Free Fall: New Excerpt

Free Fall by Rick Mofina is the latest Kate Page thriller, featuring crises in the skies, pilots with no control, investigators with no answers, and a looming disaster.

Read this exclusive excerpt from Free Fall by Rick Mofina, and make sure you're signed in and comment below for a chance to win the latest Kate Page thriller!

High above the Adirondack Mountains, a commuter flight to New York City turns into a rolling, twisting nightmare, plunging from the sky before the crew regains control. Then, in London, a jetliner crashes into the runway, killing fifteen people. 

Reporter Kate Page believes something beyond mechanical—or human—error is behind the incidents that have air investigators baffled. But the mystery deepens as teams scramble to pinpoint a link between the tragedies, and Kate receives an untraceable message from someone boasting responsibility and threatening another event. 

As Kate, the FBI and the NTSB race to find answers, the shadow figures behind the operation launch their most devastating plan yet, and time ticks down on one of the greatest tragedies the world has ever known.

Chapter 20

London, England

The sprawl of metropolitan London flowed under Shikra Airlines Flight 418 as it approached Heathrow.

The six-hour flight from Kuwait City had been a smooth one for Captain Fahad Al-Anjari, the crew, and for their two hundred passengers aboard the Starglide Blue Wing 250.

Al-Anjari was one of Shikra’s top pilots with some twenty-five years’ experience with the Kuwaiti airline. His seniority afforded him the Kuwait City–to–London route, considered one of the airline’s plum assignments. Al-Anjari had flown it nearly a hundred times and had always enjoyed it.

He loved flying the Starglide Blue Wing 250. It was a modern plane, equipped with easy-to-use computers, and had an admirable safety record. It responded well in all conditions, and always gave a smooth ride.

He loved the views over London, starting with the Thames. Each time he saw it, he thought of Joseph Conrad’s passage in Heart of Darkness about the river evoking a large snake twisting deep into the country.

Flight 418 continued its descent and was minutes from landing. It was vectored for a visual approach to Heathrow’s Runway 27L, the airport’s southern runway. The autopilot and autothrottle were engaged. As the jetliner passed over the rows of homes crammed together in Hounslow, a suburb bordering the airport, it was ninety seconds from touchdown.

Al-Anjari had extended the landing gear.

The jet had now descended to one thousand feet and was fully configured for the landing. When the plane reached eight hundred feet Al-Anjari took manual control of the aircraft, instructing Khalid Marafi, the copilot, to disconnect the autopilot at seven hundred feet.

Marafi disengaged the autopilot.

At fifty seconds from landing, Al-Anjari, now in control, commanded more thrust from both engines. Both engines initially responded, but seemed disturbingly reduced to a trickle of power.

“What the hell’s this?” Al-Anjari couldn’t believe it. “What’s going on?”

At thirty-five seconds from touchdown, Al-Anjari and Marafi scrambled to identify the cause for the loss of thrust.

“I don’t know what’s happening!” Marafi said. “Our speed is dropping fast! We’re not going to reach the runway!” He scanned the instruments for the problem. The fuel level was okay, the pumps were okay, no fire indicators, no malfunctions. “We’ve got a double engine failure! The engines have been switched off!”

“Switched off? How? We didn’t do that! Try restarting!”

They commanded a restart without response. Nothing worked.

Al-Anjari’s throat tightened as he scanned the rooftops of Hounslow and noticed a petrol station ahead.

Not here! Oh God, please, not here!

Now at twelve seconds before touchdown, a buzzer sounded and a robotic voice warned, “Air speed low! Air speed low!” Then the stick shaker activated and the control column physically vibrated, indicating that the aircraft was about to stall.

“We’re going to crash!” Marafi shouted.

Al-Anjari reached for the cabin PA system and announced to the passengers, “Brace! Brace! Brace for hard landing!” Then he radioed the tower. “Four one eight, Mayday! Mayday!”

At five seconds before impact, the jet just cleared the houses of Hounslow and the petrol station, coming so low to traffic on the A30 motorway that ran along the airport’s south side that vehicles swerved to avoid the airliner’s landing gear.

In the moment before impact, Al-Anjari pulled back on the control column and thought of his wife and children, flying kites and picnicking amid the southern dunes, praying he would see them again.

The jet came down in the grassy undershoot of the runway about two hundred and fifty yards inside the airfield perimeter fence. The right wingtip hit the ground first, followed by the right main landing gear. The wing disintegrated and the landing gear broke away as the plane skidded, then lifted and rolled, cartwheeling to an inverted position.

As it tumbled down the right side of the runway, the plane broke up. The rear tail section separated, taking several rows with it. While most passengers were belted in their seats, others spilled from the plane to the ground as it bounced along.

The main fuselage, the large center section, remained intact. As it slid and rolled, passengers were rocked loose in the cabin, some catapulted through it and out of the gaping hole left by the separated tail section. The metallic grind was deafening as passengers in the cabin were jerked and shaken like toys. The section seemed to slide forever before coming to a stop upside down.

People still belted were hanging in their seats. Blood dripped everywhere, and severed legs, arms and hands were scattered about the cabin. In some areas, the fuselage had been crushed, trapping people in coffins of compacted metal, their bleeding hands reaching out. The air filled with screaming, moaning and the overpowering smell of jet fuel.

“I can’t find my husband!” One woman cried. “Help me find my husband!”

As people began disentangling themselves and helping others, a ball of fire shot down the cabin, blasting it with heat and a kerosene smell. In the choking smoke, people fought to help each other, struggling to the daylight and away from the wreckage amid the wail of approaching sirens.

The crash track was clawed into the earth. It was strewn with passengers, some unconscious, some dazed, in a trail that led to the severed tail section. The people in that section who were able to helped others free themselves, then stumbled aimlessly, staring at the foul cloud of black smoke rising from the main fuselage.

The cockpit had separated and had come to rest some seventy yards down the runway.

Amid the dust and swirling smoke, rescuers pulled bleeding crew members from the wreckage. Captain Al-Anjari passed in and out of consciousness as he glimpsed the scene: his plane in smoldering pieces, passengers staggering through the carnage.

Amid the cries of victims and sirens, he turned his head to the sky, as if the answer to the horror was written there.

 

Copyright © 2016 Rick Mofina.

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Free Fall Comment Sweepstakes: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  A purchase does not improve your chances of winning.  Sweepstakes open to legal residents of 50 United States, D.C., and Canada (excluding Quebec), who are 18 years or older as of the date of entry.  To enter, complete the “Post a Comment” entry at https://www.criminalelement.com/stories/2016/08/free-fall-new-excerpt-rick-mofina-comment-sweepstakes beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) August 8, 2016. Sweepstakes ends 9:59 a.m. ET August 22, 2016. Void outside the United States and Canada and where prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules here. Sponsor: Macmillan, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.

 

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Rick Mofina is a former crime reporter and the award-winning author of several acclaimed thrillers. He's interviewed murderers face-to-face on death row; patrolled with the LAPD and the RCMP. His true crime articles have appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Reader’s Digest and Penthouse. He's reported from the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, Qatar and Kuwait's border with Iraq. For more information please visit www.rickmofina.com

Comments

  1. Gordon Bingham

    Looks good…

  2. Tamara Limestahl

    Sounds like a great book! Would love to read it!

  3. Richard Derus

    This looks like a great series!

  4. pearl berger

    Great book, wonderful and talented author whose novels I have read, enjoyed and are enthralling.

  5. Cathie McElwee

    I would love to win a copy of “Free Fall”. It sounds like a real page turner.

  6. bill norris

    awesome, i wanna read more pleas.

  7. Deborah Dumm

    Sounds like a great book.

  8. ellie lewis

    Free Fall sounds thrilling and intriguing. What a great writer who knows how to write mysteries and thrillers.

  9. patricia gibby

    I can’t wait to read this book. I love Rick Mofina’s books and have read them all.

  10. Karl Stenger

    I would love to read the book.

  11. Michael Carter

    This title looks really good.
    Yes, please enter me in this sweepstakes.
    Thanks!

  12. Lori P

    Don’t suppose I’ll be reading this on my next flight. Would certainly be relatable, which would pile on the suspense!

  13. vicki wurgler

    new author to me-book sounds great

  14. Rena

    This book looks really good!

  15. kerrigans

    The excerpt is so good. I can’t wait to read Free Fall.

  16. Karen Mikusak

    Would love to win!

  17. Darlene Slocum

    Looks like an exciting read.

  18. Rhonda Stefani

    I’ve had this book on my Goodreads Want-to-read shelf for some time now, sounds terrific! I’d love to win a copy!

  19. John Smith

    Sounds great!

  20. Cheryl Koch

    I am a fan of this author and his books. I would love to win this book.

  21. Brad Bonds

    I liked reading the excerpt and I’d like to win the book to read.

  22. Deb Philippon

    I used to work in the airline industry, and books like this fascinate and make me cringe at the same time. Wish me luck!

  23. lasvegasnv

    interesting

  24. Anita Nowak

    I have read quite a number of Mr. Mofina’s books – and have loved every one of them. I know this one will be just as enjoyable!

  25. Susan Wasson

    I’m an Indie bookseller who read this in advance from NetGalley and I’ll tell you that this is the best of all the books Rick Mofina has written. And the idea of someone controlling planes from a computer on the ground is so frightening and probably so possible, that I could not turn the pages fast enough. I won’t win a copy but I just wanted to put in yet another great word for this author, who is simply so good and does not get nearly enough recognition. Enjoy the story. It’s great!

  26. Sandra Furlotte

    I have read Rick’s books and really enjoy them. Would love to win this one.

  27. Crystal Blackburn

    I would love to read this!

  28. Mary Ann Woods

    Love disasters so this one sounds like a winner!

  29. Janice

    The exerpt made me want to read more. Hope I win.

  30. John Clark

    That excerpt is one serious hook. I want to read the book.

  31. Desmond Warzel

    Count me in, please!

  32. Dan Carr

    Random Numberizer, pick me!

  33. Daniel Morrell

    sounds like a fun one

  34. L Peters

    can’t wait to read it. thanks for the excerpt.

  35. Jeana

    Free Fall sounds like a great read.

  36. SallyW

    This will be great read, but not before my flight.

  37. Cindy Hipolito

    Not flying again until next summer. So now is a good time to read a mystery about planes that have accidents. Count me in!

  38. guy mileni

    Excerpt sounds great..would love to read the book..

  39. Christal Mormann

    Looks like a great read

  40. Patricia Hill

    I love his books. I would love to win

  41. Jim Belcher

    I hope the author figured out how to get the NTSB to solve the issue in less than their usual 1 1/2 to 2 years.

  42. Clydia DeFreese

    Thanks for the sweeps. I love to read new authors.

  43. Alyson Widen

    Reading stories like this makes me afraid to go to the air and fly.

  44. Andrew Beck

    Sounds suspenseful and makes me curious, especially how writers manage to come up with such interesting and different plots all the time. Who knew there could be such a wide range of thriller plots.

  45. Susan Pertierra

    From the excerpt, it sounds like an exciting book. Not for anyone scared of flying, though!

  46. L

    Hard to imagine finding yourself in such a scenario. Need to find out what happens next!

  47. Sally Schmidt

    Riveting. Would love to read.

  48. Jeffrey Malis

    Great series… Thanks for the excerpt and the opportunity!

  49. Kim Johnston

    I would read it!

  50. Peter W. Horton Jr.

    Makes me only want to walk! Yes!

  51. LAURI COATES

    sounds great! Thanks for the opportunity to win. Already wrote it down on my to buy list!

  52. Jerry Marquardt

    I would love to thank you so much for featuring the Free Fall: New Excerpt Sweepstakes. Also, thanks for giving us all the chance to win.

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    Good deal, count me in!

  54. Lily

    Thanks for the great giveaway!

  55. Michelle Garrity

    Sounds like an interesting read!

  56. JULES M.

    sounds exciting!

  57. Barbara Bolam

    Now I am going to have to buy the book to read the rest of it!

  58. Sandy Klocinski

    Looks like a good read. Would love to win it! Thanks

  59. Jane Wright

    Sounds like a thrilling read!

  60. Susan Smoaks

    thanks for the chance to win

  61. JAMES LYNAM

    Another awesome read from Rick Mofina.

  62. Philip Lawrence

    Sounds interesting.

  63. Lori Walker

    Want!

  64. Stephanie Liske

    Pick me

  65. Barbara Lima

    The poor pilot. He sounds like he did as well as he could.

  66. alisonalm

    It sounds like a good read.

  67. Nedra Whittemore

    Ahh, a new series I’ve never read. This one sounds really interesting.

Comments are closed.