Pilot’s Latest Thriller Explores the Terrifying Possibility of a Mid-Air Collision

The nightmarish scenario playing out in Philip S. Donlay’s latest thriller, Code Black, could never happen. Could it?

(PRWEB) February 19, 2006 -- The nightmarish scenario playing out in Philip S. Donlay’s latest thriller, Code Black, could never happen. Could it?

Not only could it happen, it already has.

In Code Black, professional pilot and author Donlay puts the reader squarely in the middle of an all-too-plausible mid-air accident that leaves a crippled commercial jet struggling to stay airborne over Chicago with nowhere to go---except perhaps the icy waters of Lake Michigan.

Fiction Based on Deadly Fact

Code Black is a work of fiction, but his heart-pounding thriller is based on real-life events, including the author’s own brush with a near mid-air collision. In 1981, 37,000 feet over Indianapolis, an air-traffic-controller error resulted in Donlay’s plane and a 727 crossing paths. “We saw him just in time,” says Donlay. “We took evasive action and crossed over the top of him by 200 feet. It was a close call that has haunted me for years.”

“There are safeguards in place to prevent something like what I write about in Code Black from happening,” Donlay says. “But even with all the high-tech systems, human error is still a very real danger. Since the beginning of commercial jet travel, 15 mid-air collisions have left almost 1,600 people dead. Everyday, during peak periods, there are as many as 6,000 airplanes in the air at once.” Donlay’s fictional---but entirely possible---scenario envisions what could happen if a small series of events at an air-traffic-control site snowballed into a major midair collision.

Donlay’s first novel, Category Five, won praise for its edge-of-your-seat tension and thrill-ride pace. “Category Five is a first rate thriller filled with believable characters and lots of inside information,” raved New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn. “I can’t wait for Donlay’s next book!”

His next book is here, and the adrenaline rush of Code Black’s fast-paced story explodes into action from the very first page, as Donlay continues the characters introduced in Category Five. Donlay relies on his 10,000 hours and thirty years experience spent flying jets to strap the reader into the cockpit. As a result, the only thing more thrilling than reading Code Black, is perhaps reading it on a plane.

To be released this Spring, Code Black will be available nationwide, just in time for vacation season. With heart-pounding suspense and an astounding level of realism, Code Black might just do for air travel what Jaws did for swimming at the beach.

“I loved it! Philip Donlay is a gifted storyteller, and everything is there---great characters, great plot, and suspense and momentum that don’t stop. Put this book on the very top of your reading list.” ---Brian Haig, Best-selling author of Private Sector and the President’s Assassin

For an advance review copy of the book or to set up an interview with Philip Donlay for a story, please contact

Sarah Van Blaricum at 727-443-7115, ext. 207

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