title: Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds: The Tragedy & Triumph of ASA Flight 529
author:  Gary M. Pomerantz 
description: An American could fly on a turboprop run by a regional carrier once per day and not expect to die in a crash for 8,000 years, according to one estimate. That's small consolation to the 29 people who found themselves on ASA Flight 529 in 1995, when a faulty propeller cracked and destroyed one of their plane's engines. As Gary M. Pomerantz notes in <i>Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds</i>--the title refers to the length of time between the engine blowing and impact--"Of all the emergency checklists, there was none on how to fly with one wing." Pomerantz says his book is "not about a plane falling, but the human spirit rising." That's only part right. <i>Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds</i> has plenty of human-interest angles, but it mainly holds a morbid fascination akin to rubbernecking at the scene of a highway accident. Ever wonder what people do when they know they're about to crash and believe they might die? Herein lie the answers. (Unexpectedly, they don't scream.) Pomerantz conducted hundreds of interviews for this book, from the flight's 19 survivors to family members of the deceased to the mechanic who refurbished the bad propeller before it went back on the plane. It is by turns interesting, poignant, and harrowing. Readers drawn to stories of adversity will find it riveting. <i>--John Miller</i>
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  **Phases of Gravity**
  
  Dan Simmons
  
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  To Robert and Kathryn Simmons
  
  Part One
  
  Poona
  
  Pan Am Flight 001 left the moonlight behind it and dropped into clouds and
  darkness as it felt its way toward a landing in New Delhi. Staring out at the
  port wing, Baedecker felt the weight pulling at him and mixing with the
  tension of an old pilot being forced to suffer a landing as a passenger. The
  wheels touched tarmac in an almost perfect touchdown and Baedecker glanced at
  his watch. It was 3:47 A.M. local time. Tiny motes of pain danced behind his
  eyes as he looked out past the flashing wingtip light at the dark silhouettes
  of water towers and service buildings moving past. The massive 747 swung
  sharply to the right and rolled to the end of its taxi run. The sound of
  engines swelled one final time and then dropped into silence,