James48843
11-28-2009, 11:17 AM
Wrong-way pilots' cockpit tapes released
By Alan Levin (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=9), USA TODAY
Air-traffic controllers repeatedly gave instructions to change the course of a Northwest Airlines (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Transportation,+Travel,+Hospitality/Airlines/Northwest+Airlines) jet that had been out of radio contact for more than an hour as a test to ensure that it had not been hijacked, according to transcripts released today.
Controllers also asked the two pilots several times to explain why they had flown so long without talking to ground controllers.
DISTRACTED: Minneapolis-bound flight overshoots airport by 150 miles (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-22-minneapolis-flight-overshoots-airport_N.htm)
"I just have to verify that the cockpit is secure," said a controller at Minneapolis Center 86 seconds after the errant flight resumed radio transmissions.
"It is secure," radioed one of the pilots. "We got distracted."
Capt. Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Gig+Harbor), Wash., and co-pilot Richard Cole (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Others/Richard+Cole) of Salem, Ore., told investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/National+Transportation+Safety+Board) that their Oct. 21 odyssey occurred because they had been working on their private laptops in an attempt to understand a new crew scheduling program, which had been introduced by Delta Air Lines (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Transportation,+Travel,+Hospitality/Delta+Air+Lines). Delta owns Northwest.
The Federal Aviation Administration (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Aviation+Administration) (FAA (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Aviation+Administration)) revoked their licenses shortly after the incident, charging that they had been "reckless." The pilots flew one hour and 17 minutes without talking to controllers, cruising more than 150 miles past their destination in Minneapolis.
The pilots have appealed their license revocations.
Details: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-11-27-flight-overshoots-airport-tapes_N.htm
Video:
UieFk6yq74w&sns=em
By Alan Levin (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=9), USA TODAY
Air-traffic controllers repeatedly gave instructions to change the course of a Northwest Airlines (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Transportation,+Travel,+Hospitality/Airlines/Northwest+Airlines) jet that had been out of radio contact for more than an hour as a test to ensure that it had not been hijacked, according to transcripts released today.
Controllers also asked the two pilots several times to explain why they had flown so long without talking to ground controllers.
DISTRACTED: Minneapolis-bound flight overshoots airport by 150 miles (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-22-minneapolis-flight-overshoots-airport_N.htm)
"I just have to verify that the cockpit is secure," said a controller at Minneapolis Center 86 seconds after the errant flight resumed radio transmissions.
"It is secure," radioed one of the pilots. "We got distracted."
Capt. Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Gig+Harbor), Wash., and co-pilot Richard Cole (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/People/Others/Richard+Cole) of Salem, Ore., told investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/National+Transportation+Safety+Board) that their Oct. 21 odyssey occurred because they had been working on their private laptops in an attempt to understand a new crew scheduling program, which had been introduced by Delta Air Lines (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Transportation,+Travel,+Hospitality/Delta+Air+Lines). Delta owns Northwest.
The Federal Aviation Administration (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Aviation+Administration) (FAA (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Government+Bodies/Federal+Aviation+Administration)) revoked their licenses shortly after the incident, charging that they had been "reckless." The pilots flew one hour and 17 minutes without talking to controllers, cruising more than 150 miles past their destination in Minneapolis.
The pilots have appealed their license revocations.
Details: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-11-27-flight-overshoots-airport-tapes_N.htm
Video:
UieFk6yq74w&sns=em