Crash Course

Singapore airport. Take-off clearance at last. The Sarissa accelerates. 100 knots. 130...VI...150...VR...Rotate! This is the point of no return: the aircraft must take off because it cannot stop safely on the remaining length of runway. Except that Captain Penn recognizes a faulty elevator. At 250 feet a second there is not time to experiment - and a crash on the ground seems more survivable than an inevitable air disaster. Abort! The Sarissa airplane has captured the interest of every country because it is the sleekest, the most economical of fuel and the most ecologically sound aircraft in the running. But is it safe? Captain Penn blames the loss of two lives on the airplane. "A clear case of human error," responds Charles Drayton, President of Supranational Airline, whose plans cannot afford to be sabotaged at this crucial stage. Too much is at stake. Sources of information, friends, and copilots of Captain Penn's clam up as Penn, aided only by Mara - a journalist who starts out on