Stray Jet’s Pilots On Flight 188 Were On Laptops

Stray Jet’s Pilots On Flight 188 Were On Laptops…now that is a statement that should make even the most confident flier squeamish. I know that it does me.

I am surprised that you haven’t seen more driving and laptop/texting/cellphone/blackberry, automobile accidents.

What Happened On Northwest Flight 188

Last week, the pilots of a commercial jetliner, an Airbus 320, flying at 37,000 feet over Denver, Colorado, overshot its destination by about 150 miles have stated that they were using their laptops and lost track of time and location, according to federal safety officials.

The Northwest Flight 188, departing from San Diego, en route to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, was carrying 144 passengers, two pilots and three flight attendants.

Baby Boomers, if you remember, Northwest recently merged with Delta Air Lines.

“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 and violations of that policy will result in termination,” Delta stated about the incident.

As well, an airline spokesman for Northwest has stated that they have sent $500 travel vouchers to passengers on Flight 188.

Stray Jet’s Pilots On Flight 188 Were On Laptops-Who Where They?

* Pilot Timothy B. Cheney, 53, was hired in 1985 and has more than 20,000 hours flight time.
* First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, was hired in 1997 and has about 11,000 hours of flight time.

Neither pilot reported having had an accident, incident or violation, neither had any ongoing medical conditions and neither stated that they were tired.

Both pilots had just gotten off an 19 hour layover in San Diego.

Neither pilot stated that he had slept or argued during the flight, but both stated that “there was a distraction” in the cockpit, and that distraction were their laptops.

The pilots stated that there was “a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls” from air traffic control. Both stated that they heard conversation on the radio.

After landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul, both pilots voluntarily underwent alcohol breath tests, which proved negative.

For 78 minutes, the pilots did not respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers. I wonder what they were looking at? For the full story of “Stray Jet’s Pilots On Flight 188 Were On Laptops,” go to CNN News.