Off-course pilots were laptopping-while-flying

Two pilots on a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Minneapolis, MN flew past the airport in error last week, and federal investigators now report that this was caused by laptop distraction in the cockpit. Northwest has just gone through a merger, and the pilots were apparently kvetching to one another about the confusing new scheduling system imposed post-merger.

"Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure," the NTSB report said. More from the New York Times.

The pilots told the National Transportation Safety Board that they missed their destination because they had taken out their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of airline policy, so the first officer, Richard I. Cole, could tutor the captain, Timothy B. Cheney, in a new scheduling system put in place by Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last fall.

• [echolocate chocolate]

  Sounds like they were bickering. The story says “they had taken out their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of airline policy, so the first officer, Richard I. Cole, could tutor the captain, Timothy B. Cheney, in a new scheduling system”.

  Tutoring as in:

  “Well I think we’re supposed to do X, Z then Y before landing.”
  “No, it’s definitely Y, X, then Z.”
  “You’re full of crap. Let me show you on my laptop.”

  Of course now they feel stupid because they missed their cues over some stupid argument.

• [franko]

  well, from all the FUD we’ve been given over the years about wireless usage while on planes, it’s a wonder the plane didn’t immediately plummet from the sky like a stone.

• [zenbeatnik]

  That airplane is definitely NOT Wi-Fi equipped. Whatever they were looking at on their “laptops” would have to have been on their hard drives or a thumb drive.

• [Anonymous]

  I am a former 19 year flight attendant for a major us carrier and I had viewed many times the pilots utilizing their laptop during flights. This is no mystery to any flight crew member for any major US airline.

• [rtresco]

  This CNN article says they discovered their mistake when a flight attendent asked them the ETA when they were five minutes out from the planned ETA… and they flew for another HOUR. Does this mean they were an hour ahead of schedule?
  This is all far from over. I say the laptop story is a way to curb the damage of civil lawsuits from putting everyone’s life in danger when they were sleeping. It will seem less reckless if they claim to be awake but preoccupied.

  http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/26/airliner.flyby/index.html

• [stupidhaiku]

  So this is why they tell everyone to turn off electronic devices before takeoff.

• [Anonymous]

  “…because they had taken out their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of airline policy, so the first officer, Richard I. Cole, could tutor the captain, Timothy B. Cheney, in a new scheduling system put in place by Delta Air Lines…”

  Can we have a look at the browser cache? My money is on Twitter or YouPorn.

• [Cicada]

  Y’know, every GPS on earth will alert you when you’re somewhere near your destination. The autopilot doesn’t? Eesh.

• [Anonymous]

  Was the aircraft wifi-enabled? Because my first thought was: WoW raid. Of course they couldn’t hear the air controllers – they had to turn down the radio so they could hear what was going on in the Vent channel!

• [Anonymous]

  The correct term is “kvetching,” btw; Yiddish for complaining.

• [coop]

  Yeah right.
  They were distracted by the laptops, turned off the radios, ignored the flight instruments, but were otherwise doing a great job.
  Nope, don’t believe it.
  Need a better excuse…

  coop

• [Trent Hawkins]

  the kind of dedication I’d expect from someone getting paid 20k a year.

• [Anonymous]

  I say Shenanigans. These guys weren’t dickin’ around with their laptops for the last 30 minutes of that flight – the 15 minutes before when they were suppose to set up the approach to land, and the 15 minutes after they overshot the destination.

  These guys need a new career.

• [holtt]

  They needed that nerdy kid from one of those old Airport movies. He’s looking at the stars out the window and figures out they are not on course.

• [Anonymous]

  Being on a laptop that close to approach is highly suspect, but so is falling asleep (both of them?). At that point they would need to be adjusting altitude, punching in strip info into the computer… you don’t just forget to do that.

  I have the same feeling about this as I did when the Sheriff said the balloon boy was not a hoax. Suuuurrreeee.

• [Anonymous]

  They were either sleeping or having sex with one another. You could almost excuse sleeping…well not exactly excuse, but you could understand that we are all human and it could have happened. If snoozing was the case, they should have been honest. My opinion leads towards hanky panky. Clearly they are lying.

• [Johnny Cat]

  Baloney. We all know they were trying to get the new high score on Bejeweled Blitz. Why do they have to lie? Why?

• [Brainspore]

  @Coop: I don’t think the laptop use is an “excuse” at all, and I don’t think the investigators do either. (Who wants to bet that the pilots get to keep their licenses after this kerfuffle?) It’s an explanation, not an excuse.

  Funny, I first read the headline as “Of course pilots were laptopping-while-flying.”

• [Anonymous]

  I think it’s far more likely they were “fooling around” with each other or with a stewardess, than fooling around with their laptops. Heck even alien abduction seems more likely at this point.

• [Anonymous]

  They fell asleep, woke up over MSP, then had to fly another “awake and in control” half hour to fill the cockpit voice recorder’s memory in an attempt to cover their asses. end of story.

• [Anonymous]

  I’m with coop on this one. Not buying such a sham explanation.

• [Halloween Jack]

  They were totally masturbating to porn. They didn’t tell investigators until they could have the hard drives scrubbed.