Falling: A Novel

A passenger named Dave confronts Jo and Big Daddy, insisting they should break into the cockpit. Jo patiently explains that changes made after September 11, 2001 make it nearly impossible to break into the cockpit. In addition, there is no reason to break into the cockpit because the actual hijacker is not in there.

Jo calls for volunteers to help her contain the canister when Bill tosses it. She chooses two young businessmen, a couple of women, and Dave. When she asks for one more volunteer, the large man Big Daddy pointed out earlier volunteers.

Theo and Liu wait in their vehicle while a team checks out Carrie’s car, which is parked in a nearly vacant mini-mall parking lot. When they learn the bomb squad is still a distance away, Liu decides to approach the vehicle herself. Liu is able to get close enough to establish that the vehicle is empty but won’t allow anyone to approach the car until the bomb squad arrives. Liu calls for evacuation of assets from Washington, DC.

The head of the air traffic controllers at John Fitzgerald Airport (JFK) in New York, George Patterson, watches Jo’s speech while reflecting on the preparation his airport and several other airports in the area are making in preparation for the possibility of a