Audiobook Length: 8 hours and 2 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Nonfiction, Aviation

Publisher: Yamhill Canyon Press

Published Date: 2018

Goodreads’ Synopsis: On a cold winter night, a passenger jet with 189 aboard crash landed, out of fuel, in a suburban neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. Ten people died. The pilot was blamed and stripped of his career, and a sweeping transformation of flight-crew training took place that made United Flight 173 (in)famous worldwide as the model for failure and change. That was only the half of it.

Hiding in plain sight for years in an attorney’s file boxes, the forgotten truths of the landmark air disaster reveal much more: an emotional journey tethered to the disgraced pilot and a three-year-old girl who survived the crash and became an unlikely hero for justice and public safety in the dramatic legal battle that followed.

Crash Course, by award-winning journalist Julie Whipple, is the long-overdue, true story of a misunderstood airline tragedy that changed more about our daily lives than most people know. Here is why we’re safer today, how we’re not, and what we can do about it.

Read Start Date:  March 16, 2024

Read Finish Date: March 23, 2024

My Review: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I had never heard of this 1978 crash in Portland, Oregon. Luckily, most of the passengers survived, but many suffered lifelong effects such as PTSD. The book discusses what happened and dives into the legal battles that followed. Whipple, the daughter of the lawyer who handled one such lawsuit, focuses mainly on her father’s case, which involved the personal injury lawsuit of a small child injured in the crash. She lost her entire family (parents and two sisters) and was suffering from not only physical injuries but emotional and mental as well.

I thought the book was well-researched and well-written. Although it describes a horrific event, the author doesn’t spend too much time on gory details, which is nice. Even though it was a nonfiction book, I was utterly invested in the outcome of little Lisa’s trial. She suffered so much, and I wanted a good outcome for her. I rejoiced when the jury gave her compensation and was morally outraged by the airline’s callous, reckless behavior.

Overall, this book seems like a good pick for readers who enjoy a mix of true crime, legal drama, and human interest stories, all presented in a well-written and informative way.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.