DOWN AROUND MIDNIGHT: A Memoir of Crash and Survival
Robert Sabbag
Viking Adult
Memoir
ISBN: 9780670021024
Robert Sabbag experienced his first real taste of fame as a writer in the '70s with his debut book, SNOWBLIND: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade. Not long after reaching celebrity status, the unthinkable happened. One foggy, black night while relaxing aboard Air New England's Flight 248 en route to Cape Cod, his plane went down without warning. On approach to Barnstable Municipal Airport on June 17, 1979, the 19-passenger twin-engine turboprop crashed at a speed of 123 knots through a thick forest of oak and pine, with enough brute force to clear a path for 300 feet. There were 10 people aboard.
The plane was torn asunder, and the entire crash zone along with all its inhabitants drenched in jet fuel. People were scattered everywhere. Sabbag's seatbelt was the only thing around him that held up; the momentum of the impact was enough to rip his seat right off the fuselage and throw him forward, still buckled. George Parmenter, the senior pilot, was killed instantly on impact. The copilot sustained mortal injuries. Miraculously, all of the passengers survived, but not without serious injuries and long-term psychological effects. At 32 years of age, Sabbag was the oldest person alive on the plane.
Sabbag himself did not escape the crash without injury. The physical forces at work instantly snapped his back and pelvis, fractured one arm, displaced one of the vertebrae in his neck, and crushed the cartilage of his nose. He suffered from internal bleeding and shock. There were three young girls aboard the flight, sisters traveling without their parents, two of whom were seriously injured. Another passenger not wearing a seat belt was thrown off the plane. It was up to Sabbag and a couple of others who were less hurt than he was to help the injured. With his own life hanging in the balance due to forces out of his control, amid screaming passengers and some who were unconscious or incapable of even moving, Sabbag and others found themselves in a position to have to fight to survive the most catastrophic day of their lives:
"Of the seven people alive in the passenger cabin --- one of whom was the little girl --- only five could walk. Of those five, I was the most seriously injured, and I operated under the assumption that, even if I managed to walk out of the wreck, I might never walk again...When I pulled on the emergency handles, to my mystification, they simply came off in my hands. I expected the windows to pop open. When they didn't, I hit them with all I had, and still they refused to give...The exits had failed to open not because they weren't working properly, but because they were held shut from the outside by trees."
Sabbag remembers countless details of the crash and rescue, including the heroic efforts of many passengers and the rescue crew during the critical hours. He also researches and discloses the aviation committee's findings on the incident with likely causes and contributors, as well as unadulterated facts about risks inherent in air travel. Disturbingly, like others, this incident was found to be one that could have been prevented.
Becoming survivors of a life-threatening experience changed the passengers in unexpected ways. As Sabbag himself describes, the consequences of this type of event are both physical and psychological. Going back to air travel certainly couldn't have been easy for any of them. Upon reading about the effects on his life and career, it becomes clear that the main reasons Sabbag has been able to gradually overcome the trauma are his inherent character traits and the grounding and support he's received from loved ones.
DOWN AROUND MIDNIGHT ends up being a straightforward, complete account of the crash of Air New England Flight 248, up to the present and as recalled by many. Robert Sabbag proves himself to be a very likable, courageous, no-nonsense kind of guy with keen insight into himself and others. His memoir is honest, engaging and unforgettable.
--- Reviewed by Melanie Smith (melanies@daywesthealthcare.com)
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