triumph of ASA Flight 529 (Hardcover)

As the author indicated in the beginning of the book, this was not meant to be a book about plane crashes per se, he was interested in exploring the human interest side of the story. He did a great job.

NINE MINUTES, TWENTY SECONDS is a gripping, almost minute-by-minute account of the fateful flight of ASA 529 heading for Gulfport, MS from Atlanta, GA. Pomerantz brings you into the lives of the 29 (26 passengers and 3 crew members) on board that commuter plane. His background work into these individuals inject an important prelude towards the account of the actual crash, helping the reader feel for these people instead of treating them as statistics.

Even the cause of the crash (a faulty propeller blade) is given a very personal touch, beginning with the technician at the factory who was responsible for inspecting the blade prior to its being put in use on the plane. The official NTSB investigation and final verdict are also included, just enough to satisfy the reader's curiousity without going too detailed as to lose sight of the actual focus of the narrative.

Ultimately, Pomerantz succeeded in crafting a wonderfully touching work about the strength and nature (both good and bad) of humanity in times of crisis. Since this book was written years after the crash, Pomerantz was able to provide the reader with updates on the lives of the survivors and how the incident has changed their outlook in many aspects. This might not be the book to read if you're looking to read about plane crashes in general, or books that would provide a lot of technical details. It is almost entirely about the individual people that made up the passenger and crew list of flight ASA 529. If you're interested in reading something that would stay with you long after you're done, this is it. I started this book earlier during an afternoon, and finished it late at night. And after I did, I went to bed, and hugged the one I love.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most powerful book I've read in years., September 5, 2001

By 

Steve Ross "Steve" (Westchester, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds: The Tragedy & Triumph of ASA Flight 529 (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading this book--I read the entire book in one sitting, pausing only to breathe deeply, to shovel food into my mouth, and to wipe the tears from eyes. The first half of the book--in which the reader is right there in the plane during the nine-plus minutes when these 29 people know their plane is going down and each reacts differently--is among the most gripping and compelling prose I've ever read, akin to the best sections of Into Thin Air. But ultimately this book is about so much more than simply a plane crash--it's a psychologically illuminating, real-life drama about ordinary people and how they behave in extraordinary circumstances. Most of us have wondered what we would do to survive a life-threatening situation: How would I conduct myself--would I try to save others in need or only myself? Would others try to save me? How would I be affected by what I experience? Judging by what is revealed in this book, the answers are astonishingly, even upliftingly, optimistic. This book speaks as powerfully about our capacity to care for others as it does about the strength of our will to live, and I found it to be among the richest and most rewarding books I've ever read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't read this on a plane, September 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds: The Tragedy & Triumph of ASA Flight 529 (Hardcover)

This book will grab you from the very beginning. You feel as though you too are aboard the plane. You get to know your fellow passengers and the staff. Then the countdown begins. In minute detail it starts counting down the minutes and seconds as structural problems begin. I found this to be absolutely chilling. Find out who survives, who doesn't and how they handle it. The book also contains photos of the plane and passengers So you could refer back to them if needed. This was a remarkable true story.