Mystery deepens over what distracted pilots on plane that overshot by 150 miles

Telegraph ^ | 10/24/09 | Philip Sherwell

[TigerLikesRooster]

Mystery deepens over what distracted pilots on plane that overshot by 150 miles

The mystery of the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles has deepened after the first officer insisted that he and the pilot were not asleep or arguing.

By Philip Sherwell in New York

Published: 6:39PM BST 24 Oct 2009

The mystery of the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles has deepened after the first officer insisted that he and the pilot were not asleep or arguing. Pilots on the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles will not say what they were doing Photo: AP

Richard Cole refuted two explanations put forward for the strange case of NW flight 188 when the cockpit crew was out of radio contact for more than an hour after flying past Minneapolis, their final stop on Wednesday evening.

"Nobody was asleep in the cockpit. No arguments took place," Mr Cole told a local television station from his home in Oregon. "But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we're having hearings this weekend, we're having hearings on Tuesday. All that information will come out then."

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Surely, you don’t think they were having sex?!

[Sacajaweau]

Since no one has a reasonable explanation and they will be testifying shortly....

I'm inclined to think the entire matter was a ruse.....and OBAMA will take over the entire airline industry and place it under a NEW CZAR under Homeland Security!!!

[old curmudgeon]

Pardon the double post.

My browser lied to me and told me it did not go the first time.

[OldDeckHand]

"But they do “slow” down to approach."

As much as I'd love to insert a "wife" joke here, I won't. But, I believe that the plane remained at altitude up to the point that they had realized they overshot their destination. If they were at altitude, they probably didn't reduce their airspeed, which would indicate that they were out of radio contact for a considerable amount of distance before they even approached their destination.

That begs the question, did they not respond to radio calls from control, and did the tower even attempt to contact the aircraft. Long story short, how after 9/11 can a plane either on course, or especially off course, go 1.5 hours in complete radio silence. Why were there no fighters scrambled when a plane has gone silent for well over an hour? It sounds like their could be some other systemic problems at play here in addition to pilot incompetence or negligence.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

What was happening in the control tower?

[isom35]

1 or 2 hot stewardesses involved?

[Spirochete]

I smell a sex scandal. What other reason would there be for such secrecy? Perhaps a little mile high action distraction?

I was thinking the same thing. 78 minutes of radio silence? When did *that* clock start ticking? They could easily fly 150 miles in 20 minutes.

[AmusedBystander]

Surely, you don’t think they were having sex?!,

No I don't. And please don't call me Shirley.

[A knight without armor]

I think they lost contact with them way before they were near the airport.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if it turns out they were like half way to the North Pole, realized it, and turned back and waited until they were just 150 miles off the path before they responded?

[Sacajaweau]

For all the reasons you mention....It's why I think the overshot was a "test" of some sort.

Notice that no one is calling it a diversion. If they flew over the airport, surely radar picked them up.

Something is up....It's all about "TIME" and we're time freaks in today's world.

[Peter Horry]

Did they experience a time lose?

[Joe Boucher]

sleeping or boinking each other.

[mountainlion]

What was happening in the control tower?

They seem to have not been handed off form one air space to another let alone get handed off to Approach control.

[The Comedian]

Secrecy. Missing time. Confused and contradictory statements. Only one phenomenon fits this profile:

Well, OK, two phenomena:

[Sacajaweau]

Just another thought....Suppose, suppose they were simulating an actual pilot who was an actual terrorist at the helm....weird.

[BIGLOOK]

Out of contact for an hour, but only flew 150 mph past the airport?

It's puzzling as it stands but the tower was probably expecting the flight to land on it's schedule and started hailing them about a hundred miles out. The tower may have noticed that the flight hadn't descended below 24,000 approach. No radio contact and an aircraft flying right over top at altitude wasn't a threat (to them) but drove 'em nuts. Then calls were made to inform Homeland Security et al of the errant aircraft. So the time frame would be one hour but distances extended to maybe 250-300 miles, until the flight attendant woke 'em up.

We had a similar incident of an overflight here a year or so ago. A flight from Honolulu to Hilo over flew the a/p, out of contact for 20 minutes before turning around and landing. Those flights are only 45 minutes long and everybody on the a/c knew something was wrong....all they had to do was check their watches and look out the windows and see Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa pass by.

[lefty-lie-spy]

Were the pilot and co-pilot/navigator both males? These guys just might get promoted to a posh position at the FAA or ETSB.

[Panama714]

From the article:

"There were 78 minutes of radio silence before air traffic controllers re-established radio contact after trying to contact the pilot and first officer by radio, mobile phone, text messages and email."

This suggests that they were expecting the crew's cell phones/smartphones to be on and functional. Interesting, as I would have thought SOP would be to have them turned off. Wouldn't the crew be violating FAA rules if their cell phones were operational?

[downtownconservative]

All modern (new generation) aircraft require FMC input from the pilots regarding destination, route of flight, arrival procedure, etc. Wrong inputs can be serious. Korean 007 learned the hard way many years ago.

Automation requires management and a crew acting in accordance with checklist procedures. I think this crew was lax in preflight deligence and enroute cockpit management. They put personal issues above the safety of the flight. They won’t go to jail, but they will no longer possess Airline Transport Pilot ratings or jobs at the end of this hearing.

[OldDeckHand]

"Then calls were made to inform Homeland Security et al of the errant aircraft."

That's what was supposed to happen, but I haven't seen it reported anywhere that the tower actually made those calls. Perhaps they did, and it just wasn't reported.

And, I remember that HI incident. You're right, with a location like the HI islands, it would certainly raise many more suspicions with the passengers, because it would be so visually apparent. In that case it was definitely pilot fatigue, was it not?