Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS - There was concern at the White House about that wayward Northwest Airlines jet that flew past its scheduled destination in Minneapolis. White House spokesman Nick Shapiro told The Associated Press on Saturday that senior White House officials were alerted by the White House Situation Room and they closely monitored the incident. Shapiro didn't say if President Barack Obama was informed about the wayward plane. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here Northwest Flight 118 was out of communications with air traffic controllers for over an hour Wednesday night. The plane carrying 144 passengers and five crew members...

Many a person has missed their stop on a bus or train at one time or another because they were engrossed in a weighty conversation or a book. But when the pilots of Northwest Airlines flight 188 became distracted it had more serious consequences as they overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles. "They were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness," the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) explained. When the pilots got their "situational awareness" back they turned the Airbus A320 around and landed it safely on Wednesday evening, apparently without any of...