Controlled Crash: An Airline Odyssey, from Eels and Ethics to Blimps and Drunken Bears

Pilots like to say that every safe landing is really just a controlled crash. In this witty and entertaining memoir of his airline career, Eldon Brown whisks us back to the heyday of the airline industry, when it was fun to fly and salesmanship was a creative art. During his decades in cargo management with airlines like Japan and Northwest, Brown crosses paths with a surprising array of life forms: wily entrepreneurs, stowaway cockroaches, and, yes, a drunken bear. Along the way, there are...