The pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot its destination airport by 150 miles last week told federal investigators they had a 19-hour layover on the ground before the flight and did not fall asleep at the wheel, but instead were distracted as they reviewed a new flight scheduling system.
“The discussion began at cruise altitude,” said a statement issued Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
“Both said they lost track of time,” the NTSB said. “Both said there was no heated argument. Both stated there was a distraction in the cockpit.”
Officials were so concerned about the failure of the flight from San Diego to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to communicate with air traffic controllers that armed F-16 military jets were put on standby to intercept the commercial flight in the event it had been hijacked.
Air traffic control and airline officials tried repeatedly to reach the captain and first officer of Flight 188, which was carrying 147 passengers and wound up over Wisconsin before the pilots finally were reached.
The pilots said there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from air traffic control, even though both stated they heard conversation on the radio. Also, neither pilot noticed messages sent by company dispatchers.
They were discussing the new monthly flight-scheduling system that was now in place for crew as a result of Northwest’s recent merger with Delta Air Lines and had accessed their personal laptops, the use of which is prohibited by company policy.
“Neither pilot was aware of the airplane’s position until a flight attendant called about five minutes before they were scheduled to land and asked what was their estimated time of arrival,” the NTSB said.
It was at that point the captains realized they had passed by the airport.
When asked by air traffic control what the problem was, they replied that it was “just cockpit distraction” and “dealing with company issues.”
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