Airframe (Page 74)

0543:23  TPA545   this is transpacific five four five we have an emergency

0543:26   ATAC  affirmative zero zero one

0543:29   ATAC  go ahead five four five

0543:31  TPA545  request priority clearance for emergency landing in los angeles

0543:32  AAL001  down to twenty nine thousand

0543:35   ATAC   okay five four five understand you request priority clearance to land

0543:40   TPA545  affirmative

0543:41   ATAC   say the nature of your emergency

0543:42   UAH 198  three two one ground thirty two thousand

0543:55  AALOOl  holding two six nine

0544:05   TPA545  we have a passenger emergency we need ambulances on the ground i would say thirty or forty ambulances maybe more

0544:10   ATAC   tpa five four five say again are you asking for forty ambulances

0544:27   UAH 198  turn one two four point niner

0544:35   TPA545  affirmative we encountered severe turbulence during flight we have injuries of passengers and flight crew

0544:48   ATAC   copy one nine eight good day

0544:50   ATAC   transpacific i copy your ground request for forty ambulances

0544:52   UAH198  thank you

Casey puzzled over the exchanges. Because they suggested very erratic behavior by the pilot.

For example, the Transpacific incident had occurred shortly after five in the morning. At that time, the plane was still in radio contact with Honolulu ARINC. With so many injuries, the captain could have reported an emergency to Honolulu.

But he hadn’t done that.

Why not?

Instead, the pilot continued to Los Angeles. And he had waited until he was about to land before reporting an emergency.

Why had he waited so long?

And why would he say the incident had been caused by turbulence? He knew that wasn’t true. The captain had told the stewardess the slats deployed. And she knew, from Ziegler’s audio, that the slats had deployed. So why hadn’t the pilot announced it? Why lie to approach control?

Everyone agreed John Chang was a good pilot. So what was the explanation for his behavior? Was he in shock? Even the best pilots sometimes behaved oddly in a crisis. But there seemed to be a pattern here – almost a plan. She looked ahead:

0544:59   ATAC   do you need medical personnel too what is the nature of the injuries you are bringing in

0545:10   TPA545   i am not sure

0545:20   ATAC   can you give us an estimate

0545:30   TPA545  i am sorry no an estimate is not possible

0545:32   AALOOl  two one two niner clear

0545:35   ATAC   is anyone unconscious

0545:40   TPA545  no i do not think so but two are dead

The captain seemed to report the fatalities as an afterthought. What was really going on?

0545:43   ATAC   copy zero zero one

0545:51   ATAC  tpa five four five what is the condition of your aircraft

0545:58  TPA545  we have damage to the passenger cabin minor damage only

Casey thought, Minor damage only? That cabin had sustained millions of dollars of damage. Hadn’t the captain gone back to look for himself? Did he not know the extent of the damage? Why would he say what he did?

0546:12   ATAC    what is the condition of the flight deck

0546:22   TPA545   flight deck is operational fdau is nominal

0546:31   ATAC   copy that five four five what is the condition of your flight crew

0546:38   TPA545   captain and first officer in good condition

At that moment one of the first officers had been covered in blood. Again, did the pilot not know? She glanced at the rest of the transcript, then pushed it aside. She’d show it to Felix tomorrow, and get his opinion.

She went on, looking through the Structure Reports, the Interior Cabin Reports, the relevant PMA records for the counterfeit slats locking pin and the counterfeit thruster cowl. Steadily, patiently, she worked on into the night

It was after ten o’clock when she again turned to the faults printout from Flight 545. She had been hoping she could skip this, and use the flight recorder data instead. But now there was nothing to do but slog through it.

Yawning, tired, she stared at the columns of numbers on the first page:

A/S  PWR TEST                     00000010000

AIL  SERVO  COMP                00001001000

AOA  INV                       10200010001

CFDS   SENS  FAIL                00000010000

CRZ  CMD MON  INV              10000020100

EL  SERVO COMP                   00000000010

EPR/N1  TRA-1                     00000010000

FMS  SPEED  INV                  00000040000

.PRESS  ALT  INV                  00000030000