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Mystery deepens over what distracted pilots on plane that overshot by 150 miles
Telegraph ^ | 10/24/09 | Philip Sherwell

Posted on 10/25/2009 9:59:16 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

click here to read article


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To: SoCal Pubbie
Ok... That would explain the why of the current situation...

the infowarrior

41 posted on 10/25/2009 10:25:48 AM PDT by infowarrior
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To: Paul46360

But they do “slow” down to approach. You don’t drive 35mph directly into your garage and then hit the brakes...or do you???!!!

———————————————————————————>>

Yes, but I also don’t drive 5 mph on my entire commute from the office either.


42 posted on 10/25/2009 10:26:11 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: Sacajaweau

Personally I cannot fathom how the road warriors onboard would not have inquired about their arrival time, but bear in mind they only flew 150 miles PAST their destination, which is about 15 - 20 minutes. Not everyone would be immediately concerned that they had not started their descent/ initial approach.

I understand they were flying at 37,000 ft., so if there was cloud cover at any altitude below them, folks might have missed landmarks.

Also, they (pilots) might have inadvertently entered an incorrect frequency on their radio after being ‘handed off’ from one controller to the next.

There’s reasons why they could ‘lose’ radio contact.

BUT ... in an A320 I cannot believe the nav system/ flight computer wouldn’t have nagged them terribly about waypoints.

This is one for the books.


43 posted on 10/25/2009 10:27:50 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur)
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To: Libertarian4Bush

Good point!


44 posted on 10/25/2009 10:28:38 AM PDT by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: Paul46360
I wanna hear those tapes!!!!!

Not much to hear since the tapes only record the last 30 minutes which would have been well after they realized their errors and were returning to the airport.

45 posted on 10/25/2009 10:29:13 AM PDT by Don Corleone ("Oil the gun..eat the cannolis. Take it to the Mattress.")
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To: SoCal Pubbie
And a flight attendant might be heard saying, “damn, I want a cigarette” lol
46 posted on 10/25/2009 10:30:38 AM PDT by Kansas58
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To: infowarrior
What I have *not* heard, yet, is what the cockpit recorder revealed.

What I heard is that it only records in blocks of time like every 20 minutes or so then it recycles, recording over the previous recorded segment. So the only thing that will be heard is the last period of recorded time which would entail the approach and final landing........thats what I heard and I think it came from the guy who is the head of the NTSB.

47 posted on 10/25/2009 10:31:47 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Who's your Long Legged MacDaddy?)
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To: rickomatic

...Joey, ya’ever seen a grown man naked?


48 posted on 10/25/2009 10:32:08 AM PDT by americanophile (Sarcasm: satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language.)
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To: rickomatic

In-Flight Orgy? Ya know, Charles Krauthammer raised a great question.. Not one member of the crew, stewards, etc., realized something was wrong? A 1 hour extension of the flight surely couldn’t have gone unnoticed.


49 posted on 10/25/2009 10:33:53 AM PDT by historyrepeatz
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To: nmh

Oh I didn’t realize that ~ I’d seen that they said there was no arguing and they weren’t sleeping....

I personally wonder if they were sleeping and just don’t want to admit it because they’d lose their jobs.


50 posted on 10/25/2009 10:36:01 AM PDT by leapfrog0202
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Lewinsky....calling Lewinsky
51 posted on 10/25/2009 10:36:25 AM PDT by TRY ONE (NUKE the unborn gay whales!)
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To: darkwing104

Would that be the Lake Superior Triangle, or the lake Erie Triangle?


52 posted on 10/25/2009 10:36:27 AM PDT by norton
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To: nagdt

I was wondering also why a flight attendant didn’t pick up the phone to the cockpit and say hey, we just overflew the airport.


53 posted on 10/25/2009 10:37:47 AM PDT by leapfrog0202
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To: Blueflag
Somehow, I think their waypoints are also "pictoral"...aka...targets...

Any good stewardess is watching the clock....They have a job to do prior to landing.

54 posted on 10/25/2009 10:38:19 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: rickomatic

Gets my vote.


55 posted on 10/25/2009 10:38:39 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard (Truth--The liberal's Kryptonite)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

My initial reaction was that either they were drinking or listening to a ball game and got overly involved. Not sure what day this happened, though. If on a weekday, then probably NOT a game.


56 posted on 10/25/2009 10:38:48 AM PDT by 1951Boomer
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To: Paul46360
But they do “slow” down to approach. You don’t drive 35mph directly into your garage and then hit the brakes...or do you???!!!

No, but my wife does....

57 posted on 10/25/2009 10:39:23 AM PDT by Unruly Human
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To: Sacajaweau

“Passengers should have noticed”.

How many times has this been written and the logic ignored?

Passengers are so used to being late because of traffic or weather holds that they would have paid no attention.

I do wonder about the attendants not asking, because they are usually aware of potential weather or traffic holds well in advance.

So it is odd that no flight attendant asked.

But it could be something as simple as the crew putting the wrong way point into the navigation system and not realizing what they had done until they got to that point, or near it, and found out there was no MSP there.

It would be interesting to know where they reversed or ask to reverse course and what prominent way point was in proximity at that time and whether its ID was anything close to the ID for MSP.

If they used lat. and long., it could have been a simple mistake in the numbers.

It would be helpful if some of the big iron guys would speculate, but I can see the reluctance to say anything that might prejudice the future of these guys.

Losing contact with the center is not at all unusual. What is really unusual and at the heart of the mystery is why, barring an electrical emergency, they had TOTAL radio failure. If they remained on the last frequency expecting to be turned over to the next, center would have a flight in that vicinity call them on their last assigned frequency.

In addition, I would expect that their company would have called them to verify their arrival time.

A very odd incident to say the least.


58 posted on 10/25/2009 10:42:32 AM PDT by old curmudgeon
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To: downtownconservative

The A-320 is a good plane, but perhaps a tad over automated.


59 posted on 10/25/2009 10:43:37 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: Sacajaweau

“Passengers should have noticed”.

How many times has this been written and the logic ignored?

Passengers are so used to being late because of traffic or weather holds that they would have paid no attention.

I do wonder about the attendants not asking, because they are usually aware of potential weather or traffic holds well in advance.

So it is odd that no flight attendant asked.

But it could be something as simple as the crew putting the wrong way point into the navigation system and not realizing what they had done until they got to that point, or near it, and found out there was no MSP there.

It would be interesting to know where they reversed or ask to reverse course and what prominent way point was in proximity at that time and whether its ID was anything close to the ID for MSP.

If they used lat. and long., it could have been a simple mistake in the numbers.

It would be helpful if some of the big iron guys would speculate, but I can see the reluctance to say anything that might prejudice the future of these guys.

Losing contact with the center is not at all unusual. What is really unusual and at the heart of the mystery is why, barring an electrical emergency, they had TOTAL radio failure. If they remained on the last frequency expecting to be turned over to the next, center would have a flight in that vicinity call them on their last assigned frequency.

In addition, I would expect that their company would have called them to verify their arrival time.

A very odd incident to say the least.


60 posted on 10/25/2009 10:44:01 AM PDT by old curmudgeon
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