1.
  The ocean lapped over the sandy expanse with a flick of a saline tongue, taking just seconds to engulf a band of land stretching several miles before falling back, leaving a moist film on the Atlantic coastline.
A control tower flanked by several buildings dominated the horizon, its black top sticking out above the flat landscape. A single runway ran in front of the tower. The radars turned silently on the roof while the enormous glass "eye" below reflected the spring sun as it scanned the sky.
Inside, the barely 50-something Franck Calmotte gestured towards the mass of control panels and computers - far too many for a control tower at a small airfield like this.
 He smiled at his two visitors: "I know what you're going say, why so much equipment?"
The two men in their impeccable suits nodded. Members of the regional council, they had been specially invited for a private tour of the SAFRAN airport R&T facility that everyone had been talking about.
"Remote Diagnostics," Calmotte continued, "is a service developed by Safran. To put it simply, it performs real-time monitoring of in-flight engine performance and detects any problems. The system gathers a maximum amount of data from the engines during the flight and transmits it by radio or satellite links to continuously show the condition of the engines, including fuel consumption, high-pressure shaft rotation speed, exhaust gas temperature , and more. We analyze this data and propose solutions to any problems, or recommend maintenance operations. We can help detect future flaws or tell which parts will need to be replaced in the near or long term. We provide all this information to our clients, the airlines."
Calmotte clasped his hands in front of him, clearly pleased with this chance to show off this superb technology.
"All this saves enormous amounts of money for our customers, which is why this service has been in such demand. Everything started with the Customer Support Center near Paris, whose success led us to create local facilities around the world, including this one. We process live data, record it and then transmit it to the CSC, which forwards it to our customers."
The two politicians nodded their heads in unison.
 A young woman with long blond hair and a porcelain complexion, her face framed by trendy eyeglasses, walked towards Calmotte. She coughed discreetly to get her boss's attention.
"Yes Martine?"
"May I speak with you for a moment sir?"
Calmotte frowned and walked towards her, excusing himself to his visitors.
"Is there a problem?" he asked.
"I don't know, sir. There's an aircraft we've been tracking for quite some time. It flew over our zone several hours ago then headed out to sea and made a big loop over the Atlantic before heading back. It's not flying very high, it's maneuvering a lot and frequently changing heading. Now it's headed back towards us."
"So?"
Calmotte did not see where the problem was.
"Well, the aircraft is a Falcon, and its ACARS is sending us data, so we're able to track it for real-time remote diagnostics. And all the readings are fine."
"Right. Then where's the problem?"
"The problem is the data is too perfect. The plane is acting the way it should. Especially the fuel consumption, which is well below what it should be given the amount of maneuvering it's doing. I was a little concerned so I did a quick calculation to compare the manufacturer's data with the information I had. According to my calculations, the Falcon should be almost out of fuel."
"Are you sure?"
Calmotte did not try to conceal his skepticism. He generally put more stock in machines than in people.
"I ran the numbers three times, and I asked our engineer, Yann, for his opinion. He knows the Falcon, and he confirmed that there's a serious fuel consumption problem. He says that the plane headed for our coast is critically low on fuel, no matter what the flight computer says."
Calmotte folded his arms.
"You're telling me that the remote diagnostics system is giving us incorrect information? That's impossible. Our equipment is totally reliable."
"I agree, which is why I wonder whether the problem might not be on the aircraft."
"Contact the pilot. He must have an explanation. He'll be able to tell us what's going on."
Martine frowned.
 "Well…I asked our radio operator to contact the aircraft and ask the pilot what was happening, but we got nothing but silence. It's impossible to contact the aircraft—there's no answer.
Then, she added with some hesitation: "The Falcon will be over us in a few minutes. It still hasn't dropped its altitude so I can't believe it's planning to land. But it must be out of fuel. We need to do something."
"You're sure there's no answer when you radio?"
"None."
Calmotte ran his hand over his forehead. This he definitely did not like. Low fuel was concern enough for a plane. But no response from the cockpit created a real emergency. He quickly glanced at all the computers surrounding him. He couldn't figure it out. What was going on with this Falcon?
"How far out is it?"
"Less than a hundred nautical miles."
The idea that came to Franck Calmotte was preposterous and more than a little daring…. But if it worked, he and his unit would enjoy some very positive feedback.
What could he possibly do? The plane didn't answer. It wasn't sending any radio signals. It was constantly maneuvering, and the onboard computers were reporting data that seemed to be wrong.
He had to make a quick decision—there was no time to contact headquarters.
Calmotte nodded to himself. He was going to get the Falcon to land, and he knew exactly how.
His eyes narrowed and his look became completely focused. He had no doubts whatsoever, he was the man to deal with the situation.
"Martine, I'm going to need your help. The Falcon is going to land here?"
"Here? On our runway? Here?!"
"We're probably getting worried for nothing, but I'd rather be on the safe side. The Falcon will be on the tarmac in a few minutes. I know how to handle this."
Calmotte put his hand on the analyst's shoulder.
"Martine, if we're picking up data from this aircraft, it must be registered with us, which means it's one of our customers. Find out where it's from and who owns it."
"Right way."
Calmotte turned to the two local politicians.
 "Gentlemen, I'm very sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to excuse me for a few minutes. Let me offer you a cup of coffee while you're waiting," he said, guiding them to an old couch in the entrance to the control room.
He gave an imperceptible sign to an assistant, who quickly brought their visitors two hot cups of coffee.
Martine stared at him in disbelief.
1 EGT (exhaust gas temperature), indicates the potential service life of an aircraft engine.
2 ACARS: Aircraft Communication, Addressing and Reporting System, a system that sends digital data from aircraft in flight to the ground, and vice versa.
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