How Do Two Pilots Overshoot an Airport?


T-Bone - McCarran Int'l Airport, NV USA
Image by gTarded via Flickr

This story has continued to puzzle us.

Pilots of a flight from San Diego to Minneapolis ignored radio calls and flew over 150 miles past the airport. The military was even prepared to intercept. All in all, the pilots of Northwest Flight 188 were nonresponsive for 78 minutes, covering a distance of over 600 miles. With all the attempts to contact them, flashing lights in the cockpit, etc, it is a mystery why this was.

The pilot, Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, and co-pilot Richard I. Cole, claimed they were in “a heated discussion over airline policy and lost situational awareness.” Many suggested that the two actually fell asleep, but it was the first flight of the day for both men, after a 17 hour layover. Both have been suspended, pending investigation.

The copilot, when interviewed, denied the napping allegations, and others. But there is no proof from the voice recorder of anything. It only records 30 minutes, unlike newer ones. Which means that information is long gone, which in itself is suspicious.

It is a mystery. We will stay with this investigation as the NTSB reveals facts.

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  • metakid

    They have had to be sleeping. How can one argue till they actually forget they are flying a plane with a load of human lives behind. I think its high time the FAA take a look at whether pilots should be allowed to nap. Liked this video quite a bit and some of the arguments presented there – and there’s some nice graphics! http://www.newsy.com/videos/mid_air_mistake_sparks_debate_on_pilot_naps

    • crewchief

      This is what I don’t understand even after working with long range bombers in the Air Force that have no autopilot and flew on average of 12 or more hours each flight. The longest was 48 hours nonstop. It was commonly joked among the pilots that airliner pilots generally had no work. Just take off and land and the rest of the way are on autopilot.
      Since there is no real need to have a plane on autopilot for an entire flight here is my idea. It is that pilots can only turn the control over to an autopilot for short breaks, emergencies etc. Autopilot is somewhat like cruise control on a car. It is nice to have for long drives/ flights to give your appendages a stretch. But it is not to be used for the entire drive/ flight. The FAA should keep track on how long pilots have the autopilot engaged and be disciplined if the total time exceeds their allotted break time.