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After one tour of duty in Naval Air,
he returned to the civilian world in
hopes of landing a position as a pilot
with one of the major airlines.
Unfortunately, the economy was in a
recession and nobody was hiring. Steve
decided to switch gears and pursue a
career in another field that
interested him – construction
management. Here he found success and
went to work for a major commercial
construction company in Houston. One
day while standing in the middle of a
job site, Steve looked up to watch a
commercial airliner fly over. The pull
was strong and instantaneous – he knew
that he had to return to the sky.
Twenty-one years later, Steve A.
Reeves has logged over 12,500 hours in
civilian, military, and commercial
aircraft. He is a retired captain for
a major airline and resides in Texas
with his wife, Stacy, and their two
daughters, Keegan and Kayleigh. Steve A. Reeves is the author of Squawk
7500 Terrorist Hijacks Pacifica Flight 762.
According to the book description of Squawk 7500 Terrorist Hijacks
Pacifica Flight 762, “This fiction thriller is based on the real life experiences of a commercial pilot
and gives you an exciting insider view of what it takes to fly a jet while managing crew, passengers—and a terrorist!
Captain Mike Rendell started out his workday like all the workdays before – just another normal day of flying. After
spending a raucous night partying with his crew, he and his first officer were looking forward to a nice relaxing flight to
the West Coast.
However it didn’t take long for events
to unfold that would thrust Captain
Rendell and his crew into one of the
most terror-filled days of their
commercial airline careers”
It all started Saturday 0645 Central Standard Time! “Flaps 1, climb power”,
Mike repeated as he responded to the command of Gary Ellis, his new-hire First Officer. Mike positioned the flap lever from
the “5" spot to the “1" spot and retarded the thrust levers to approximately eighty-eight percent of
full power. This was the standard “after take-off” configuration and gave the aircraft its’ best rate of
climb in relation to burning the least amount of fuel. Pacifica Airlines Flight 762 had just departed from Chicago’s
Midway Airport. On board the Boeing 737 were 137 passengers, three flight attendants, and two pilots.
However, it didn’t take long
for events to unfold that would thrust Captain Rendell and his crew into one of the most terror-filled days of their commercial
airline careers. The lives of his flight attendants and his passengers hung in the balance as Mike battled the elements, a
deranged passenger, and aircraft malfunctions as he attempted to bring his fully loaded jumbo jet in for a safe landing.
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BookReview.com said of Squawk 7500 Terrorist Hijacks Pacifica Flight
762, “This quick book is a white-knuckle read about a fictional hijacking as seen through the eyes of
a real-life commercial pilot. It begins with nice foreshadowing as the plane's captain remembers the words of a fortune teller
from years earlier who said that "...sometimes the juxtaposition of the planets are but a thin veil concealing unexpected
troubles." The question is, do we want to know what the pilot and crew would do if faced with an unexpected emergency?
And, do we want potential terrorists to learn this also? The answer to both is a resounding "yes."
We learn that since 9/11 there are special procedures in the air and upon landing
at an airport when a hijacking takes place. The title "Squawk 750" is itself a code to air controllers that something
is seriously wrong and emergency procedures should begin. We also find out about the Traffic Collision Avoidance System that
blares through the headsets and over cockpit speakers if there are obstacles ahead of the plane the pilots might not be aware
of. And, it's now standard operating procedures for a hijacked plane to be escorted by fighter jets.
There's
an isolation between the locked cockpit and the passenger sections that creates a heightened drama; and the author, Steve
A. Reeves, does a nice job of quickly communicating the personalities of the crew by recounting their behavior at an interesting
bar the night before. That provides great contrast to the perilous situation they find themselves in the next day. The bios
tacked on to the end of the book of what happens to these people after incident gives the story added weight, especially the
surprising fate of the man who caused all the trouble
Good action, credible dialogue, nice
detail. I can't imagine a book like this being written by anyone with less than this author's experience. We want to be entertained,
but readers also are people who fly and have real and unreal fears about it. We need to know the truth even if it is fictionalized.
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