Airplane data for thriller novel I've written a legal thriller. One scene involves the antagonist lawyers hiring someone at O'Hare to sabotage some other lawyers' private jet so that it crashes. But I don't know enough about aviation to write a plausible scene, as in what could someone on the ground do to down a plane that the pilots wouldn't see. So far, I've heard about someone deliberately installing the wrong size screws in the windshield because the pilot could miss them in pre-flight checks. This could cause the windshield to fail at altitude, either crashing the plane or ending in an emergency landing at the closest field. But are the screws are visible from the cockpit? And if so, would the pilot detect a problem before takeoff? Any guidance would be great. Thanks!
I would suggest to look into Wikipedia overview on Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors, immediately focusing on the "Investigation" sections. Some errors could be reproduced deliberately.