Read this a while ago. Back then I probably would have given it four or five stars, but tastes change. I remember starting to read this, while sitting in a plane, about to hurl itself down a runway to take-off and thinking "How stupid can I be?" If you want some well written, fast paced entertainment, without having to engage too much brain power, this is a good choice. Unless you are afraid of flying... ;)

THE GOOD:
Excellently told. Well researched. Captivating, fast-paced suspense thriller. (I always learn so much from a Crichton novel!)
Fun skewering of visual media “news” entertainment industry.
A peek into the business world as well as foreign relations and the polite face that often has to overlay turbulent situations.

THE BAD:
A couple of corny foot race scenes involving our leading lady, Casey.
This was a first edition print copy, and had no author’s note in the back. I’m sure the novel did when I read it years ago. (?)

CONCLUSION:
Crichton was a master of easy-to-understand stories about highly complicated situations. This one is no exception. Highly recommend.

Havacılık ile ilgili bilgilerle dolu olması açısından ilginç olsa da zayıf kurgusu ve kuru anlatımı ile Crichton'ın vasat altı kitaplarından biri.

Something goes terribly wrong on Flight #Whatever from Hong Kong to Denver. The plane begins "porpoising," falling and climbing again in severe oscillations, people bouncing about the cabin, suitcases flying, until the pilot is able to regain control and request emergency landing in California. Three people die on the plane, and a man succumbs to his injuries later. It's all over by p. 12, and then the investigation begins...and goes on for 419 more pages.

Crichton debunked global warming in one of his other novels, so I was curious what liberal shibboleth he would find wanting here. Not government regulation - he appears to be in favor of the FAA trying to make planes sturdier and flying safer. It's unions. When a rumor circulates that wing production will be moved out of the U.S., there's a "job action" (protest). Union goons stalk the female protagonist, Casey, an executive of the company that manufactured the porpoising plane. In a giant hangar, heavy tools in hand, they chase her to the top of the structure. The goons are so dangerous, high-level employees are given round the clock security.

Using passenger videos and the plane's QAR (a kind of junior Flight Data Recorder), Casey is able to determine from equipment noises and a translation of the Chinese flight crew's cockpit conversation that the captain had strolled to the back of the plane, letting his son, who wasn't certified to fly this type of plane, fly it. When something went wrong with various plane parts, the son wasn't able to correct properly. The father/pilot was tossed around like a ragdoll and died from his head injuries days later.

Casey is hounded by an aggressive young TV reporter for a 60 Minutes type show. The reporter begs to be allowed to fly on the test flight - after the ground tests are completed to see which parts failed or didn't fail, the plane is put in the air and the porpoising duplicated. The company executives, lawyers, test pilot, etc. adamantly refuse, but then Casey decides to teach this woman a lesson. They both strap in tightly. Casey has donned anti-nausea patches, but the reporter is screaming, projectile vomiting, and begging for the ride to stop. When it's all over she joins Hard Copy.

You might think a mostly procedural novel about an in-flight incident and resulting effects would be a snooze-fest. That is unless you knew it was written by Michael Crichton who never came close to writing a snooze-fest in his life. Great story!

Michael Crichton is a master of taking complicated subjects and easing the reader into them while at the same time making the characters seem well immersed in the details. Airframe is a novel about airplanes, and specifically an investigation into a plane accident by the plane's manufacturer. Though all the characters know more about airplanes than you ever will, Crichton has presented a spectacular mixture of in-depth research and understandable explanations. Not only by the end of the novel did I understand way more about airplanes, including not only the machines themselves but also the complex politics behind the manufacturing industry, but I quickly found myself following along with the technical details of the investigation. This is a mystery novel, filled with suspense and even a couple action scenes, and it kept me engaged throughout. I highly recommend it.

¡Que maravilla! Crichton nos deleita con un thriller administrativo y burocrático sobre una empresa aeronáutica. Nos enseña sobre procesos, técnicismos y demás temas sobre aeronaves. A mitad de libro ya esperaba que la solución al misterio fuera alguna explicación sobrenatural o que recuriera a ciencia ficción, pero no lo hace; toda la historia se resuelve dentro de lo que se podría considerar realista.

Una lectura muy recomendable.

Crichton's Jurassic Park and its sequel, The Lost World, remain two of my favourite sci-fi stories to read, but I have found his other work to not appeal in quite the same way. Perhaps this is due to the nostalgia I already felt to the dinosaur world, having grown up with the film adaptations, or maybe I just gelled better with those particular storylines. I still commend this author for his continued inventiveness and the seemingly sound scientific inclusions that feature heavily and throughout, but something just doesn't keep me wholly invested, here and in his other work that I have so far read.

The synopsis intrigued me with the lines: "Ninety-four passengers are injured. Three dead. The interior cabin virtually destroyed." I was eager to uncover the mysteries surrounding the plane crash and explore the lives of those on-board it. Both of these were delivered.

Where I believe this novel failed for me was in the action and adventure that I anticipated would also be included. The pacing felt a little stodgy in areas, so absolutely was the focus on the scientific reasoning for the plane's crash, when I was more interested in being delivered pace-heightening pursuits and action-packed scenes.

I first read it when I was in 11th, I guess. I didn't understand a bit - thought it to be too dense. I promised myself that I would read it again, as and when I sit in an airplane so that I could slightly visualize what was happening.
Given the fact that I have now become more adept at reading denser stuff, and now that I have already seen the inside of a plane - the ride was less bumpy.
This book has always been an acquired taste. Efforts have to be made, but the rewards are satisfying.

IF IT'S A BOEING, I AIN'T GOING.

Not my favorite Michael Crichton but even subpar Crichton is a thrill ride. Interesting look at the politics and mechanics of aviation production.

2.5 not for lack of writing but, just not for me. The characters were great. A lot of research went into it. The conversation super. Just felt like I was going to get more from the story than I actually did. The beginning made it seem like it was going to be bigger than it ended up being.