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Northwest pilots licenses revoked; investigation into wayward flight continues
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Both of the Northwest Airlines pilots who were out of radio communication with air traffic control for an hour and 15 minutes last week have had their licenses revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration effective immediately. Captain Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Washington and First Office Richard Cole of Salem, Oregon have claimed that they weren’t asleep during at least 13 air traffic control and company dispatch attempts to contact them, but rather were engrossed in a new Delta Air Lines crew scheduling program on their laptops and didn’t hear the many attempts to contact them.
Northwest Airlines flight 188 over-flew its intended destination of Minneapolis/St. Paul by approximately 150 miles before realizing where they were. Fighter jets based in Madison, Wisconsin were being readied to intercept the flight were it determined that a terrorist incident or hijacking had taken place. After numerous unplanned turns requested by ATC, it was determined that the aircraft was not under duress and the flight made its decent to the Twin Cities.
This past Sunday the pilots were interview for more than five hours by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators. While neither pilot had ever had an accident, incident or violation, their licenses were revoked for reckless and dangerous behavior at the controls of an airliner. It is against airline policy to nap or be using a personal laptop in the cockpit during a flight, so whichever scenario is the truth, the pilots didn’t have much of a fallback position.
According to the NTSB both pilots stated that there was a distraction in the cockpit during flight and they admitted per the October 16 Advisory “there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from ATC even though they both stated they heard conversation on the radio.” Neither pilot noticed messages sent from company dispatchers because they were in a discussion about the new flight crew scheduling system from new owner, Delta Air Lines.
Incredibly, neither pilot realized that the aircraft had flown beyond the intended Minneapolis/St. Paul destination airport until contacted by a flight attendant five minutes before the scheduled arrival time inquiring about when they were expecting to land. When they finally contacted air traffic control and were asked what the problem was, “just cockpit distraction” and “dealing with company issues” was their response.
Due to the cockpit voice recorder only having a 30-minute length, we may never know the truth about what transpired, but numerous industry experts and other pilots have found it hard to believe that the pilots were not asleep during the period of inactivity.
Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall has been quoted as saying “It’s inexcusable. I feel sorry for the individuals involved, but this was certainly not an innocuous event – this was a significant breach of aviation safety and aviation security.” The incident was so serious that the White House was advised of what was transpiring just in case the event was indeed a potential terrorist attack in the offing.
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