But Mr. Reed, the hydraulic system that failed. The maintenance inspection that should have caught the pre-failure indicators, it was logged as completed 3 weeks ago. The physical evidence says that inspection did not happen. Marcus pulled off the highway.
He didn't plan to. His hands just did it. Turning the wheel onto the shoulder, stopping the truck because he needed to not be moving while he processed what he was hearing. That's one of the shortcuts, he said in memo 31, the hydraulic inspection cycle reduction. I flagged it specifically.
We know Marsh said Whitfield sent us your documentation this afternoon, which is why I'm calling you now tonight from Washington. Another pause, Mr. Read, "The chief of naval operations is personally involved in this situation because two of the 14 injured passengers were active duty Navy personnel traveling on official orders. That makes this in a narrow but significant sense a military matter as well as a civilian one. And it means we have a certain latitude to move faster than the civilian process typically allows." "What kind of latitude?" Marcus asked carefully.
The kind that lets us pick up the phone and call a former combat aviator with a documented safety record. And 43 filed complaints and say, "We need you visible. We need you on record publicly in a way that protects the investigation and protects other people who might come forward." Marcus stared through the windshield at the darkening Georgia sky. "You're talking about going public," he said. I'm talking about a press statement coordinated with the FAA and the NTSB.
Your name, your record, your documentation. We want the people inside Callaway Regional who know things and haven't spoken yet to see that someone already has. Sometimes all it takes is one person standing in the open before others feel safe enough to walk out of the shadows. Silence. Marcus thought about flight 1,00 147 112 people 31,000 ft a hydraulic system that someone had decided wasn't worth on schedules because it cost time and time cost money and money was what Callaway Regional was actually in the business of protecting.
He thought about memo 31, the specific, technical, precisely documented warning he had filed two years ago that had been acknowledged and ignored. He thought about 40 people in a briefing room watching a man in a $3,000 suit point at him like garbage. He thought about Zoe saying in her pajamas at midnight. They shouldn't have done that when Marcus said Friday. Marsh said 48 hours.
Marcus closed his eyes for exactly three seconds. I need to call my attorney, he said. Of of course, Miss Voss was already contacted 30 minutes ago. She's expecting your call. Of course, she was.
Marcus almost laughed at that. The machinery of it, how fast it had all moved once the flight incident happened. 43 Momos sitting ignored for 2 years and then one emergency landing and suddenly Washington was calling him directly. He didn't laugh. It wasn't funny.
I'll call her now, he said. Mr. Reed. Marsha's voice shifted slightly. Not softer exactly, but more human.
I looked at your service record before I called. 12 Years, two tours. Distinguished. Not a single incident report. A pause.