Chapter 8 Cindy Gets Angry

Less than five years earlier the airport had been among the most

modern in the world. Many people thought that it still was. They

were wrong. Few people realized how old-fashioned Lincoln

International had become.

Passengers usually saw nothing but the main terminal, with its

bars, restaurants and shops. They did not notice that there were

not enough runways. This meant that there was a take-ofF or a

landing every thirty seconds on the two main runways, and when

the airport was very busy the Meadowood situation made it

necessary to use a runway which cut across one of the other two.

The result was that planes were landing and taking off on flight

paths which crossed one another.

The people who worked in Air Traffic Control knew exactly

how dangerous this was. Only a week before Keith had said to

Mel: 'There hasn't been a crash here yet, but one day there will

be. I only hope that I'm not on duty when it happens.'

Now, as Mel rode in the snowplough, he watched the rapidly

moving lights of a plane as it took off. Then, almost unbelievably

close to the first plane, he saw more lights as a second plane

landed.

'They were close,' the driver said. Frighteningly close, Mel

thought.

Mel had often spoken about the need for more runways to the

Airport Committee and to the City Council - the people who

controlled the airport's spending. They refused to believe that a

new airport had become too small so quickly.

Perhaps Keith was right, and there would have to be a big

crash before they would be able to see the situation as it really

was.

A decision had to be made soon, Mel knew. The airport must

either look to the future or fall back into the past. The same was

true of Mel himself. Only a short time ago he had been spoken

of as a young man who would get to the top in aviation. Now

many people doubted whether he could.

At the end of the runway he left the snowplough and drove

back to the terminal in his own car. He was thinking about what

had happened to him only a few years before.

He had been president of the Airport Operators' Council

then, and the youngest man ever to reach that position. One day

he had made a speech to the Council about the future of air

transport. He had spoken of the need for good and imaginative

planning in airports all over the world, and his speech had been

well received in many different countries.

Next day, he was invited to the White House to meet

President Kennedy. He found that he could talk easily to the

President, and that they agreed about many things. On more and

more occasions the President began to ask Mel's advice about

aviation. Great success seemed to be close for him.

Then President Kennedy was killed. His early death was a

terrible shock to the whole nation, but Mel felt that he had lost a

friend. Later he realized that the new President did not intend to

ask him for advice. He was no longer the promising young man

of aviation.

When he reached the terminal he spoke to Danny Farrow.

'Any news about the Aéreo-Mexican plane?'

'No, I'm afraid not.'

'Where's Joe Patroni?'

'Still on the road.'

'Let me know when he gets here,' Mel said.

'You'll be at a party, won't you?'

Mel stopped and thought. He had told Cindy that he would

go to the party, but now he felt that he should stay at the airport.

'No,' he said. 'I'm not going to the party.'

'Then I think you ought to ring your wife.' Danny told him.

'I'll give you her number now.'

Mel rang her immediately. There was a moment's silence while

he waited for her to come to the phone. Then he heard her voice

say sharply: 'Mel, why aren't you here?'

'I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave. There've been some problems

here. It's a big storm, and—'

'I don't want to listen to excuses! Just get here fast!'

Her voice was hard with anger. Mel tried to remember her as

she had been before their marriage 15 years ago. Her voice had

been soft and gentle then. She had been an actress, although not a

very successful one. Later she liked to claim that she would have

been a great success if she had not married Mel.

'I'll be at the party as soon as I can,' he told her.

'That isn't good enough. You should be here now.

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