Pilots Miss Their Destination By 150 Miles

Minnesota Minneapolis Could they have fallen asleep? The Northwest Airlines pilots were out of contact with air traffic controllers for more than an hour.

by CBS News/The Associated Press

Published: Fri, October 23, 2009 - 11:15 am CST Last Updated: Fri, October 23, 2009 - 11:43 am CST

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - Could they have fallen asleep?
That's the question being asked about two Northwest Airlines pilots after they overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles Wednesday night and air traffic controllers were unable to reach them.
The pilots should have received numerous warnings as they
approached and passed their destination. Besides the repeated
attempts by controllers to reach them, they would have also had
cockpit displays and the lights of the city to give them clues.
But a source close to the investigation says it took a flight
attendant contacting the pilots by intercom to make them realize
their mistake.
The plane had been out of contact with controllers for more than
an hour. The pilots have told authorities they were having a heated
discussion over airline policy and were distracted.
Federal investigators haven't yet questioned the pilots and
don't know whether they might have fallen asleep. The plane's
cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been sent to
Washington for analysis.
Northwest has suspended the pilots while it conducts its own
investigation.
The plane was carrying 144 passengers and a crew of five from
San Diego.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Razorsharp Says:

Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 12:23 pm

There was a time when I flew, on average, three to four times a week. I just don’t think I want to fly anymore based on all of the things that have been happening with airlines in the past few years.