Airframe (38 page)

She thought: Where is he going? Why is he doing this?

“I didn’t say that.”

“I’m asking you now.”

“I said,” Casey replied, “that those tapes create an inaccurate perception of the danger of air travel.”

“Including the danger of the N-22?”

“I’ve already said I think the N-22 is safe.”

“So you don’t think such tapes should be shown to the public.”

What the hell was he doing?
She still couldn’t figure it out. She didn’t answer him; she was thinking hard. Trying to see where he was going with this. She had a sinking feeling she knew.

“In your view, Ms. Singleton, should such tapes be suppressed?”

“No,” Casey said.

“They should
not
be suppressed.”

“No.”

“Has Norton Aircraft ever suppressed any tapes?”

Uh-oh, she thought. She was trying to figure out how many people knew of the tape. A lot, she decided: Ellen Fong, Ziegler, the people at Video Imaging. Maybe a dozen people, maybe more …

“Ms. Singleton,” Reardon said, “are you personally aware of any other tape of this accident?”

Just lie
, Amos had said.

“Yes,” she said. “I know of another tape.”

“And have you seen the tape?”

“I have.”

Reardon said, “It’s upsetting. Horrifying. Isn’t it?”

She thought:
They have it
. They’d gotten the tape. She would have to proceed very carefully now.

“It’s tragic,” Casey said. “What happened on Flight 545 is a tragedy.” She felt tired. Her shoulders ached from tension.

“Ms. Singleton, let me put it to you directly: Did Norton Aircraft suppress this tape?”

“No.”

Eyebrows up, the look of surprise. “But you certainly didn’t release it, did you.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“That tape was found on the aircraft,” Casey said, “and is being used in our ongoing investigation. We didn’t feel it appropriate to release it until our investigation is completed.”

“You weren’t covering up the well-known defects of the N-22?”

“No.”

“Not everyone agrees with you about that, Ms. Singleton. Because
Newsline
obtained a copy of that tape, from a conscience-stricken Norton employee who felt that the company
was
covering up. Who felt the tape should be made public.”

Casey held herself rigid. She didn’t move.

“Are you surprised?” Reardon said, his lips in a curl.

She didn’t answer. Her mind was spinning. She had to plan her next move.

Reardon was smirking, a patronizing smile. Enjoying the moment.

Now
.

“Have you yourself actually seen this tape, Mr. Reardon?” She asked the question in a tone that implied the tape didn’t exist, that Reardon was making it all up.

“Oh yes,” Reardon said solemnly, “I have seen the tape. It’s
difficult, painful to watch. It is a terrible, damning record of what happened on that N-22 aircraft.”

“You’ve seen it all the way through?”

“Of course. So have my associates in New York.”

So it had already gone to New York, she thought.

Careful.

Careful
.

“Ms. Singleton, was Norton
ever
planning to release that tape?”

“It’s not ours to release. We’d return it to the owners, after the investigation was completed. It would be up to the owners to decide what to do with it.”

“After the investigation was completed …” Reardon was shaking his head. “Forgive me, but for a company
you say
is committed to flight safety, there seems to be a consistent pattern of cover-ups here.”

“Cover-ups?”

“Ms. Singleton, if there was a problem with the airplane—a serious problem, an ongoing problem, a problem the company knew about—would you tell us?”

“But there is no problem.”

“Isn’t there?” Reardon was looking down now, at the papers in front of him. “If the N-22 is really as safe as you say, Ms. Singleton, then how do you explain this?”

And he handed her a sheet of paper.

She took it, glanced at the paper.

“Jesus Christ,” she said.

Reardon had his media moment. He had gotten her unguarded, off-balance reaction. She knew it would look bad. She knew there was no way for her to recover from it, no matter what she said from this point on. But she was focused on the paper in front of her, stunned to see it now.

It was a Xerox of the cover sheet of a report done three years ago.

P
RIVILEGED
I
NFORMATION
—F
OR
I
NTERNAL
U
SE
O
NLY

N
ORTON
A
IRCRAFT

I
NTERNAL
R
EVIEW
A
CTION
C
OMMITTEE

E
XECUTIVE
S
UMMARY

U
NSTABLE
F
LIGHT
C
HARACTERISTICS OF
N-22 A
IRCRAFT

And following was a list of the names of the committee members. Beginning with her name, since she had chaired the committee.

Casey knew that there was nothing improper about the study, nothing improper in its findings. But everything about it, even the name—“Unstable Flight Characteristics”—appeared damning. It was going to be very difficult for her to explain.

He’s not interested in information
.

And this was an internal company report, she thought. It should never have been released. It was three years old—not that many people would even remember it existed. How had Reardon gotten it?

She glanced at the top of the page, saw a fax number, and the name of the sending station: NORTON QA.

It had come from her own office.

How?

Who had done it?

Richman, she thought, grimly.

Richman had placed this report in the packet of press material on her desk. The material Casey had told Norma to fax to
Newsline
.

How had Richman known about it?

Marder.

Marder knew all about the study. Marder had been program manager on the N-22; he’d ordered it. And now Marder had arranged for the study to be released while she was on television, because—

“Ms. Singleton?” Reardon said.

She looked up. Back into the lights. “Yes.”

“Do you recognize this report?”

“Yes, I do,” she said.

“Is that your own name at the bottom?”

“Yes.”

Reardon handed her three other sheets, the rest of the executive summary. “In fact, you were the chairman of a
secret committee
inside Norton that investigated ‘flight instabilities’ of the N-22. Isn’t that right?”

How was she going to do this? she thought.

He’s not interested in information
.

“It wasn’t a secret,” she said. “It’s the kind of study we frequently conduct on operational aspects of our aircraft, once they’re in service.”

“By your own admission, it’s a study of flight instabilities.”

“Look,” she said, “this study is a good thing.”

“A good thing?” Eyebrows up, astonished.

“Yes,” she said. “After the first slats incident four years ago, there was a question about whether the aircraft had unstable handling characteristics, in certain configurations. We didn’t avoid that question. We didn’t ignore it. We addressed it head-on—by forming a committee, to test the aircraft in various conditions, and see if it were true. And we concluded—”

“Let me read,” Reardon said, “from your own report. ‘The aircraft relies upon computers for basic stabilization.’ ”

“Yes,” she said. “All modern aircraft use—”

“ ‘The aircraft has demonstrated marked sensitivity to manual handling during attitude change.’ ”

Casey was looking at the pages now. Following his quotes. “Yes, but if you’ll read the rest of the sentence, you will—”

Reardon cut in: “ ‘Pilots have reported the aircraft cannot be controlled.’ ”

“But you’re taking all this out of context.”

“Am I?” Eyebrows up. “These are all statements from
your
report. A secret Norton report.”

“I thought you said you wanted to hear what I had to say.” She was starting to get angry. She knew it showed, and didn’t care.

Reardon leaned back in his chair, spread his hands. The picture of reason. “By all means, Ms. Singleton.”

“Then let me explain. This study was carried out to determine whether the N-22 had a stability problem. We concluded it did not, and—”

“So you say.”

“I thought I was going to be allowed to explain.”

“Of course.”

“Then let me put your quotes in context,” Casey said. “The report says the N-22 relies on computers. All modern aircraft rely on computers for stabilization in flight. The reason is not because they can’t be flown by pilots. They can. There’s no problem with that. But the carriers now want extremely fuel-efficient aircraft. Maximum fuel efficiency comes from minimal drag, as the aircraft flies through the air.”

Reardon was waving his hand, a dismissing gesture. “I’m sorry, but all this is beside—”

“To minimize drag,” Casey continued, “the aircraft has to hold a very precise attitude, or position in the air. The most efficient position is slightly nose up. The computers hold the aircraft in this position during ordinary flight. None of this is unusual.”

“Not unusual? Flight
instabilities
?” Reardon said.

He was always shifting the subject, never letting her catch up. “I’m coming to that.”

“We’re eager to hear.” Open sarcasm.

She struggled to control her temper. However bad things were now, it would be worse if she lost her temper. “You read a sentence before,” she said. “Let me finish it. ‘The aircraft has demonstrated marked sensitivity to manual handling during attitude change,
but this sensitivity is entirely within design
parameters and presents no difficulty to properly certified pilots
.’ That’s the rest of the sentence.”

“But you’ve admitted there is sensitive handling. Isn’t that just another word for instability?”

“No,” she said. “Sensitive does not mean unstable.”

“The plane can’t be controlled,” Reardon said, shaking his head.

“It can.”

“You did a study because you were worried.”

“We did a study because it’s our job to make sure the aircraft is safe,” she said. “And we are sure: it
is
safe.”

“A secret study.”

“It wasn’t secret.”

“Never distributed. Never shown to the public …”

“It was an internal report,” she said.

“You have nothing to hide?”

“No,” she said.

“Then why haven’t you told us the truth about TransPacific Flight 545?”

“The truth?”

“We’re told your accident team
already has
a preliminary finding on the probable cause. Is that not true?”

“We’re close,” she said.

“Close … Ms. Singleton, do you have a finding, or not?”

Casey stared at Reardon. The question hung in the air.

“I’m very sorry,” the cameraman said, behind her. “But we have to reload.”

“Camera reloading!”

“Reloading!”

Reardon looked as if he had been slapped. But almost immediately he recovered. “To be continued,” he said, smiling at Casey. He was relaxed; he knew he had beaten her. He got up from his chair, turned his back to her. The big lights clicked off; the room seemed suddenly almost dark. Somebody turned the air-conditioning back on.

Casey got up, too. She pulled the radio mike off her
waist. The makeup woman came running over to her, holding out a powder puff. Casey held up her hand. “In a minute,” she said.

With the lights off, she saw Richman, heading for the door.

Casey hurried after him.

She caught him in the hallway, grabbed him by the arm, spun him around. “You son of a bitch.”

“Hey,” Richman said. “Take it easy.” He smiled, nodded past her shoulder. Looking back, she saw the soundman and one of the cameramen coming out into the hallway.

Furious, Casey pushed Richman backward, shoving him through the door to the women’s room. Richman started to laugh. “Jeez, Casey, I didn’t know you cared—”

Then they were in the bathroom. She pushed him back against the row of sinks. “You little bastard,” she hissed, “I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing, but you released that report, and I’m going to—”

“You’re going to do nothing,” Richman said, his voice suddenly cold. He threw her hands off him. “You still don’t get it, do you? It’s
over
, Casey. You just blew the China sale. You’re
finished
.”

She stared at him, not understanding. He was strong, confident—a different person.

“Edgarton’s finished. The China sale’s finished. And you’re finished.” He smiled. “Just the way John said it would happen.”

Marder, she thought. Marder was behind it. “If the China sale goes, Marder will go, too. Edgarton will see to that.”

Richman was shaking his head, pityingly. “No, he won’t. Edgarton’s sitting on his ass in Hong Kong, he’ll never know what hit him. By noon Sunday, Marder’ll be the new president
of Norton Aircraft. It’ll take him ten minutes with the Board. Because we’ve made a much bigger deal with Korea. A hundred and ten aircraft firm, and an option on thirty-five more. Sixteen billion dollars. The Board will be thrilled.”

“Korea,” Casey said. She was trying to put it together. Because it was a huge order, the biggest in the history of the company. “But why would—”

“Because he gave them the wing,” Richman said. “And in return, they’re more than happy to buy a hundred and ten aircraft. They don’t care about sensationalistic American press. They know the plane’s safe.”

“He’s giving them the
wing
?”

“Sure. It’s a killer deal.”

“Yeah,” Casey said. “It kills the company.”

“Global economy,” Richman said. “Get with the program.”

“But you’re gutting the company,” she said.

“Sixteen billion dollars,” Richman said. “The minute that’s announced, Norton stock’ll go through the roof. Everybody gets well.”