Natanz - Robert Roughton

"Natanz" is a fast-paced story, involving cockpit power-plays, assassination attempts, and international intrigue. Tom is a skilled executive jet pilot working for an obnoxious boss. Threatened with the sack for canceling a charter when the senior pilot freezes during a near miss, almost killing them all, he resigns and purchases a struggling charter company. Sinking all he has into the venture, he struggles to build the company, while his relationship with his cabin attendant girlfriend is falling apart. When Tom foils an attempt on the life of one of his new customers, saving his crippled plane from a seemingly unrecoverable loss of control, he becomes the target of the would-be assassin. Recovering from the attempt on his life, he is approached by the CIA to fly a defecting scientist from Iran under the guise of a charter flight. Against his better judgment, he accepts the mission and flies into Iran. On the flight out, he declares an emergency, and drops below radar height, landing at night on a country road to affect the pickup. For the next three hours, he must fly at low level, attempting to avoid searching aircraft. Discovered, and fired upon, his skills and instincts are tested to their limits as he tries to save his badly damaged aircraft, his crew and his passengers.