Tracon by Paul McElroy essays

Tracon by Paul McElroy essays Paul McElroy's novel "Tracon" is a gripping tale about the airline industry and in particular the air traffic controllers. McElroy has created a fast paced, page turning story that can cause even the most seasoned airline passenger to feel wary of ever flying again. McElroy gives the reader an intricate detailed account about the inner workings of the air traffic controllers and how stressful and difficult their work really is. The story portrays a behind-the-scenes of one of the nation's busiest airports, Chicago's O'Hare Airport, with such realistic description and dialogue that McElroy's novel reads more like McElroy begins his story with a mid-air collision of two passenger jetliners, a Coastal 757 and an Atlantic 727. From the first page, the author crabs the reader's attention. "the first officer saw the Coastal Airlines 757 burst out of the clouds from the left. He yanked on the control yoke and jammed one rudder pedal to the floor in a desperate attempt to steer above and behind the other plane. The 727 was starting to respond when the outboard edge of its port wing grazed the top of the 757's starboard wing. Then the Jurassic jet shook violently from a sickening crunch of metal as the wing slashed through the vertical stabilizer on Coastal's tail, ripping half of it away" (McElroy 9). In just four sentences McElroy sets the stage for the unthinkable tragedy about to unfold. He then goes on to describe the horror the passengers faced as they realized the plane was out of control and on a crash course. The author then jumps from the tragedies taking place on the planes to a yacht sailing below whose owner and afternoon date witness the debris falling from the sky. McElroy then flashes to O'Hare Airport. ...