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Fiction, © Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
The computer program was named Claire, because it seemed to be clairvoyant. It was a new air traffic control program. Actually, it was used in addition to the regular air traffic control. It remained in the background, monitoring each air traffic controller's radar and computer.
Claire evaluated danger. It only intruded upon the controller when it judged that planes were in danger. Then it would warn the controller and suggest a course of action.
Claire actually had many sources of information. It accessed maintenance records of many of the planes. It listened to radio communications between the airplanes and the ground. It accessed flight plans. It knew which planes were on time and which were late, and just how late they were. It knew how much fuel many of the planes had. It accessed weather reports. It sometimes was able to detect gusts of wind and other detailed weather near the runways. Clair estimated how tired each controller and each pilot were. Clair had already saved lives, and it was not even completely written yet.
Alan Dawson was one of the programmers who created Claire. He was busy typing on his laptop computer, performing tests on Claire, searching for bugs. He was currently sitting in a right window seat, on a flight from LAX to O'Hare. As the plane approached Chicago, the "fasten seat belt" sign lit up, and the pilot's voice reminded the passengers to fasten their seat belts. Alan's seat belt was already fastened. He continued working.
Then Alan's laptop started beeping. He pressed the space bar and the beep went silent. He said, "Sorry," to a passenger who looked in his direction. The beep meant that some plane, somewhere in the United States, was in trouble. Alan's computer was getting this info from a satellite somewhere over the equator. Alan saw, on the computer screen, that two planes were involved, a private jet and Universe Air flight 267 from LAX to O'Hare. He had a sinking feeling as he groped into his backpack under his seat, searching for his ticket. Sure enough, the ticket said Universe Air flight 267. Claire informed Alan that the plane had a 10% chance of disaster. 10% may not seem like much, but it was actually very serious. As Alan watched, the chance changed to 15%. Alan looked around at his fellow passengers, all oblivious to the danger. 20%.
Alan knew that the pilot had already been informed of this 20% chance of disaster. After all, Claire on the ground had probably known about it a fraction of a second before Claire on Alan's laptop had. The pilot had certainly already been informed about the situation. Alan saw on his screen that Claire recommended a hard left turn for both planes. He was reassured when he felt his plane make the recommended left turn. Magazines, pillows, and a piece of luggage fell to the floor. There was a buzz of conversation among the passengers. Alan looked back at the computer screen, expecting the danger to have gone down toward zero. 50%.
The other plane had not made the left turn. In fact it had turned toward Alan's plane. He pushed a key on the computer, in order to get more info. The other plane was not responding by radio. What was happening? Alan searched, out the window, for the other plane. Claire could have told him which direction to look. But there wasn't time to ask Claire about that. Alan did not see that Claire was saying 80%.
Alan thought he saw a small flash of light. Perhaps it was sunlight reflecting off an approaching plane. Then a roller coaster ride began. Alan felt like he would have flown through the ceiling, into outer space, had his seat belt not held him in his seat. He heard a loud crash and screams. Alan was clutching his computer to his chest, as it wanted to fly away. Then he was pressed down into his seat, as the acceleration changed direction. He wondered if the plane was upside down. He wondered if the wings had fallen off. He wondered if men screamed. He wondered if he had screamed.
Then the plane settled down to smooth level flight. A child was crying, and maybe some adults too. There was a lot of talking going on, an occasional shout. Someone shouted that a doctor was needed. A flight attendant was unconscious and appeared to have broken bones. Two passengers had been hit by flying objects. Both seemed to be all right.
Alan set the computer back on his lap. 0%. He breathed again. The other plane had gone down to 10%. Claire reported that the pilot of that plane had passed out and was back in control.
The pilot's voice came onto the intercom, "Sorry about that folks. We've got things under control. We will be landing shortly." A doctor, one of the passengers, was tending to the injured flight attendant. Most of the passengers had to wait to read newspapers to find out what had happened.
Author's note: This story arose from the thought, "Is it better to know, or not know, that disaster is about to happen?" I lean toward knowing.