The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday revoked the licenses of the two Northwest Airlines pilots who flew past their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles.
The pilots - Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer -
told safety investigators they were working on their personal laptop computers and lost track of time and place.
The pilots, who were out of communications with air traffic controllers for over an hour, violated numerous federal safety regulations in the incident last Wednesday night, the FAA said in a statement. The violations included failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly, the agency said.
The pilots said they were brought back to awareness when a flight attendant contacted them on the aircraft's intercom. By then, they were over Wisconsin at 37,000 feet. They turned the Airbus A320 with its 144 passengers around and landed safely in Minneapolis.
The
revocations are effective immediately, FAA said. The pilots have 10 days to appeal the emergency revocations to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The
pilots' union at Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, had cautioned against a rush to judgment. The pilots told investigators who interviewed them on Sunday that they had no previous accidents or safety incidents. The union had no immediate comment Tuesday.
Delta spokesman Anthony Black said in a statement:
"The pilots in command of Northwest Flight 188 remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into this incident."
The NTSB has not taken or examined the laptops that the pilots were using, spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said Tuesday.
"The pilots said they were using them. So I don't know what any examination of them" would do to further the investigation, Lopatkiewicz said.
The pilots failed to respond to numerous radio messages from controllers in Denver and Minneapolis. Other pilots also tried to raise the Northwest pilots, and their airline's dispatchers sent text messages by radio.
Cole and Cheney said they both had their laptops out while the first officer, who had more experience with scheduling, instructed the captain on monthly flight crew scheduling. They said they weren't listening to the radio or watching cockpit flight displays during that period. The plane's radio was also still tuned to the frequency used by Denver controllers after the San Diego-to-Minneapolis flight had flown beyond their reach.
The
incident comes only a month after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held a meeting in Washington on distracted driving, bringing together researchers, regulators and safety advocates in response to vehicle and train accidents involving texting and cell phone use.
Pilots and aviation safety experts said the episode is likely to cause the NTSB and the FAA to take a hard look at the use of laptops and other personal electronic devices in the cockpit.
There are no federal rules that specifically ban pilots' use of laptops or other personal electronic devices as long as the plane is flying above 10,000 feet, said Diane Spitaliere, an FAA spokeswoman.
Delta said in a
statement that using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies. The airline said violations of that policy will result in termination.
JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer
“It’s inexcusable,” said former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall.
“I feel sorry for the individuals involved, but this was certainly not an innocuous event — this was a significant breach of aviation safety and aviation security.”
___________________________________
Delta Air Lines Issues Statement on Northwest Flight 188 Investigation
Oct 26, 2009
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today issued a statement regarding the company's cooperation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the investigation of Northwest Flight 188. Delta and its Northwest operating subsidiary continue to openly and fully cooperate with the NTSB and FAA to complete the investigation. The pilots in command of Northwest Flight 188 remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into this incident.
Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson said:
"Nothing is more important to Delta than safety. We are going to continue to cooperate fully with the NTSB and the FAA in their investigations."
The NTSB earlier today issued a public release highlighting the initial findings of its investigation into the incident, including evidence that the pilots involved said they were distracted at cruise altitude between San Diego and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The NTSB's press release stated that the pilots said in interviews that
"there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from ATC even though both stated they heard conversation on the radio ... neither pilot noticed messages that were sent by company dispatchers ... both said they lost track of time ... (and) each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure."
SOURCE: Delta Air Lines
Web site: http://www.delta.com/
