Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)It's strange how many "unhelpful " internal amazon votes "Deadly Departure" has generated. I'm attributing that to the reality that the subject matter, the investigation and aftermath of TWA Flight #800, is so highly emotional. We amazon types obviously care about how our peers rate DD. Give author Negroni credit: She attempted to get her arms around a challenging, difficult and technical story. 4 stories are interspersed: There are vignettes of various passengers and crew. Then there are the fringe personalities-Governor Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, George Marlin (remember HIM?) and folks of that ilk-each with an "agenda". She writes of the unfortunate bureaucratic fighting and turf protecting among such agencies as the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board. And finally she covers the technical aspects-especially the role of a potentially lethal empty center fuel tank on a 747. I give the author "A" for effort in attempting to tie so many ends together; all in a brief, large print 237-page hardcover tale. I would have decidedly preferred it if she had concentrated more on the ongoing investigations and technical aspects of the disaster. That's because the personal stories require space and a longer plot. Given the hideously serious nature of the crash, more light should be shed upon 1) the documented dangers of the fuel tanks-the military took corrective action concerning them that the cowardly Federal Aviation Administration has not for civil planes. 2) The hostile role of the FBI and its' refusal to cooperate with the NTSB. Thank God lead agent James Kallstrom has retired. 3) The future: the FAA must simply stop the practice of "counting tombstones". The idea that "it's better to have an occasional crash than pay for expensive safety changes" is disgraceful and immoral. True enough, DD touches on these but loses them in the broad brush of a wider "human interest" tale. That said, DD remains an important and serious book, but these problems merit the subtraction of one star. It actually made me lose two nights sleep! I will definitely feel more nervous the next time I fly because I've been reminded that the bureaucrats at the FAA are watching the backs of the aviation industry, not mine or yours. It is strong medicine and I recommend a dose. DD touches sensitive nerves. More power to it!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Deadly Departure: Why the Experts Failed to Prevent the Twa Flight 800 Disaster and How It Could Happen Again
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