Arguing Northwest Airlines pilots fly past destination

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20 years 11 months

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A NORTHWEST Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 241km.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely on Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy".

Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta.

The plane was flying at 12,000m when it lost radio contact between 8pm and 9.15pm local time.

Flight 188 was 240km off course by the time the crew re-established communications and requested permission to turn around, officials said.

Airport police boarded the plane in Minneapolis to ensure there had not been a hijacking or other criminal activity, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport said.

Military authorities were alerted during the incident and put fighter jets on stand-by status temporarily, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.

Source: Reuters

Original post

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Could've been worse. If it had been Ryanair they would have charged the passengers for the extra time in the air.

Regards,

kev35

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 2,343

"We were not asleep; we were not having an argument; we were not having a fight." Cole told The Associated Press.

So, what exactly were you doing then, sir?:confused:

Would there not have been an alarm of some sort that sounded in the cockpit to alert the crew that they had strayed off their originally filed flight plan?

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18 years 11 months

Posts: 8,847

Were both the crew male or?:diablo:

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 2,343

Were both the crew male or?:diablo:

Was only a matter of time before someone would have mentioned this...:rolleyes:

Member for

18 years 11 months

Posts: 8,847

Was only a matter of time before someone would have mentioned this...:rolleyes:

Ascertained that the pilots were Timothy Cheney and Richard Cole, so that puts that premise out of the window, doesn't it?;)

Member for

18 years 9 months

Posts: 13,432

Ascertained that the pilots were Timothy Cheney and Richard Cole, so that puts that premise out of the window, doesn't it?;)

Not necessarily. Depends on their inclinations. :diablo:

Member for

18 years 11 months

Posts: 8,847

And now for some levity in a serious situation!

The David Letterman Show!!

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And so David Letterman Monday night offered the Top Ten Northwest Airlines Pilot Excuses on CBS.

10. Bunch of fat guys seated on the right side of the plane made us vector east.
9. We get paid by the hour.
8. Mapquest always takes you the long way, am I right, people?
7. Tired of that show-off Sullenberger getting all the attention.
6. You try steering one of those airplanes after eight or nine cocktails.
5. Wanted to catch the end of the in-flight movie.
4. Activating autopilot and making occasional P.A. announcements is exhausting.
3. According to our map, we only missed our target by half an inch.
2. For a change, we decided to send luggage to the right city and lose the passengers.
1. Thought we saw balloon boy.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

And now for some levity in a serious situation!

The David Letterman Show!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so David Letterman Monday night offered the Top Ten Northwest Airlines Pilot Excuses on CBS.

10. Bunch of fat guys seated on the right side of the plane made us vector east.
9. We get paid by the hour.
8. Mapquest always takes you the long way, am I right, people?
7. Tired of that show-off Sullenberger getting all the attention.
6. You try steering one of those airplanes after eight or nine cocktails.
5. Wanted to catch the end of the in-flight movie.
4. Activating autopilot and making occasional P.A. announcements is exhausting.
3. According to our map, we only missed our target by half an inch.
2. For a change, we decided to send luggage to the right city and lose the passengers.
1. Thought we saw balloon boy.

LOL:D:D:D

Member for

16 years

Posts: 1,059

Could've been worse. If it had been Ryanair they would have charged the passengers for the extra time in the air.

Regards,

kev35


It's funny how Ryanair always cops it no matter what the thread subject is.
Mind you, they only have themselves to blame.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Indeed they do. I'm still wondering where they have stored the 10 million pounds worth of wheelchairs they were set to buy with the 50p per passenger surcharge.

Regards,

kev35