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"Autopilot is fine"

"I see" Marder looked around the rooht? Seventy-two hours into this investigation and we have no daht 545? Is that what you&039;re telling me?"

There was silence around the table

"Christ," Marder said, disgusted He pounded the table "Don&039;t you people understand? I want this fucking thing solved?&039;

SEPULVEDA BLVD

10:10 AM

Fred Barker was solving all her problems

To start, Jennifer needed a walk-to-work shot for Marty&039;s voice-over intro ("We talked to Frederick Barker, a former FAA official, now a controversial crusader for aircraft safety") Barker suggested a location on Sepulveda, with a sweeping view of the south runways of Los Angeles International Airport It was perfect, and he was careful to mention that no other film crew had used it before

Next she needed an at-work shot, again for voice-over ("Since leaving the FAA, Barker has worked tirelessly to bring defective aircraft designs to the public&039;s attention - particularly the design of the Norton N-22") Barker suggested a corner of his office, where he placed himself in front of a bookshelf of thick FAA docu pah for camera

Next she needed his basic spiel, in the kind of detail that Reardon wouldn&039;t have ti the interview Barker was ready for this, too He knehere the switches were for the air-conditioning, the refrigerator, the telephones, and all the other noise sources they&039;d need to turn off for fil Barker also had a video ht 545 while he corade Trinitron, placed in a dark corner of the roo so they could take the feed directly, to sync his audio coe quality was excellent He even had a largeand tail that he could use to deht The model sat on a stand on his desk, so it didn&039;t look like a prop And Barker was dressed for the part: inforineer, an authoritative look

Barker was good on caon; his ansere short He seeether, so he didn&039;t lock her into anything For example, he didn&039;t reach for the ave his answer, then said, "At this point, I&039;d like to refer to the reed, he repeated the previous answer, picking up thehe did was s or aardness

Of course Barker was experienced, not only on television but in the courtroo ee On the contrary, his tone, his ret It was unfortunate that this situation arose It was unfortunate that steps hadn&039;t been taken to correct the problem It was unfortunate that authorities hadn&039;t listened to hiht previous problems with slats on the airplane," he said He held the lea out a sliding panel fro He took his hand away, and said, "You get that in close-up?"

"I was late," the caain?&039;

"Sure Are you starting wide?"

&039;Two Ts," the caain "There have been eight previous probleain he held the model up, this time already correctly turned so it didn&039;t reflect in the light "These are the slats," he said, and pulled out the panel in front of the wing Then he paused again

"Got it that time," the cameraman said

Barker continued "The slats are only deployed for takeoff and landing During flight, they are tucked back in the wing But on the Norton N-22, the slats have been known to extend by then error" Another pause "I&039; to deh to see the whole plane"

"Widening," the cameraman said

Barker waited patiently for a n error is that when the slats extend, the airplane noses upward, like this, threatening to stall" He tilted the htly "At this point, it is almost impossible to control If the pilot tries to restore the plane to level flight, the plane overcoain, the pilot corrects, to come out of the dive The plane cliain That is what happened to Flight 545 That is why people died"

Barker paused

"Noe&039;re through with theto put it down"

"Okay," Jennifer said She had been watching Barker on the ht nave difficulty cutting fro the model down What she really needed was a repetition of -

Barker said, "The plane dives Then cliht 545 That is why people died" With a regretful look, he put the esture seeest a crash

Jennifer had no illusions about what she atching This wasn&039;t an interview; it was a performance But a skilled approach was not rare these days More and les and editing sequences She had seen executives show up in full makeup for an interview At first, television people had been alarmed by this new sophistication But lately, they&039;d becoh ti from one location to the next A prepared subject made their work so much easier

But just because Barker was set aithout a little probing The final part of her job today was to cover the basic questions, in case Marty ran out of tiot to ask them

She said, "Mr Barker?"

"Yes?" He turned toward her

"Check the look," she said to the cameraman

"His look is wide Move a little closer to caht beside the lens Barker turned slightly to face her, at her new position

"His look is fine, now"

"Mr Barker," Jennifer said, "you are a former FAA employee"

"I used to work for the FAA," Barker said, "but I left the agency because I disagreed with their hands-off attitude toward manufacturers The Norton plane is a result of those lax policies"

Barker was again de his skill: his ansas a coet his comments on camera if they were not responses to a question

Jennifer said, "There is so your departure"

"I aations about why I left the FAA," Barker said, againa statement "But the fact is ency I criticized the way they worked, and when they refused to respond, I left So I&039; to discredit me"

She said, "The FAA claims you leaked materials to the press They say they fired you for that"

"There&039;s never been any proof of the allegations the FAA has made about me I have never seen any FAA official produce one shred of evidence to back their criticis, the attorney?&039;

"I have served as an expert aviation witness on a nual cases I think it&039;s ie speak out"

"You are paid by Bradley King?&039;

"Any expert witness is reimbursed for time and expenses That&039;s standard procedure"

"Isn&039;t it true that you&039;re a full-ti in this roo?&039;

"I am funded by the non-profit Institute for Aviation Research in Washington My job is to promote safety in civil aviation I do whatever I can to make the skies safe for travelers"

"Mr Barker, come on: Aren&039;t you an expert for hire?&039;

"I certainly have strong opinions about air safety It&039;s only natural that I would be hired by employers who share my concerns"

"What is your opinion of the FAA?&039;

"The FAA is well intentioned, but it has a dual ency needs complete reforive me an example?&039; It was a feed; she knew froain, Barker ood example of this cozy relationship is the way the FAA treats certification The documents required to certify a new airplane are not maintained by the FAA, but by the manufacturers the the chicken coop"

"Is the FAA doing a good job?"

"I&039; a very poor job American lives are needlessly put at risk Frankly it&039;s tiers will continue to die, as they did on this Norton aircraft" He gestured - slowly, so the camera could follow - to the model on his desk "In my opinion," he said, "what happened on that airplaneis a disgrace"

The interview ended While her creas packing up, Barker caers is next"

"He&039;s a good man"

"And someone from Norton" She consulted her notes "A John Marder"

"Ah"

"What does that ive you a lot of double-talk about Airworthiness Directives A lot of FAA jargon But the fact is that he was the prograer on the N-22 He supervised the development of that aircraft He knows there&039;s a problem - he&039;s part of it"

OUTSIDE NORTON

After the practiced sers, was a bit of a shock He showed up wearing a lie County, and his check-patterned tie juolf pro, spruced up for a job interview

Jennifer said nothing at first; she just thanked the reporter for co, and positioned him in front of the chain-link fence, with Norton Aircraft in the background She went over her questions with hier to please

"Gee, it&039;s hot," she said She turned to the cae?"

"Aluy unbuttoned Rogers&039;s shirt, threaded the ers began to sweat Jennifer called for the irl to wipe hi the heat, she convinced Rogers to re it over his shoulder She said it would give hiested he loosen his tie, which he did

She went back to the cameraman "How is it?"

"Better without the jacket But that tie is a night so well," she said "Hoould it be if you take off the tie, and roll up your sleeves?"

"Oh, I never do that," Rogers said "I never roll upbut casual look You know, rolled-up shirtsleeves, ready to fight Hard-hitting journalist That idea"

"I never roll up my sleeves"

She frowned "Never?"

"No I never do"

"Well, it&039;s just a look we&039;re talking about here You&039;d coer on camera More eht: What is this? Most people would do anything to get on Newsline They&039;d do the interview in their underwear, if she asked the print journalist, what did he rand a year? Less than Jennifer&039;s ers said, "because, uh, I have psoriasis"

"No proble over his shoulder, his tie reers answered her questions He ra thirty, forty seconds at a ti for a shorter answer, he just started to sweat, and gave a longer answer

They had to keep breaking for ain that he was doing great, just great That he was giving her really good stuff

And he was, but he couldn&039;t punch it He didn&039;t see an assee shot would be less than three seconds, and they would cut to hiers was earnest, trying to be helpful, but he was burying her in detail she couldn&039;t use, and background she didn&039;t care about

Finally she began to worry that she couldn&039;t use any of the interview, that she asting her tiuy So she followed her usual procedure in a situation like this

"That&039;s all perfect," she said "Noe&039;re co punchy" - she made a fist - "to close So I&039;ll ask you a series of questions, and you answer theers, could the N-22 cost Norton the China sale?"

"Given the frequency of incidents involving - "

"I&039;m sorry," she said "I just need a simple sentence Could the N-22 cost Norton the China sale?"

"Yes, it certainly could"

"I&039;ain "Jack, I need a sentence like, &039;The N-22 ht very well cost Norton the China sale&039;"

"Oh Okay" He sed

"Could the N-22 cost Norton the China sale?"

"Yes, I&039;ht cost the China sale"

Jesus, she thought

"Jack, I need you to say &039;Norton&039; in the sentence Otheron&039;t knohat you&039;re referring to"

"Oh"

"Go ahead"

"The N-22 ht very well cost Norton the China sale, in hed It was dry No e about his phone bill But she was running out of tio on Tell me: Is Norton a troubled co