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iaflyer 10-22-2009 11:52 AM

Northwest jet overshoots Minneapolis airport
 
Just saw this on the WSJ. This blurb below is from the Minneapolis paper. The WSJ suggests the crew might of fallen alsleep. Here's the flightaware data too:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N...135Z/KSAN/KMSP

Northwest jet overshoots Minneapolis airport

Associated Press
Last update: October 22, 2009 - 2:46 PM

MINNEAPOLIS - Federal officials say a Northwest Airlines jet overflew the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles before crew members discovered their mistake. The plane landed safely Wednesday evening, and none of the 147 passengers and crew were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board says the Airbus A320 was flying from San Diego to Minneapolis and lost radio contact with controllers before 7 p.m. The NTSB says the jet flew about 150 miles past the Minneapolis airport before communications were re-established at 8:14 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration says the crew told authorities they became distracted during a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of where they were. Airline officials didn't immediately return calls.



MatthewAMEL 10-22-2009 11:55 AM

Well, there's another explanation....

Northwest pilots slumber; miss landing strip: WSJ
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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight to Minneapolis from San Diego were being investigated Thursday for allegedly falling asleep and overshooting their destination by about 100 miles. No one was injured during the incident, which occurred Wednesday night, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed government and industry officials. Pilots on the Airbus A320 briefly lost radio contact with air-traffic controllers before turning the plane around and landing, the newspaper said. The incident comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing its decades-old rules on how long commercial pilots can fly and remain on duty, the Journal said. Northwest is a unit of Delta Air Lines (DAL 8.55, +0.22, +2.64%) .

iaflyer 10-22-2009 11:57 AM

from the Wall Street Journal
Airport Overshoot Prompts Pilot-Fatigue Probe

By ANDY PASZTOR

A Northwest Airlines flight approaching Minneapolis Wednesday night lost contact with controllers and overshot its destination by about 150 miles before circling back to land. Federal safety regulators are investigating the incident as a possible case of pilots nodding off, according to government and airline-industry officials familiar with the matter.

Controllers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were able to re-establish contact with the Airbus A320 before the plane, en route from San Diego, landed safely and without injuries, these people said.
Details are still emerging and the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release information later Thursday. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating the incident. Based on preliminary indications, industry and government officials believe the crew may have briefly fallen asleep, flown past the airport and then circled back to land.
Northwest is a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority," Delta said in a statement. "We are cooperating with the FAA and NTSB in their investigation as well as conducting our own internal investigation. The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations."

The incident comes as the FAA is seeking to update and rewrite decades-old rules governing how long commercial pilots can fly and remain on duty during a given period.
Wednesday night's incident is the second time in less than a week that a Delta cockpit crew was involved in a high-profile safety lapse. On Monday, a long-range Delta Boeing 767 en route from Brazil to Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport landed on a taxiway, rather than the parallel runway. There were no injuries to any of the 182 passengers or 11 crew members.

The safety board is investigating whether pilot fatigue was an important factor. The crew had flown all night and was landing in darkness. The approach lights for the runway weren't turned on, however the lights on the runway surface were illuminated, according to the safety board.
Concerning the Minneapolis flight, it's not clear what the pilots' schedule was in the hours before it overshot the airport Wednesday night. But their work hours and sleep schedules in the preceding few days will be among the main issues examined by investigators.

In the case of the Delta crew that landed on the taxiway in Atlanta, the safety board said Wednesday that a third pilot aboard the twin-engine Boeing 767 had fallen ill during the flight and "was relocated to the cabin" before landing. The board said there was 10-miles visibility when the big jet touched down on the taxiway.

Earlier media reports indicated that the crew of the Boeing 767 had been temporarily removed from flying duties.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [email protected]

paxhauler85 10-22-2009 11:58 AM


Originally Posted by MatthewAMEL (Post 698746)
Well, there's another explanation....

Northwest pilots slumber; miss landing strip: WSJ
Explore related topics
Airlines Delta Air Lines Inc
STORYQUOTESCOMMENTS SCREENER
AlertEmailPrintShare By Christopher Hinton
DAL

8.758.508.258.007.757.50
8a9a10a11a12p1p2p3p

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight to Minneapolis from San Diego were being investigated Thursday for allegedly falling asleep and overshooting their destination by about 100 miles. No one was injured during the incident, which occurred Wednesday night, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed government and industry officials. Pilots on the Airbus A320 briefly lost radio contact with air-traffic controllers before turning the plane around and landing, the newspaper said. The incident comes as the Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing its decades-old rules on how long commercial pilots can fly and remain on duty, the Journal said. Northwest is a unit of Delta Air Lines (DAL 8.55, +0.22, +2.64%) .

One hour isn't exactly brief when your doing 450 kts.

beer 10-22-2009 12:05 PM

"Debating airline policy"

Pretty much sums up every flight!!!

Zoot Suit 10-22-2009 12:28 PM

$15 could have saved a career.

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Don't leave home without it.

TonyWilliams 10-22-2009 12:41 PM

I'm going to be riding on this SAN-MSP flight in a few weeks. What eventually happened to the crew of the Mesa CRJ that fell asleep in Hawaii? We've definitely had people get dead out here on the left coast when they fell asleep and went out over the ocean.... Waking up when the motors ran out of gas.

Sounds like the crew of the ATL taxiway landing is covering for their buddy who was either in the jumpseat (unlikely) and watched/let it happen, or was supposed to be there, and now had a convenient reason why he wasn't.

80ktsClamp 10-22-2009 12:45 PM


Originally Posted by TonyWilliams (Post 698796)
I'm going to be riding on this SAN-MSP flight in a few weeks. What eventually happened to the crew of the Mesa CRJ that fell asleep in Hawaii? We've definitely had people get dead out here on the left coast when they fell asleep and went out over the ocean.... Waking up when the motors ran out of gas.

Sounds like the crew of the ATL taxiway landing is covering for their buddy who was either in the jumpseat (unlikely) and watched/let it happen, or was supposed to be there, and now had a convenient reason why he wasn't.


The Mesa crew got canned. CA lost his medical.


As far as the ATL crew- what??

ClipperJet 10-22-2009 12:57 PM

There is no "good" side to this. Either they fell asleep (bad) or weren't paying attention (equally bad). They landed at about 9:00pm local, so it wasn't that late. Sadly, I think the unemployment numbers just went up by two.

Anybody know if they commuted in that morning? If so, the "pre-flight crewrest" giant has just been awakened.

Did they scramble fighters?

NoBeta 10-22-2009 12:59 PM

I can't wait to hear the CVR on this one. Get ready for some interesting debates amongst yourselves.

Maybe they were too busy armwrestling:rolleyes: after the heated debate.....


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