Two Northwest Airlines pilots claim they were in a heated argument and lost track of where they were when NW Flight 188 overshot Minneapolis International Airport by 150 miles on a flight from San Diego on Wednesday night.
The ground control center at Denver lost radio contact with the plane, carrying 144 passengers and five crew members at 6:56 p.m. Denver air traffic controllers passed the NW188 to the Twin Cities at 7:45 p.m. The flight reportedly overflew its intended destination at 7:58 p.m.
During the communication blackout, the FAA put Air National Guard fighter jets on alert at two locations, as they considered launching a four plane scramble. A controller finally re-established contact with the plane at 8:14 p.m. One of the pilots reported that they had become distracted while engaged in a heated discussion on airline policy. He was then given approval to turn the plane around and head back to the airport, where it landed safely at 9:00 p.m.
Airport security immediately boarded the plane to determine whether criminal activity had caused the unusual set of circumstances. The pilots were then interviewed by the FBI. The A320’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been sent to the NTSB laboratory in Washington D.C.
NTSB officials aren’t buying the “heated argument” explanation. Many veteran pilots believe that the cockpit crew members were likely sleeping. Both pilots have been “relieved from active flying” pending a full investigation, according to a spokesman for Delta Airlines, which acquired the Eagan, Minnesota based Northwest last year.
UPDATE: October 27, 2009: The FAA has revoked the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots who overflew a Minnesota airport last week. Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, 53, and First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, violated company policy by using personal laptop computers in the cockpit, and losing all situational awareness, ignoring communication attempts by air traffic controllers over a period of 80 minutes.
See video report below.