My uncle used to tell me this funny story about how he pulled off at an exit to use the rest room and get some coffee – he was exhausted and really should have just closed his eves and taken a nap – then got back in his car and drove two hours in the wrong direction. This was a long time ago down South in Florida where there were nowhere near as many signs as their as now. I too, have done similar, but realized my mistake quickly and turned around.
Well, this past week, two Northwest airlines pilot missed their destination airport and continued flying 150 miles before re-establishing contact with authorities and finally turning the aircraft around. According to The New York Times, “Four fighter jets were put on alert. Air traffic control centers from Denver to Minneapolis tried numerous times to reach the pilots by radio, E-mail, data text and cell phone, with one center trying to reach the pilot 13 times. Even the White House was alerted to the wayward Airbus A320. Finally, a flight attendant was able to contact the pilots, and they turned the plane around and landed it safely.”
The pilot and co-pilot told air traffic controllers they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of where they were. Aviation analysts, puzzled by the unusually long gap, wondered whether the pilots could have been sleeping. But the pilot denied that, and made comments that added to the confusion. He said: “It was not a serious event from a safety standpoint.”
The Times reports: “the two pilots have been suspended by Delta Air Lines, which merged with Northwest last year and operates its flights. The pilots, flying from San Diego to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with 144 passengers and three flight attendants on board, stopped communicating with air traffic controllers at some point east of Denver. The two did not even attempt a descent as the plane cruised above Minneapolis-St. Paul and instead continued 110 miles past the airport to Eau Claire, WI.
Follow this link for more details on the story: "http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/24/airliner.fly.by/index.html
