NW flight overflies destination

TangoWhiskey said:
Saw video interview at the copilot's front door in Oregon, he said they were NOT arguing, NOR were they asleep.
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If he told the media something other than what they told the FBI after they landed, the FBI is going to start digging very hard, including using everything they have in their lab (and that's a lot of capability) to reconstruct the overwritten material on the CVR tape. R&W's "everybody lies" poster may be true, but it's a real bad idea when being interviewed by the FBI.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Wouldn't it be interesting if it was just their volume on the radios got turned down or they accidentally got off freq?
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Wouldn't they check those things when they were ready to start down for MSP and hadn't heard from ATC?
 
You'd think something along those lines would get their attention. TOD display on the flight-plan screen, pre-descent checklist (ATIS, etc) would be expected. OTOH, some of the voice stuff is now delievered by AFIS, so you would have to know the particulars of the system and checklist protocols in that airplane to know for sure.

roncachamp said:
Wouldn't they check those things when they were ready to start down for MSP and hadn't heard from ATC?
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wabower said:
You'd think something along those lines would get their attention. TOD display on the flight-plan screen, pre-descent checklist (ATIS, etc) would be expected. OTOH, some of the voice stuff is now delievered by AFIS, so you would have to know the particulars of the system and checklist protocols in that airplane to know for sure.
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It seems to me the least damaging scenario is the crew just dozed off.
 
And I can't believe there wouldn't have been an ACARS message or two with accompanying dings ... Car 54 where are you?
 
Folks, we're missing something in the discussion in that the 320 crew would have had to ignore several warnings; some of which are loud audio. ACARs in the plane, and the cell call is pretty loud. FMC gives you a ROUTE DISCONTINUITY and drops out of LNAV/VNAV into other modes... and no one NOTICED?

Perhaps some folks flying this bird could elaborate.

Now, if it was an Italian crew, I might understand. In a heated discussion with wild hand and arm gestures, who knows what they could have bumped and turned off <g>

Best,

Dave
 
Maybe they were having lap dances like the Continental Crew did a few years back:nono:
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Saw video interview at the copilot's front door in Oregon, he said they were NOT arguing, NOR were they asleep. He appeared to be a very seasoned pilot (age 50 or more).
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Perhaps they just wanted to visit the beautiful state of Wisconsin.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
He appeared to be a very seasoned pilot (age 50 or more).
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Good thing he and the other pilot are not age 60 or more or we would be hearing a lot more. Come to think of it, good thing they have more than 500 hours and hold ATPs...
 
I found this little tidbit interesting from the FOXNews report:
With worries about terrorists still high, even after contact was re-established, air traffic controllers asked the crew to prove who they were by executing turns.
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gprellwitz said:
I found this little tidbit interesting from the FOXNews report:
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Quote:
With worries about terrorists still high, even after contact was re-established, air traffic controllers asked the crew to prove who they were by executing turns.

Q. What do you have to do to get a military intercept and be shot down?

A. Unknown.

Comment: With all the TSA/DHS anti-terrorism rules, regs and preventative actions :nonod: the military isn't going to shoot down a f***ing thing.

"It's their fault, their systems failed, we won't be held responsible. We assumed that no terrorists could get through their safeguards, we would be shooting down unarmed babies, lactating mothers, little girls in pigtails and potential young, male war hero-fodder."

:yikes:
 
WSJ and FoxNews are reporting that the pilots have told the NTSB they were distracted by using their laptops in the cockpit to look at crew scheduling and other airline policies; contact from one of the flight attendants roused them to their situation.
 
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TangoWhiskey said:
WSJ and FoxNews are reporting that the pilots have told the NTSB they were distracted by using their laptops in the cockpit;...
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That's not the same as what the NTSB says they told the FBI. Which statement was a lie? And are they familiar with 18 USC 1001?
Sec. 1001. Statements or entries generally

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any
matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or
judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and
willfully--
(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or
device a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent
statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same
to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement
or entry;

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or,
if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in
section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. If the matter
relates to an offense under chapter 109A, 109B, 110, or 117, or section
1591, then the term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be
not more than 8 years.
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Note that this investigation was a "matter within the jurisdiction of the executive...branch" which includes both FBI and NTSB.
 
Ron Levy said:
Note that this investigation was a "matter within the jurisdiction of the executive...branch" which includes both FBI and NTSB.
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And the reports I've heard say that the White House has been involved and have let it be known that they would look favorably on making an "example" out of these pilots. :yikes:
 
TangoWhiskey said:
WSJ and FoxNews are reporting that the pilots have told the NTSB they were distracted by using their laptops in the cockpit to look at crew scheduling and other airline policies; contact from one of the flight attendants roused them to their situation.
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Yeah, that's the ticket...

1986-03-15-1.jpg



Trapper John
 
Hey, many times I've suggested folks like this could benefit from attending excuse school! Just another case. Maybe when I retire, I'll start one. IMO should be part of any good professional course.

If you can't give a good excuse, just don't give one at all. If I'm going to have to sit and listen to an excuse, at least make if worth my while.

These guys would have been better off saying they were tired and fell asleep. Being awake and deliberately distracted with all those folks in back depending upon them to act professionally is really disturbing.

Best,

Dave
 
wsuffa said:
And the reports I've heard say that the White House has been involved and have let it be known that they would look favorably on making an "example" out of these pilots. :yikes:
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Without regard to whether or not this is true, can any trial lawyers here comment on whether that would create grounds for defense objections?
 
TangoWhiskey said:
using their laptops in the cockpit to look at crew scheduling and other airline policies;
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is this physically possible?
does it not require internet access? (I didn't realize it was available if it is.)
or, are they saying they download the schedule and the employee manual somehow?
 
From AP story:

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.
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Oh my goodness. And all this time flying I was logged onto POA... :eek:
 
AdamZ said:
Wonder if they were Macbooks or PCs?
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Couldn't have been a Mac. I think the Apple fanboys would agree the Mac would have recognized the situation, made the radio calls automatically, and landed the plane...all by itself. It is, after all, the Chuck Norris of computers, right? :frown2:

Had to be PCs....
 
ggroves said:
Couldn't have been a Mac. I think the Apple fanboys would agree the Mac would have recognized the situation, made the radio calls automatically, and landed the plane...all by itself. It is, after all, the Chuck Norris of computers, right?
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:rofl:

Of course, the real problem was obviously the scheduling system, which was clearly designed by PCers. :rolleyes:
 
Hey! Scheduling is very important stuff. I know sr. captains that get that new schedule submitted right away to get the trips they want for the next month. Probably was trying to get his schedule in and had a slow connection; you know, kept getting an hour glass when trying to send. Pretty frustrating stuff!

Best,

Dave
 
I all know is this:

Honesty is the best policy.
 
Another theory being floated around is one of the pilots had taken Viagra later than planned that morning; had to wait thirty more minutes before it would go down. (It did say they were distracted by their lap tops.)

Best,

Dave
 
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Dave Siciliano said:
Another theory being floated around is one of the pilots had taken Viagra later than planned that morning; had to wait thirty more minutes before it would go down. (It did say they were distracted by their lap tops.)
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:eek: :rofl:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Top Ten Reasons The Northwest Pilots Overflew MSP on Letterman in a few minutes...
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Okay, here's the top 10 reasons they overflew:
10. "There were a bunch of fat guys sitting on the right side of the plane and that made us vector east."
9. "We get paid by the hour."
8. "Mapquest always takes you the long way, am I right, people?"
7. They were tired of Sullenberger getting all the attention.
6. "YOU try steering after 8 or 9 cocktails!"
5. They wanted to catch the end of the in-flight movie
4. Activating the autopilot and making an occasional PA announcement is EXHAUSTING!
3. "Well, according to our map, we only missed it by half an inch!" :rofl:
2. For a change, Northwest decided to get the luggage to the correct city and lose the passengers instead. :rofl: :rofl:
1. They thought they saw Balloon Boy. :rolleyes:
 
friggin unbelievable - two high time ATP rated pilots who are oblivious for an hour and a half in a plane droning away on autopilot... At first, thinking they zonked out from fatigue, I felt sorry for them... Now, I think they should turn in their ATP ratings and go get a job flipping burgers...

denny-o
 
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