Falling: A Novel

Carrie Hoffman, Bill’s wife, is busy with her morning chores when her 10-year-old son, Scott, requests permission to go outside. Scott opens the door to find a man standing on the porch. Scott calls to his mother, who learns this man is Sam, a repairman from the cable company. Carrie invites Sam inside and makes him a cup of tea as she explains that the internet had been down for two days. Bill comes into the kitchen and asks Sam to leave them for a moment. Carrie is angry with Bill for accepting a flight even though he had taken this day off to attend Scott’s first game of the new little league season. Bill promises to FaceTime later and leaves without speaking to Scott because he is running late. When Bill is gone, Sam pulls a gun on Carrie.

Bill arrives at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and goes through security, appreciating the less rigorous check he endures compared to passengers. On the way to his gate, Bill tries to reach Carrie and is disappointed when she doesn’t answer the phone. He reflects on a night when he and Carrie were playing a game with friends and Carrie embarrassed herself in an adorable way. Bill feels guilty for leaving home without making amends with his wife.

As Bill approaches the plane, he remembers learning in flight school why passengers and crew on a plane are listed on the manifest as souls rather than people. His instructor said it was to reduce confusion and to give an exact body count in case of a crash.

Bill walks around the plane, checking for any potential problems before boarding. As he boards, he checks his phone and is disappointed to see Carrie hasn’t called or texted. On the plane, Bill is happy to find that Jo Watkins, a veteran flight attendant and personal friend, is on board. When Jo questions why Bill is on this flight, he explains how the airline’s chief pilot, Walt O’Malley, asked him personally, and that it caused trouble between him and Carrie. Jo encourages Bill to speak to his wife about the situation.

Bill goes into the cockpit where his copilot, Ben Miro is going through his preflight checklist. Jo brings a young boy and his father to the cockpit to meet the pilots. Bill gives the boy a set of wings as a souvenir. Bill signs off on the load sheet and gives it to Jo so she can pass it on to the gate agent. Not long after, they take off. Just minutes into the flight, Bill receives an email alert from Carrie’s account. When he opens it, there is a picture of his family. Carrie and Scott have hoods over their heads, and Carrie has what appears to be an explosive vest strapped to her chest. Another email comes instructing Bill to put in his earphones. Seconds later, Bill is notified of a FaceTime call coming in.

When Bill answers the FaceTime, he is greeted politely by a strange man who is also wearing an explosive vest. The man instructs Bill to take a protective screen from his bag and place it on the computer and to communicate via email rather than speak aloud. Bill insists on seeing his family. When he sees them, Carrie and Scott no longer have hoods on, but they are gagged and restrained. Carrie is holding their 10-month-old baby girl, Elise, who is crying. The man tells Bill that he wants Bill to crash the plane, or he will kill his family. The man also instructs Bill not to attempt to tell anyone what is going on.

The kidnapper introduces himself as Saman ‘Sam’ Khani. Bill writes an email to Sam telling him that Ben would likely not allow him to crash the plane. Sam explains that is why he also slipped a powder into Bill’s bag, a poison with which Bill will kill Ben. Sam also tells Bill that there is a canister of poison gas in his bag that is for incapacitating the passengers at the right time. Bill insists on knowing what Sam wants him to crash the plane into, but Sam will only tell him they are going to crash in Washington, DC. Bill asks what will happen if he refuses to follow Sam’s directions. Sam tells him that there is a backup on the plane. Bill asks what Sam wants, and Sam claims all he wants is to see what happens when a good man is placed in a no-win situation. Finally, Bill asks how Sam knew he would be working this flight. Bill learns that Sam blackmailed O’Malley based on some child pornography O’Malley had on his computer.

As Sam pushes Bill to choose between the plane and his family, Bill flashes to a memory of him and Carrie. They were still dating, and Carrie questioned Bill over his belief in love at first sight. Bill admitted to Carrie that he fell in love with her at first sight. Bill sends another email to Sam saying he won’t allow Sam to kill his family, but he won’t crash the plane either. Then Bill tells Ben they could now take their breaks, but he wants to go first. Bill leaves the cockpit considering the risk of telling Jo what is happening.

Bill tells Jo about Sam and his family, instructing her to prepare the passengers for the possibility that he will have to toss the gas canister. However, he repeatedly assures her he would never crash the plane. Jo has a nephew, Theo Baldwin, who works for the FBI. Jo texts him, and Theo happens to be in the office on that Saturday in an attempt to gain favor after being placed on probation for a failed drug raid. When Theo receives his aunt’s texts, he goes at once to his supervisor, Assistant Director Michelle Liu. Liu is hesitant to act on the text messages but decides it would be riskier not to respond.

While Bill uses the bathroom, Jo looks through the passenger manifest searching for anything that might clue them in to who Sam’s accomplice could be. Unfortunately, nothing sticks out. Jo and Bill decide they cannot tell Ben or the passengers because they don’t know who might be working with Sam. Bill tells Jo that she is the captain of the cabin, and she must protect her passengers.

Bill returns to the cockpit. As Ben is distracted, Bill sets up the radio’s backup frequency and turns it down so Ben cannot hear it on his headset. Bill turns his attention back to Sam. Sam has emailed a statement and instructs Bill to record the statement so that it can be released after the plane crashes. Bill initially refuses, but Sam throws a hot cup of tea on Carrie and ends the FaceTime call. Bill records himself reading the statement that reveals Sam’s motive is connected to the deaths of “thousands of innocent Kurdish men, women, and children” (60).

While Ben is taking his break, Jo delays the brewing of coffee to give Bill more time alone in the cockpit. At the same time, Jo learns from Theo that the FBI are on the way to Bill’s home. Ben expresses interest in Kellie, a young, new flight attendant. Jo offers to introduce them, aiming to further delay Ben, but Ben returns to the cockpit instead. Bill manages to send the video to Sam seconds before Ben comes in. Once both pilots are back in the cockpit, Jo debates the wisdom of telling her fellow flight attendants about the situation.

Carrie is surprised that rather than throw boiling hot tea on her, Sam threw his other cup of cold tea on her. Carrie is also relieved to learn that Bill recorded the statement and sent it to Sam. After checking the video, Sam cleans up the spilled tea and helps Scott blow his nose. Then he comments on the note Carrie placed on the family calendar about the repair of the internet, telling her that he placed a jammer on the side of her house and answered the phone when she called the company to get it repaired, ensuring that the cable company knows nothing about the call.

After Sam removes her gag, Carrie asks Sam how many children he has. Sam tells her he doesn’t have children, but that he helped his mother raise his five siblings after his father died just after his 18th birthday. Sam took care of his mother and siblings for 17 years before finally following his dream to come to the United States. When Carrie asks what happened to his family, they are disrupted by the sound of a vehicle outside. Sam has Carrie look out the window, and she sees that it is a UPS truck.

The other two flight attendants, Kellie and Michael ‘Big Daddy’ Rodenburg, join Jo in the front galley. Jo quickly explains what is happening. Jo says they need a plan to protect the passengers from the gas canister. They decide that no matter what the gas is, they shouldn’t breathe it. To keep the passengers from breathing the gas, they decide to drop the oxygen masks with a manual tool. Big Daddy suggests they tell the passengers they are dropping the masks because there is a problem with the Oxygen Release System in the cockpit, and they are required to drop them in case they are needed during the flight. Jo also reminds them that Bill is speaking to the kidnapper over his computer in the cockpit, so they cannot make an announcement over the public announcement system (PA): the kidnapper might hear it. For this reason, they have to go row by row explaining what they are doing as they drop the masks.

Liu explains the situation to the FBI Hostage Rescue team as they travel to the Hoffman home. She tells them that they are not to act, but to set up a perimeter around the house so that they can establish what is going on inside. When they arrive, Liu sends two groups of agents into the Hoffman backyard and side yard. As they take up their positions, a civilian is observed knocking on neighbor’s doors. He appears to be a politician visiting potential voters. As the politician approaches the Hoffman home, Liu orders one of the SWAT members to remove his tactical gear and redirect the politician. However, fearing the member is taking too long, Theo takes off just his vest and jumps out of the vehicle.