NTSB: Wayward Northwest pilots awake but distracted

By Mike M. Ahlers, CNN
March 18, 2010 8:32 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- The pilots of Northwest Flight 188 did not fall
asleep when they overflew their destination by more than 100 miles in
October, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday in a
detailed report on the wayward flight.

The two pilots "became distracted by a conversation" about the
airline's new work schedule system and by laptop computers they were
using in violation of company policy and did not communicate with air
traffic control for about 1 hour and 17 minutes while they cruised
past their Minneapolis, Minnesota, destination at 37,000 feet, the
NTSB said.

The safety board also faulted the Federal Aviation Administration for
air traffic control shortcomings.

The NTSB report gives the most complete official account to date of
the errant flight, which prompted the FAA to revoke both pilots'
licenses, prompted the airline to suspend them from flying and
prompted the FAA to adopt new procedures to notify the U.S. military
in cases where the FAA loses contact with commercial aircraft.

According to the account, the flight from San Diego, California, was
routine until the plane was in the Denver, Colorado, region. There,
air traffic controllers directed the crew of the Airbus A-320 to
change their radio frequency.

The co-pilot, or first officer, acknowledged the frequency change and
read back the correct frequency. However, neither the captain nor the
first officer contacted controllers on the new frequency until about 1
hour and 17 minutes later, when Winnipeg, Manitoba, controllers
directed the crew to contact Minneapolis.

The NTSB said that because of the proximity of the Winnipeg frequency
to the last frequency acknowledged by the pilots (Winnipeg is 132.125
megahertz, while the last frequency used was 132.17) it is "likely the
first officer began to dial in the new frequency but never completed
the frequency change by pushing an activation button. Nor did the
first officer attempt to contact the next controller."

The NTSB said the frequency change likely occurred while the captain
was taking a restroom break and while a flight attendant was serving
dinner.

"These events may have distracted the first officer from completing
the frequency change or attempting to contact the next ATC
controller," the NTSB said. Further, the captain's absence would have
prevented him from checking the co-pilot's actions.

When the captain returned, the pilots became involved in a
conversation over new scheduling procedures, and the first officer
tutored the captain using their computers, the NTSB said. "The pilots
allowed this conversation to monopolize their attention," the board
said. "Both pilots state that they heard radio chatter but did not
hear a radio call for NWA188."

The laptop computers they used likely blocked their view of numerous
visual alerts, including text messages sent by airline dispatchers and
at least nine messages regarding their position on the airplane's
primary flight display, the NTSB said.

Northwest Airlines policy prohibited the use of the laptops, the NTSB
said.

Both pilots told the NTSB the first indication of anything unusual was
when a flight attendant called to ask about their arrival time. The
captain "looked at his navigation display and saw Duluth [Minnesota]
to his left and Eau Claire [Wisconsin] to his right," the board said.

The NTSB said it could not determine why the pilots did not respond to
numerous radio calls, but said it could be because the volume was
turned down, the pilots were distracted or the plane was outside the
coverage for the 121.5 megahertz transmitters.

The NTSB faulted the FAA for not catching the pilots' errors earlier,
saying the plane entered two Denver sectors uneventfully, but radio
contact was not established in the next two sectors, where controllers
were preparing for a shift change. "Neither sector controller's relief
briefing included information that communication had not been
established" with the plane, the NTSB said.

The NTSB said the FAA had no standard procedures to indicate that an
aircraft had not made radio contact when electronic radar handoffs of
planes occurred from one sector to the next.

"Because of this lack of standardization, NWA188 passed through two
Denver ATC sectors without the controllers being aware that it had not
made radio contact," the safety board said.

Almost 30 minutes had elapsed before the next sector's controller
attempted to regain contact with the plane and realized the plane was
unresponsive to radio calls, the board said.

Recognizing the problem, controllers first attempted to regain contact
by calling Northwest dispatchers, then by calling an emergency
frequency, but did not use words such as "emergency" or "mayday" that
may have helped capture the pilots' attention, the NTSB said. The
pilots did not respond.

As a result of the investigation and of the crash of an executive jet
in Montana in 2009, the safety board is recommending steps to prevent
a repeat of the incidents.

Six days after the event, the FAA revoked the licenses of Capt.
Timothy Bryan Cheney and First Officer Richard Irwin Cole, saying
their lack of awareness that they had overflown the Minneapolis
airport was "completely unacceptable" and "put your passengers and
your crew in serious jeopardy."

But in a settlement signed with the pilots on Monday, the pilots
acknowledged no wrongdoing, and the FAA agreed to allow the pilots to
reapply for their licenses in August, two months shorter than would
ordinarily be allowed.

A spokesman for Delta Airlines, which merged with Northwest, said this
week the airlines' internal investigation is continuing.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/18/way....html?hpt=Sbin
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- gpsman

gpsman writes:

But in a settlement signed with the pilots on Monday, the pilots
acknowledged no wrongdoing, and the FAA agreed to allow the pilots to
reapply for their licenses in August, two months shorter than would
ordinarily be allowed.

Thanks for posting this.

"the pilots acknowledged no wrongdoing" Well, no Sully integrity with
these two losers.

Reapply for their licenses?? Why? Make go through all the training
requirements from ab initio all over again. That will give them time to
acknowledge their professional deficiencies at least to themselves.
--
If you pray for rain long enough, it eventually does fall. If you pray
for floodwaters to abate, they eventually do. The same happens in the
absence of prayers.
~ Steve Allen

On Mar 20, 3:45*am, Bug Dout wrote:
gpsman writes:
But in a settlement signed with the pilots on Monday, the pilots
acknowledged no wrongdoing, and the FAA agreed to allow the pilots to
reapply for their licenses in August, two months shorter than would
ordinarily be allowed.

Thanks for posting this. *

"the pilots acknowledged no wrongdoing" *Well, no Sully integrity with
these two losers.

Reapply for their licenses?? *Why? *Make go through all the training
requirements from ab initio all over again. *That will give them time to
acknowledge their professional deficiencies at least to themselves.

And I'd be interested in what happened to the controllers who were
implicated in the overflight..

On Mar 19, 9:55*am, gpsman wrote:
By Mike M. Ahlers, CNN
March 18, 2010 8:32 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- The pilots of Northwest Flight 188 did not fall
asleep when they overflew their destination by more than 100 miles in
October, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday in a
detailed report on the wayward flight.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/18/way....html?hpt=Sbin
*-----

- gpsman

Sorry. Wrong NG.
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- gpsman