Summary

这是跟Hotel同一时期读的了...献给我曾经的梦想
All due to the heavy storm, Lincoln International Airport was in trouble. Runway three zero was blocked by an Aereo-Mexican jet. The airport only had 5 runways, now only two of them were in use, which made more than one hundred planes delayed.
A truck carrying dinners to the airport was lost in the snow, and the driver’s life might be in danger. Ploughs were sent out to find it.
The use of the runway nearest to Meadowood caused big noises. And complaints from residents there poured in.
Mel Bakersfeld was the general manager of the airport. Tanya Livingston worked for Trans America, and was a special friend of Mel’s.
Mel was busy solving the problems of the airport. Meanwhile, his marriage and family was also in danger. His wife, Cindy, now had a lover who could give her and the girls a better future wanted a divorce. Unlike his younger daughter Libby, his older daughter Roberta also seemed not to like him. Mel agreed to divorce after a talk with his wife.
Vernon Demerest was one of Trans America’s most experienced pilots. He was also married to Mel’s sister Sarah. Mel and Vernon were not friendly with each other because of their different views about whether to sell flight insurance at the airport. He was the one who was qualified to flow fight two—Golden Argosy. And tonight he was going to check Captain Harris work on flight two. He was flying tighter with his lover Gwen Meighen. She was an air hostesses. Gwen told Vernon that she was pregnant before they set for the airport and Vernon decided to persuade her to abort.
When nothing could work with the stuck plane on runway three zero, Joe Patroni was sent for. Joe was the best mechanic TWA had. Although he was badly needed, it took him much longer to drive to the airport than usual because of a traffic accident and the bad weather. As soon as he arrived, he began to work to get the plane out of the runway.
Keith Bakersfeld worked in the Air Traffic Control radar room. He was Mel’s brother. Mel was worried about him. Keeping thinking about the accident happened last year in which the Redferns died, Keith blamed himself for their death and had been unhappy since then. He planned to commit suicide after he finished tonight’s work..
The old lady Mrs Ada Quonsett was a stowaway. She was poor and managed to take flights without tickets several time. She was full of tricks. It was proved when she managed to get on board the flight two without being suspected.
D.O. Guerrero was a ruined man. He had no money to pay his debts and he was so desperate that he decided to blow up flight two with the deadly bomb he made. He decided to buy the most expensive insurance policy so that his wife and children could survive without him.
The residents of Meadowood were fooled by the lawyer Elliot Freemantle. Freemantle didn’t intend to help them sincerely, what he wanted all is money. When they arrived at the airport to ask for solutions, Mel told them the truth and the emergency was solved finally.
Guerrero’s plan was discovered by Mel and his fellows after flight two took off. They informed the crews. The captain thought of a way to get the case with the bomb but finally failed. The bomb exploded. Guerrero was killed at once, Gwen was badly hurt. Doctors on board tried to save her life and Vernon decided if she could survive he would accept the baby.
Captain Harris managed to control the plane back to Lincoln International Airport and landed on the only longest runway zero three minutes after it was finally cleared.
Keith gave the correct orders which helped the planes land safe and sound. And after that night, he decided not to commit suicide but go back home and resign.
It seemed that all the emergency was gone. The storm had stopped. Although Mel was still unsure about his future with Tanya, tomorrow is another day.

All the stories happened during the stormy night. The weather caused and indicated the unusual matters. When the weather finally turned better, we know that everything is going to be in order and get better and better.
Keith would live a happier a life with his family again, when he was no longer troubled by the death caused by their fault.
Vernon would face the relationship between Gwen more bravely. He would have two women and a baby to look after.
Mel, clear that Lincoln International was out of date, would finally get a new start for sure.
In this book, we can see greedy ones who only cared about money, like Elliot. We also see those who suffer a lot because their conscience, taking Keith for example. We can find persons who are responsible, smart and clear of what should be done, Mel, for example. We also might be moved by the trust and cooperation between Joe and his colleges who worked together to get the stuck jet to move.
Also, when Mel devoted himself to the management of the airport, his wife couldn’t understand him. Even Mel’s older daughter was indifferent toward her father shook me as well. All this leads me to think about the conflict between one’s career and family.
From the book, we know better about the complex operations involved in operating a major commercial airport, and a complicated society.