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Irony: NWA pilots land late because of scheduling discussion

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) on Oct 27th 2009 at 4:00PM

The investigation into the overshooting Northwest Airlines flight continues. The National Transportation Safety Board has found that the pilots were distracted by conversations and the use of personal laptops when flying 150 miles past Minneapolis. One of the topics being bandied about was scheduling, though I suspect it didn't involve the impact of a late arrival because of a missed airport.

According to the NTSB, "The pilots said there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from (air traffic controllers) even though both stated they heard conversation on the radio." In the report generated by its investigation, the NTSB continued, "Both said they lost track of time." Meanwhile air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers were trying to contact Flight 188 for more than an hour. Neither pilot realized something was amiss until they were asked about it by a flight attendant.

Delta was pretty quick to announce that the pilots were involved in activities not related to flying and that they could be fired for it. For now, the fliers are suspended pending the results of the government's investigation (and one by the airline itself).

Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mike Licht Oct 28th 2009 12:33AM

Work scheduling software. Sure.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/distracted-flying/

Sad Sister Nov 2nd 2009 5:06PM

NWA has lots of problems. I was flying back and forth from my home in California to Florida to care for my brother who was diagnosed in June '09 with terminal cancer. He was given about 6 months to live. On the trip in August I flew NWA with a return trip scheduled for 8/24/09. My brother died on 8/23/09. I had to reschedule my flight for after the funeral at a cost of $150 for a "change fee". After providing all the documentation including the death certificate, NWA declined to waive the "chamge fee".

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