Sleepy NWA pilots?

[flylike44]

this will happen more and more as all the geezers inch inexorably towards age 65...

 

[JoeMerchant]

Here is a quote from General Lee:

It sure doesn't seem like those 1500 hours they each had (more for the Capt) were quality hours. They lacked basic airmanship skills. You don't pull back on the yoke during a stall. You don't put the flaps up during one either. That plane pancaked straight down on ONE house. You have to set a new standard (a higher standard) and go from there. To the pilots, I say RIP. But, something has to be done here.


Bye Bye---General Lee

There were many more quotes like this....You get the point...Now that Delta pilots are the one with the black eye, they've gone from offense to defense...The double standard continues with each post they make....

 

[Poahi]

The amount of ignorance on this forum is INCREDIBLE.

That's one thing, but the 'ignorance' is confined to these forums. What about the soapbox that Sully has been blithering from? He bashes the regional pilots as the bottom of the barrel and that's why they aren't professional and fall asleep while flying. This week he was proven irrelevant.

At least the regional pilots were honest about their mistakes. Debating policy? Save it for flightinfo. The profession was set back this week.

 

[Networ-King]

Looks like the lying has already started....not looking good for these guys if in fact this is their story.....


Net


Joe Merchant,


You lost all credibility when you grouped all Delta pilots in with Genital Warts and used his quote to defend your position. You should know better than that...

US Airliner Loses Contact, Overflies Destination

October 23, 2009
A Northwest Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 150 miles (241 km), officials said Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy."
The NTSB said Thursday it would review the plane's flight data and voice recorders and interview the pilots. Among other issues, investigators will explore crew fatigue to see if the pilots were tired, the NTSB said.
Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta.
Safety board investigations can take several months to complete.
The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it lost radio contact between 8 pm and 9:15 pm EDT.
Flight 188 was 150 miles off course by the time the crew re-established communications and requested permission to turn around, officials said.
Airport police boarded the plane in Minneapolis to ensure there had not been a hijacking or other criminal activity, a spokesman for Minneapolis-St Paul Airport said.
Military authorities were alerted during the incident and put fighter jets on stand-by status temporarily, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.
It was the second unusual incident involving a US airliner this week.
On Monday, a Delta Boeing 767 with 182 passengers landed on a taxiway instead of its assigned runway at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport. The taxiway, which was parallel to the runway, was active but cleared of ground traffic.

(Reuters)

 

[dondk]

not that flightaware is a science. Look at the route for the 21st and compare with routes from previous days. The 21st is clearly flight plan route, no short cuts. Most of not all of the previous days, had shortcuts (direct) or some variation thereof.

either, they are ticked off enough to keep flight plan route or they declined a short cut and relaxed a bit too much.

Just odd, that's all.

 

[NEDude]

This is a nightmare scenario. I can see how this happened, especially in the A320. The nice seats, reclined, using the footrests. Nice quiet humm of the engines and wind. Really easy to nod off, even for a younger guy. I feel for these guys.

Perhaps this will put even more pressure on the fatigue issue.

 

[Jabwmu]

Incidentally, I don't recall an incorrect runway being used in SDF any time recently... Refresh my memory?

I think he's referring to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comair_Flight_191 out of Lexington.

 

[waveflyer]

Come on guys- either of these could have led to loss of life. Easily. And it was Lexington, not SDF- I hope it was fatigue related- but I fear that this heated debate may be true- which helps none of us.

Actually.... I hope they had two of the last remaining hot FA's bent over their tray tables.

 

[701EV]

Fox news is reporting that the NTSB only has the last 30 minutes of the CVR. Not the two hour like they thought they had.

 

[ACL65PILOT]

Come on guys- either of these could have led to loss of life. Easily. And it was Lexington, not SDF- I hope it was fatigue related- but I fear that this heated debate may be true- which helps none of us.

Actually.... I hope they had two of the last remaining hot FA's bent over their tray tables.

Now wouldn't that be a story.

 

[veneratio]

Fox news is reporting that the NTSB only has the last 30 minutes of the CVR. Not the two hour like they thought they had.

So normally the CVR records the past 2 hours? You think the crew manipulated the CVR recording time (if it's even possible).?

 

[aussieflyboy]

So normally the CVR records the past 2 hours? You think the crew manipulated the CVR recording time (if it's even possible).?

I sure hope not, if that happened the two guys would be looking at criminal prosecution instead of just being fired.

Of course, if there's not more than 30 minutes of recording then they'll probably get away with it. That being said, I'd really like to hear their explanation of how they could still be at FL370 250 miles or so after their expected descent point... On a three hour flight? Please, we're all clock watching toward the end... we all know exactly how long there is to go.

 

[FlyAuburn]

Simple. Every time I have a CA ask me to ask for one, it is to determine the "factor" we add to Ref speed. Once the Auto-Throttles are off we are required by Boeing to have it.

The "How Long is Final?" question is generally asked by guys in jets that have a hard time getting down. Also 210 KIAS is right above the speed at which we need to dirty up. Ergo, if it is going to be a 20 mile final there is no need to get dirty. We will keep it clean and come down slowly. Anything under seven or eight miles requires most of our jets to dirty up to make the base turn at seven or eight miles and below 4500 feet which is the altitude required by ATL Tracon.

So why not add the factor when you get the ATIS?

 

[Bringupthebird]

Suppose the issue was that they de-selected the com1 on both the audio panels and never heard ATC calling and really were in a "heated discussion" (aka not minding the store) and simply weren't paying attention to where they were. Maybe dispatch was trying to reach them through ACARS, maybe not.

While they were certainly negligent, it might be a more benign story that folks imagine.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

I've lost track of time with my pants down. It happens.