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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 2, 2015
On December 1st, 1974, TWA flight 514 flying from Indianapolis and Ohio, was diverted from Washington Airport to Dulles Airport due to inclement weather. The pilots were not very familiar with the airport and communication from air traffic controllers did not really take this into account. A meteorologist also failed to announce poor weather conditions at Dulles. The end result was a plane crash into the Blue Ridge Mountains with all 92 on board killed.
Adam Shaw, the author, heard this news on television. It wasn't a terrorist attack. It wasn't witnessed and there were no big celebrities. It almost seemed as if the passing of these 92 would go unremarked. The author was unwilling to let this happen and spent the next two and a half years of his life researching what happened and interviewing the families and friends of those who died.
He describes this book as being about picking up the pieces - both literally and figuratively. The reader sees the crash site through the eyes of those who were there, learns of the mistakes made by all involved and the lack of consistency in materials supplied to pilots and FAA traffic controllers. We learn of how the families were given the news, in many cases with very little sensitivity on the part of TWA who wouldn't even agree to fly all family members to the area. We sit in on a court case where we find out what small value is placed on human life. One comment from Booker, a lawyer for TWA really bothered me. In a court case involving a family where a mother lost her daughter and children lost their sibling, Booker said, " Grief and suffering doesn't last forever. The loss of a child, the loss of a husband, the loss of a wife, that loss occurs. There is no way TWA or anyone else can put that life back here on earth. But the grief doesn't last forever."
Booker goes on further in this vein and it made me as a reader very angry. The survivors lives were forever changed because of this preventable accident (for the court case TWA admitted negligence) and I know from people in my own life that especially for parents who have lost a child grief never really leaves. To say that it does is an insult.
Parts of this book were drier than others and it was published in 1977 and so hopefully is dated in some respects. As one who will admit to saying extra prayers around take-off and landing every time I fly, I hope things have changed since then. I am afraid that in many ways they may not have. I believe that Shaw has done what he set out to do in this book. He has shown us who these victims were and that their loss matters - or at least it should.
Adam Shaw, the author, heard this news on television. It wasn't a terrorist attack. It wasn't witnessed and there were no big celebrities. It almost seemed as if the passing of these 92 would go unremarked. The author was unwilling to let this happen and spent the next two and a half years of his life researching what happened and interviewing the families and friends of those who died.
He describes this book as being about picking up the pieces - both literally and figuratively. The reader sees the crash site through the eyes of those who were there, learns of the mistakes made by all involved and the lack of consistency in materials supplied to pilots and FAA traffic controllers. We learn of how the families were given the news, in many cases with very little sensitivity on the part of TWA who wouldn't even agree to fly all family members to the area. We sit in on a court case where we find out what small value is placed on human life. One comment from Booker, a lawyer for TWA really bothered me. In a court case involving a family where a mother lost her daughter and children lost their sibling, Booker said, " Grief and suffering doesn't last forever. The loss of a child, the loss of a husband, the loss of a wife, that loss occurs. There is no way TWA or anyone else can put that life back here on earth. But the grief doesn't last forever."
Booker goes on further in this vein and it made me as a reader very angry. The survivors lives were forever changed because of this preventable accident (for the court case TWA admitted negligence) and I know from people in my own life that especially for parents who have lost a child grief never really leaves. To say that it does is an insult.
Parts of this book were drier than others and it was published in 1977 and so hopefully is dated in some respects. As one who will admit to saying extra prayers around take-off and landing every time I fly, I hope things have changed since then. I am afraid that in many ways they may not have. I believe that Shaw has done what he set out to do in this book. He has shown us who these victims were and that their loss matters - or at least it should.
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November 12, 2023i read this book for the same reason that adam shaw wrote it: they were someone to somebody. because i research the people whose graves stick out to me as i walk past them all the time. gwendolyn and william garwood are one of the stories in the cemetery that stick in my mind. funny enough, they were not profiled in this book, but it was still a very interesting read. fascinating how things have changed since then.
December 1, 2024
Interesting format to bounce between the personal stories of the victims and the facts of the accident. My interest was primarily the accident. Glad I read this book but it would be difficult to recommend and the audience of potentially interested readers is likely limited.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews