When Northwest Airlines Flight 188 missed the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport by about 150 miles on Oct. 21, only to double back and land safely, speculation began to swirl around what happened. After investigating, the National Transportation Safety Board issued an advisory stating, “The crew said they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness.”
But could the pilots have been so chatty that they failed to notice they were out of radio contact for one hour and 18 minutes? Or, as some have suggested, did they succumb to fatigue and fall asleep? Cockpit-voice recorders could have the answers. Trouble is, the one involved is outdated and contains only 30 minutes of memory.
NTSB investigators will interview the pilots next week, and perhaps we’ll learn whether an argument, a nap or something else contributed to the error.
Meanwhile, the FAA is updating its rules on how many hours commercial pilots may fly while remaining on duty. The NTSB also cautioned government agencies this week about the risks of sleep apnea contributing to transportation accidents.
In a post-9/11 world, a plane that has become a “NORDO” (no radio communications) flight is highly suspicious. During this incident, the Air National Guard put fighter jets on alert, and both the FBI and airport police were waiting on the ground to ensure the plane’s safety. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been secured and are being sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, D.C.; meanwhile, the pilots involved have been suspended from flying.
Do you believe the pilots’ explanation? And do you have ideas about what can be done to increase air safety? Post your thoughts in the comments section.
I believe that if fatigue was the reason for this incident and new regulations are not imposed on the pilot's time they may fly while on duty these kinds of incidents will become more frequent, putting more passengers at risk. I know the pilots are not totally at fault, airlines need to reevaluate their own policies and put the passengers before their profits.
No, I don't believe the explanation. Either they were "knocked out asleep" as they didn't hear any radio communication or they were doing something else and if they were they still should have heard radio communication. The story just doesn't add up. They are not telling the truth and as a frequent flyer I think this should be throughly investigaged even to the point of asking them to take lie detector tests.
They should loose licenses. Never fly again, we the public have to sit in a plane and not even get a chance to view the pilots. We must trust these types of people with our lives. In addition, than they lie about what happened. No pilot, should be allowed, to not answer a radio. This is very bad, I say never again North West never again
Just think of the simple worker whom hurts another worker he goes to jail due to osha. They should go to jail.
No I do not buy they excuse there is more to this story
probably got cities mixed up
I was a flight attendant for many years and I do not believe their story. Looks like they both fell asleep.
I agree with Drewe. They overslept. This kind of trouble is usually avoided when you travel by private jet charter. Reason you are usually talking with the crew and cabin members during flight. Just my two cents. Thanks. Chttp://www.247jet.com/
