Errant US pilots were working on their laptop
10/27/2009 | 01:08 PM
WASHINGTON - Two pilots have told U.S. investigators that they were going over schedules using their laptop computers in violation of company policy while their Airbus passenger jet overflew their Minneapolis, Minnesota, destination by 150 miles (240 kilometers), the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.
The Northwest Airlines pilots — Richard Cole, the first officer, and Timothy Cheney, the captain — said in interviews conducted during the weekend that they were not fatigued and did not 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.
By then, Northwest Flight 188 with its 144 passengers and five crew members was over Wisconsin, a neighboring state to Minnesota, continuing to cruise at 37,000 feet (11,100 meters).
Many aviation safety experts had said it was more plausible that the pilots had fallen asleep during the cruise phase of their flight last Wednesday night than that they had become so focused on a conversation that they lost awareness of their surroundings for such a lengthy period of time. Air traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis repeatedly tried without success to raise the pilots of the San Diego-to-Minneapolis flight 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 Northwest Flight 188 with its 144 passengers and five crew members as the Airbus A320 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."
The Delta pilots union pointed out that at no time were the passengers, crew or aircraft in danger, and cautioned against a "rush to judgment."
"I strongly encourage all parties not to reach a hasty conclusion, " Capt. Lee Moak, chairman of Delta's pilots' union, said in the statement issued late Monday. "We stand firmly behind the crew's right to due process."
Delta said in a statement that using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies. The airline said violations of that policy will result in termination.
There are no federal rules that specifically ban pilots' use of laptops or other personal electronic devices as long as the plane is flying above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), said Diane Spitaliere, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman.
"I think it depends upon how it's being used," Spitaliere said.
Delta has suspended the two pilots pending an investigation into the incident. The FAA is also investigating and has warned Cheney and Cole their pilot licenses could be suspended or revoked.
Pilots' schedules are tied to their seniority, which also determines the aircraft they fly. Those at the top of the list get first choice on vacations, the best routes and the bigger planes that they get paid more for flying. Following Delta Air Lines' acquisition of Northwest, an arbitration panel ruled that the pilot seniority lists at the two carriers should be integrated based on pilots' status and aircraft category.
Cheney and Cole are both experienced pilots, according to the NTSB. Cheney, 53, was hired by Northwest in 1985 and has about 20,000 hours of flying time, about half of which was in the A320. Cole, 54, had about 11,000 hours of flight time, including 5,000 hours in the A320.
Both pilots told the board they had never had an accident, incident or violation, the board said.
The pilots acknowledged that while they were engaged in working on their laptops they weren't paying attention to radio traffic, messages from their airline or their cockpit instruments, the board said. That's contrary to one of the fundamentals of commercial piloting, which is to keep attention focused on monitoring messages from controllers and watching flight displays in the cockpit.
"It is unsettling when you see experienced pilots who were not professional in flying this flight," said Kitty Higgins, a former NTSB board member. "This is clearly a wakeup call for everybody."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, called the incident "the ultimate case of distracted driving, only this time it was distracted flying." - AP
The Northwest Airlines pilots — Richard Cole, the first officer, and Timothy Cheney, the captain — said in interviews conducted during the weekend that they were not fatigued and did not 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.
By then, Northwest Flight 188 with its 144 passengers and five crew members was over Wisconsin, a neighboring state to Minnesota, continuing to cruise at 37,000 feet (11,100 meters).
Many aviation safety experts had said it was more plausible that the pilots had fallen asleep during the cruise phase of their flight last Wednesday night than that they had become so focused on a conversation that they lost awareness of their surroundings for such a lengthy period of time. Air traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis repeatedly tried without success to raise the pilots of the San Diego-to-Minneapolis flight 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 Northwest Flight 188 with its 144 passengers and five crew members as the Airbus A320 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."
The Delta pilots union pointed out that at no time were the passengers, crew or aircraft in danger, and cautioned against a "rush to judgment."
"I strongly encourage all parties not to reach a hasty conclusion, " Capt. Lee Moak, chairman of Delta's pilots' union, said in the statement issued late Monday. "We stand firmly behind the crew's right to due process."
Delta said in a statement that using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies. The airline said violations of that policy will result in termination.
There are no federal rules that specifically ban pilots' use of laptops or other personal electronic devices as long as the plane is flying above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), said Diane Spitaliere, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman.
"I think it depends upon how it's being used," Spitaliere said.
Delta has suspended the two pilots pending an investigation into the incident. The FAA is also investigating and has warned Cheney and Cole their pilot licenses could be suspended or revoked.
Pilots' schedules are tied to their seniority, which also determines the aircraft they fly. Those at the top of the list get first choice on vacations, the best routes and the bigger planes that they get paid more for flying. Following Delta Air Lines' acquisition of Northwest, an arbitration panel ruled that the pilot seniority lists at the two carriers should be integrated based on pilots' status and aircraft category.
Cheney and Cole are both experienced pilots, according to the NTSB. Cheney, 53, was hired by Northwest in 1985 and has about 20,000 hours of flying time, about half of which was in the A320. Cole, 54, had about 11,000 hours of flight time, including 5,000 hours in the A320.
Both pilots told the board they had never had an accident, incident or violation, the board said.
The pilots acknowledged that while they were engaged in working on their laptops they weren't paying attention to radio traffic, messages from their airline or their cockpit instruments, the board said. That's contrary to one of the fundamentals of commercial piloting, which is to keep attention focused on monitoring messages from controllers and watching flight displays in the cockpit.
"It is unsettling when you see experienced pilots who were not professional in flying this flight," said Kitty Higgins, a former NTSB board member. "This is clearly a wakeup call for everybody."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, called the incident "the ultimate case of distracted driving, only this time it was distracted flying." - AP
