Posted on 10/24/2009 9:47:27 PM PDT by rdl6989
MINNEAPOLIS - There was concern at the White House about that wayward Northwest Airlines jet that flew past its scheduled destination in Minneapolis.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told The Associated Press on Saturday that senior White House officials were alerted by the White House Situation Room and they closely monitored the incident.
Shapiro didn't say if President Barack Obama was informed about the wayward plane. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
Northwest Flight 118 was out of communications with air traffic controllers for over an hour Wednesday night. The plane carrying 144 passengers and five crew members was destined for Minneapolis but overflew the airport by about 150 miles before controllers were able to re-establish contact.
'Nobody feel asleep' The Northwest pilots insist a clandestine snooze isn't to blame for their goof at 37,000 feet. "Nobody fell asleep in the cockpit," first officer Richard I. Cole said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Even without input from the pilots, the hearings will most likely find "pilot error". I imagine these guys have flown their last commercial craft.
Since 9-11 I would imagine any commercial aircraft that are off course and cannot be contacted by radio are quickly reported to the FAA and the Pentagon and then the WH.
here’s what happened. For some reason, the first officer probably switched off the emergency frequency. Maybe earlier in the flight, they were disturbed by an emergency beacon going off on the ground. This happens all the time. Somewhere around the previous center sector, ATC either forgot to direct the plane’s pilots to the next sector’s frequency, or the pilots didn’t hear it. When ATC figures out they can’t talk to the pilots, they issue a call on the emergency frequency. But the pilots had turned off the emergency freq earlier and forgot to turn it back on. Meanwhile, bored with the monotony of being overpaid busdrivers, they suddenly realize, 150 miles later, that “hey! where is ATC? They haven’t issued letdown clearances yet. Aren’t we near MSP? Oh sh!%! I think we’re past MSP. FO, get ATC on the line.” FO realizes what happened, got a new clearance from ATC and landed.
BFD. But it makes great headlines.
I have a good friend who is a pilot for Delta. He says that their asses are gone no matter what.
They should have entered initial descent about 30 minutes before they got to the airport, then gotten in the pattern for final descent and landing.
They missed all those phases of the flight.
This wasn’t like missing a turn off on the interstate.
They missed a whole checklist of altitude changes, speed changes, and other issues.
Probably got a lot “Ok, NOW we’re going the right way”, though.
Interesting scenario, but actually the individual who noticed they should have arrived was the senior flight attendant.
The aircraft reportedly went 150 miles beyond it’s destination. At 400 miles per hour, that wouldn’t take very long.
The hour’s worth of non-contact is what bothers me, and then add on it’s route beyond it’s destination, that makes this a very serious looking incident.
I’m quite curious to hear what the explanation is.
My advice to the pilots is claim to be Muslim converts, contact CAIR for support, and sue the airlines.
Hell, they’ll get a million each and retire.
The White House was concerned that it could have been an attack on Ashwaubenon.
Maybe they can get a job flying rubber dog s#(* out of Hong Kong?
Frankly, these are two asses that belong behind bars.
This wouldn't be the first time the whole cockpit crew fell asleep -- it happened on a flight to LA years ago, where the plane flew out over the Pacific.
Left out of the story is any mention of whether air traffic control tried to reach THEM.
You would expect that ATC would know that the flight was supposed to land there, and say hello to them as they entered their region, tell them about landing conditions, etc, at least 10-15 minutes before anticipated landing. Then get concerned if the plane didn't answer.
Well, the MSNBC story has pretty much tried and convicted them of sleeping. If MSNBC says they were sleeping, they must have been wide awake.
What if they did something like dial in an incorrect freq? Then get caught up talking and not notice the time? Surely they would know where they are at though.
I’d imagine you’re right. And of course, in the back of the other pilots’ minds ... “What are their seniority numbers?”
Ok, the flight attendant alarmed the pilots. That’s crew coordination. Good for the pilot for creating an atmosphere where any crew member, regardless of rank, could bring stuff up.
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