Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

Those darn regional pilots overflew MSP!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter buscap
  • Start date Start date
  • Watchers Watchers 30

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web
I saw the news last night here in LA and the media actually showed a video of an E170 in NWA colors instead of an A320 trying to give people an image of a regional airline. Although they had to say it was a Northwest Airbus in the end of the report. Bastards!
 
I have been telling my friends and family the same thing, except I don't think another 200 dead will do the trick. Until the sloths that are the flying public quit demanding el cheapo tickets on orbitz, travelocity, priceline...et al...the race to the bottom will continue.

The public is getting what they have paid for. It is all they want and expect. Congress and the FAA don't care either because they are too busy lining their pockets with Lobbyist $$, trips and gifts to change the rules or legislation to fix the system.

So while this all looks bad and get it's time in the press.......we'll be on to the next hot story of the second next week and this will all be history. Until we drill a few more smoking holes....NOTHING will change.

Andy...What could Congress or the FAA have done to prevent these two incidents this week (MSP and ATL)...Specifics please....
 
Do you think they accidentally switched to the previous frequency and ACTUALLY DID get into a conversation and lost track of time. However, I start getting antsy if I dont hear a radio call for 8-10 minutes.

Is that somehow better than falling asleep? I don't know.
 
Ok. Let's say that they did get into that heated conversation about company policies, but come on, you've got 4 screens up there, all showing navigational information. You're saying that for the better part of 2 hours neither pilot glanced at the screens, or out of the corner of their eyes noticed their position, or the absence of a course line?

I've had comm problems before, but I've always known my general position, even before glass.

All I can say is that it most have been some conversation!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
If you compare the number of 121 airline passenger deaths to the ratio of 121 pilots and apply that same ratio to the number of doctors in the country...and then ran that ratio to reflect airline pilots killing the same percentage of passengers as doctors kill patients....we'd be killing on average 10,000 passengers a year just in the US. When we start killing that many there will be change...until then it's all just smoke and mirrors and media hype...onto the next story says the bubble headed bleach blonde who can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye (Don Henly)

What we need is FULL and COMPLETE re-regulation of the entire industry...INCLUDING wages set back to 1977 and indexed for inflation. My $104 a hour would be closer to $225...what it friggen should be for what we do!!!

Rant over....need a drink or a percoset!

So they fell asleep because they weren't making enough?
 
I saw the news last night here in LA and the media actually showed a video of an E170 in NWA colors instead of an A320 trying to give people an image of a regional airline. Although they had to say it was a Northwest Airbus in the end of the report. Bastards!


Do you really think the news was smart enough to do that? They can't tell the difference between a 747 and CRJ typically.
 
Andy...What could Congress or the FAA have done to prevent these two incidents this week (MSP and ATL)...Specifics please....

:bawling: :bawling: :bawling: :bawling:

Wait a minute joey, we'll send some tissues right over to the rjdc!
 
The Captain's side...I guess:

The captain of the Northwest Airlines jet that flew hundreds of miles without talking to air-traffic controllers gave two thumbs up after pulling up to the gate and told police he and the co-pilot "had become involved in conversation" and did not hear the radio.
A report released Friday by the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport police sheds new light on Flight 188, which flew about 150 miles past the airport Wednesday night as controllers frantically tried to reach the pilots and the military prepared to launch fighter jets to intercept it.

Controllers repeatedly called the pilots on the radio. Airline officials sent eight separate text messages to a communication system on the Airbus A320 jet. And an attempt was made to reach the pilots on a cellphone, the report said.

All of the attempts failed, the report said.

Officials from Delta Air Lines, which owns Northwest, had "quizzed" the pilots as they approached the airport gate, the report said. "The flight crew indicated only that they were okay and there had been flight deck distractions," police said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a release that the pilots told police and the FBI after landing that "they were in a heated discussion over airline policy."

The actions of the crew puzzled veteran pilots and aviation safety experts. The jet flew about 600 miles over 78 minutes without talking to controllers through a busy corridor of flights headed into and out of the Chicago area.

It's not uncommon for airline crews to briefly lose contact with controllers, but there are simple procedures pilots can follow to resume contact.

Similarly, the pilots would have had to miss dozens of cues from cockpit instruments over that span indicating that the airline was trying to reach them and that they were nearing their destination, pilots said. For example, the Airbus jets are equipped with electronic maps that show pilots their destination and location.

"It is a huge head scratcher," said Ben Berman, an airline pilot who formerly worked as a National Transportation Safety Board investigator. "I do think there is a lot more to come out."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said late Friday it had launched an investigation into the actions of the two pilots. The investigation could lead to an emergency suspension or a revocation of their pilots' licenses.

Police identified that captain as Timothy Cheney and the first officer as Richard Cole.

Both men "were cooperative, apologetic and appreciative," the report said. They volunteered to be tested for alcohol in their systems. Both tests were negative.

Documenting exactly what happened may prove difficult, however.

The so-called "black box" that records sounds in the cockpit is a model that stores only about 30 minutes of sound, the NTSB said.

That means that none of the conversation or sounds that occurred while the pilots were out of contact was captured. The crew resumed contact with controllers at 8:14 p.m. and landed about an hour later, according to the NTSB and Delta.

The only thing that could help investigators is if the pilots talked about what had happened earlier, said John Cox, a former airline pilot who is a safety consultant.

"There may be some discussion about it, but mostly it's going to be" a recording of the pilots as they prepared for a normal landing, Cox said.

Investigators also are reviewing the jet's data recorder, which may be more helpful. The data recorder monitors navigation, engines and computers on a jet and could help investigators understand what the pilots were doing during the flight.

The San Diego-to-Minneapolis flight was carrying 144 passengers, three flight attendants and two pilots, Delta Air Lines spokesman Ed Stewart said. Delta and Northwest merged a year ago but still fly under separate names.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) had been preparing to intercept the jet with four fighters, spokesman Michael Kucharek said. Before the fighters could get airborne, the Northwest pilots got back on the radio with controllers, Kucharek said. Unlike when terrorists hijacked jets on Sept. 11, 2001, the Northwest jet continued to send automatic radio beacons to radar that identified it, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown.

The case resembles a Go airlines flight to Hilo, Hawaii, on Feb. 13, 2008, in which both pilots fell asleep. The jet flew for 18 minutes without responding to controllers. It flew past Hilo and was headed toward open ocean when it turned around.

The NTSB has also raised concerns about pilots in several recent fatal accidents who made critical errors after becoming distracted by non-work-related conversations. Federal rules bar pilots from casual conversations below 10,000 feet. The Northwest jet was cruising at 37,000 feet.

Investigators will look at whether fatigue or other factors played a role in Wednesday's incident, said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway.

After leaving San Diego, the jet flew over Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. Somewhere in that area, the pilots failed to respond to a controller's instruction to switch radio frequencies, Brown said.

Controllers tried repeatedly to reach the jet, said Brown and Doug Church, with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. They contacted Delta, hoping it could contact the pilots, Brown said.

The pilots have been relieved of flying duties pending investigations, Stewart said.

Modern jets have auto pilots that allow them to fly long distances with little or no input from pilots.

Contributing: Kevin Johnson
 
ok
ok
ok
ok!!!

Newest update!

Headline news just reported the pilots told the feds they were on their laptops and got distracted!!!

You can't make this stuff up!!
 
ok
ok
ok
ok!!!

Newest update!

Headline news just reported the pilots told the feds they were on their laptops and got distracted!!!

You can't make this stuff up!!

Is General Lee on the A320 yet?:laugh:
 

Latest resources

Back
Top Bottom