Holding Pattern

Small Cracks. Missed Signals. Then Everything Fell from the Sky. When two commercial jets collide midair collide midair over Nebraska, the nation reels—but the crash is only the beginning. As investigations spiral outward, veteran air traffic controller Rick Vale and independent Senator Marian Kessler uncover a trail of automation failures, suppressed warnings, and a regulatory system rotting from the inside out. As the skies grow more dangerous and the truth becomes harder to suppress, whistleblowers vanish, radar logs are erased, and America faces its first nationwide ground stop since 9/11. With lives hanging in the balance, Vale and Kessler risk everything to expose what those in power would rather hide. Gripping, timely, and unsettlingly plausible, Holding Pattern is a high-stakes political and technological thriller about a system trusted by millions—until it breaks.