Northwest Airlines pilots blamed air traffic controllers for over shoting airport !!

On October 21, Northwest Airlines pilots flew their jet past their destination city of Minneapolis, Minnesota and had to face the music. Not only were they accused of being inattentive, they were also accused of using personal laptops in the cabin which is a direct flight desk violation.

Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, 53, of Gig Harbor, Washington, and First Officer Richard I. Cole blamed air traffic controllers for the mishap, saying say air traffic control rules weren’t followed, which contributed to the incident.

“The air traffic controller(s) did not comply with the requirements of the air traffic control manual and other relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices with respect to Northwest Flight 188, nor coordinate effectively with Northwest dispatch, and such failure was a causal or contributing factor in the incident,” they said. The responses were filed November 24, but made public Monday.

“Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots’ command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline’s flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination,” said a statement from Delta Air Lines, which recently merged with Northwest.

“Each pilot accessed and used his personal laptop computer while they discussed the airline crew flight scheduling procedure,” the report said. “The first officer, who was more familiar with the procedure, was providing instruction to the captain.”

After they landed, an immediate alcohol test was conducted but nothing was found, they would still be facing the music for missing the destination and using personal gizmos on cockpit.

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