Originally published October 26, 2009 at 1:51 PM | Page modified October 27, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Comments (43)
E-mail article
Print view
Share
Wayward pilots were working on their laptops
Northwest Airlines pilots say they weren't asleep when their plane overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles, but were going over schedules on laptop computers.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Two Northwest Airlines pilots have told federal investigators that they were going over schedules using their laptop computers in violation of company policy while their plane overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.
The pilots — Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer, and Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain — said in interviews conducted over the weekend that they were not fatigued and didn't fall asleep, the board said in a statement.
Instead, Cole and Cheney told investigators that they both had their laptops out while the first officer, who had more experience with scheduling, instructed the captain on monthly flight crew scheduling. The pilots were out of communication with air traffic controllers and their airline for more than an hour and didn't realize their mistake until contacted by a flight attendant, the board said.
Many aviation safety experts had said it was more plausible that the pilots had fallen asleep during the cruise phase of their flight than that they had become so focused on a conversation that they lost awareness of their surroundings for more than an hour. Air traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis repeatedly tried without success to raise the pilots by radio. Other pilots in the vicinity tried reaching the plane on other radio frequencies. Their airline tried contacting them using a radio text message that chimes.
Authorities became so alarmed that National Guard jets were readied for takeoff at two locations and the White House Situation Room alerted senior White House officials, who monitored the airliner carrying 144 passenger and five crew members as it flew across a broad swath of the mid-continent completely out of contact with anyone on the ground.
"It's inexcusable," said former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall. "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."
E-mail article
Print view
Share
NEW - Vacation rentals: Search property listings, or post your own.
Browse by destination: Washington | Hawaii | California | Canada | US | Mexico | More
Thanksgiving travel plans expected to grow slightly
Ask Travel: A free day in Prague
Ban Long Lao is a peek at traditional Hmong village life
![]()
Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Senate vote clears hurdle
240 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
139 - Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
129 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
124 - Tight Senate vote launches health care over hurdle
123 - Cutting through breast-cancer confusion
91 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
90 - Game thread
70 - New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
67 - Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
54
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Banff: powder, peaks & purity
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Protect yourself from baggage loss






