This sounds like the Balloon Boy Story...The Story just keeps on changing...They were probably looking at Porn!!!!

The story keeps changing due to the fact that the dumbass talking heads in the press, absent of any facts whatsoever, will just sit there and speculate on what they think it might be and call it "facts".

The pilots screwed up, and worse for the airline, they screwed up publicly. Time to pull thier licenses, fire them, rehire a couple of laid off pilots and move on.

They were doing 'scheduling' for hours? Right! Don't they know the computer logs can be grabbed now from the providors?

Funny how all the 'pilots' who have been posting on these stories, claiming how this work is so incredibly mentally and physically exhausting and now it comes down to one fact: these guys were so bored, they were playing games (or worse) on their laptops.

They were on Facebook.

Are you awake yet?,

This is what our main stream media has evolved into...They would rather interview themselves and the homeless guy living next to their office, then to go out and actually have to do some investigating...They read each others columns on the internet and just rewrite them and sell them as their own!!!!!

OH the trials and tribulations of being an airline pilot!!!

Scheduling my foot!

Engrossed enough to fly 150 past destination, and not hear RADIO\Tower Calls?

Seems a jet helo arriving next to flight deck with a gesture of 'call me' might have been more effective in contacting these pilots that need to fly only paper air planes in the future!

I prefer my pilots not to have any distractions--it's just safer that way.

I like moderately distracted pilots, personally.

I figured that these pilots would come up with an excuse, I just didn't realize that the excuse would be this LAME!!! The pilots were working on their laptops.....hmmmm...let me see...do I believe that???!!! NOT!!!! This is the best that they could come up with???!! They gotta be f***ing kiddin me!!!!!

A notice to all airlines from me:Your pilots can play Solitaire til the cows come home, only I won't be onboard!!!! So, you will NOT be getting another dime from me to fly the NOT so friendly or SAFE skies!!! Worthless bunch of money grubbing crooks with excuses for pilots!!!

Just another example of something that has been totally screwed up by replacing people with computers.

Isabella -

Do you have something against pilots? You seem abnormally angry with these two. Granted, I agree that these two are incompetent and should probably be disciplined but what do you think the truth is if you think this is a lie? Just curious about the anger.

To those of you who think that the distractions of a flight crew are overly concerned - RELAX.  You are in safe hands albeit they are on the controls of a laptop joystick rather than the controls of an aircraft with hundreds of lives at stake.

Cole has said he and Cheney were not sleeping or arguing in the cockpit. "It was not a serious event, from a safety issue," Cole said late Friday in front of his Salem, Ore., home. "I would tell you more, but I've already told you way too much."

He would not discuss why it took so long for the pilots to respond to radio calls, "but I can tell you that airplanes lose contact with the ground people all the time. It happens. Sometimes they get together right away; sometimes it takes awhile before one or the other notices that they are not in contact."

So if it happens all the time as this pilot has alluded,why is there such a big hoopla about it this time?

FUNNY? It wouldn't have been funny if they had a midair collision.

They are paid to FLY THE AIRPLANE!!!

This is a no fooling around job. FIRE THEIR A$SSES!

I don't know why they think being on their laptops is any better than being asleep. They still were distracted and not doing their jobs, which was to fly the plane TO THE AIRPORT IN MINNEAPOLIS! and get those 140+ people for whom they were completely responsible to the ground safely. This does not make it better. I am not allowed to use my laptop while I drive . . . heck, I can't even use my cell phone here in California, and I am not cruising around at 30,000 feet! Ooops! We missed the airport? I thought you were flying . . . no, I thought you were flying. What a couple of dopes! Just sayin'

Just a wild thought, though I'm sure it's against union policy. Couldn't one of them have been flying the plane and the other doing busywork (if that's what it was)? Isn't that the sole reason there are 'two' of them.

They'll be able to at least verify whether they were using their laptops during that time period. However, because they have already lied during an investigation should result in their termination. Maybe they should change professions, something in the computer industry since they seemed to be so engrossed with computers.

This whole thing is a crock of crap - fire these morons and permanently revoke their pilot's license. People who are in charge of other peoples' lives and wellbeing need to be concentrating on one thing - not sleeping, texting, making cell calls or anything else. Maybe we need to start policing these people better - confiscate their phones, laptops and whatever and then lock them into their cabins or work compartments if we have to since they are too stupid and uncaring to do the job they are being paid for competently and safely.

Just fire these two pilots and revoke their pilot licenses. We have heard enough. This is not news anymore. Move on to something really important.

Any hanky panky going on between the two pilots?

I like moderately distracted pilots, personally.

Moderately distracted pilots are less likely to fall asleep.

Just fire these two pilots and revoke their pilot licenses. We have heard enough.

If they have otherwise good records, which they apparently do, I would be against firing them. As long as they were in the cockpit, not asleep, then they were doing what every other commercial pilot does, and that is passing time while the plane flys itself...and being ready if any alarms go off.

The problem is, they apparently WEREN'T "ready if any alarms go off" - since they failed to notice the chime indicating a radio text message.

Sounds like total bullship to me.

I do not know who I got this from, but it seems appropriate: I think I just want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming and crying like the passengers in the plane he was flying.....

They should have been fired already...not just suspended. Their ATP certificates should also be revoked permanently.

or how about that alarm for something minor line the approach for landing. Where does autopilot go when it's past it's destination, or when it's low on fuel. Maybe they were hoping to cross into Canada and chickened out.

how many lies are they going to tell? I agree with you "snuffy smith" sounds like the balloon boy, they may have been looking at porn on those laptops. I believe they were having sex too...

These two fools probobly should have stuck with their original story (fell asleep) they could play on the publics sympathies, (overworked) now they have no credibility at all, glad I dont have to fly much, will think twice if I have to.

They need to ban sex in the cockpits. Pun intended.

Two Northwest Airlines pilots told federal investigators that they were going over schedules using their laptop computers in violation of company policy (emphasis mine) while their plane overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles, the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday.

That should say it all, right there.

Well, I can understand that...I often lose track of time when I am on my computer.

Of course, when that happens I am not flying my desk 30,000 miles in the air over the Midwest with load of hapless passenger.

This is rich...I am howling at your comment!  Have you thought of a career in "stand-up comedy?"  Another disdainful possibility I've heard has  been a combined use of laps and tops in that cockpit along with KY and candles! 

Borrowing your comment for my F/book page to give my friends (a few of whom are pilots)...a good laugh.

If the truth was reported or told to start with, this story would have died days ago.

IMO - The ONLY reason pilots are there, are to respond to EMERGENCIES and to change frequencies to maintain contact with ATC. These pilots could not even do this..... FIRE them both......

The auto-pilot flies the plane on course at preset levels. They have equipment that will almost land the plane and take-off is setting the correct positions on the flight surfaces and applying power. The larger planes almost fly themselves.

These pilots disgraced and VIOLATED the trust the public has in-trusted them with. Unlike the pilots on the 'Miracle on the Hudson' flight 1549.

"operate a motor vehicle while driving a car"? What?!?

Sure. I always operate a motor vehicle while driving my car. Don't you?

(I think maybe Tom meant to say "cell phone")

Apparently, you care (Mylz)...enough to read and comment on the story.

If you don't like the subject, what are you doing here?

Mylz must be a pilot and too embarassed to comment anymore. All this union babble about how because of this incident we need to give pilots the right to nap because of the incredible fatigue they're under. Heck, they're just bored juvenile chauvenists who are surfing the net.

Trolls!
I simply voiced MY opinion. This is as bad as covering Michael Jackson's death for 4 months. Leave the pilots alone. The airline industry has been hurt enough in the last 8 years. Airlines and Private Pilots do not need any more bad publicity. Nobody was hurt, no harm was done. Again... stop beating a dead horse.

What's next? More legislature? More laws? for one mistake? c'mon... keep this crap out of the news. Move onto something more constructive.

I already hear the mob below... "FIRE THEM"!
That's like saying the next time anyone misses their turn on the highway should have their license revoked and fired from their job. Too harsh? yes.

You also don't take into affect at all how fast you can go 150 miles past destination in a JET. An Airbus A320 to be exact. Top speed of mach 0.82 which converts to 629mph. That's about 13 minutes of no contact. Them reporting 150mph sounds a lot more than "OMG OMG WE DIDN'T HAVE COMMUNICATION FOR 13 WHOLE MINUTES". And it was probably even less than 13 minutes. 150 past their destination would mean they had to take action to make a 180 degree turn....

Planes don't turn on a dime so their correction would add to the distance they were past their destination.

I'd also like to add that these pilots have a combined flight time of 33,000 hours. That's damn near 4yrs spend IN THE AIR. That does not count all the time they spent on a taxiway on the ground.

Fire them? For a 10-15 minute mistake. WTF America?

Yes, Mylz, fire them. They had a job to do...get from point a to point b. They failed!! They were unable to be contacted for 1 hour....not 13 minutes!!They had to be told by a flight attendant that they missed their destination!!! If I had to be told by my crew how to do my job, I should be fired too!!

So, Mylz, are you one of these two pilots???????? Perhaps you are!!! If, so, start looking for job!!

This was NOT a 10-15 min. mistake:

"The pilots were out of communication with air traffic controllers and their airline for more than an hour"

They caused over 144 passengers to be late arriving to their destination, they caused other flights to be delayed or diverted, the incited panic among everyone from air traffic control to the situation room at the White House, and many had tried for over an hour to contact them using the radio and radio text messages. (Guess they should have tried emailing them?)

What would have happened if those National Guard jets had flown to their vicinity and they were too busy doing whatever (pilots say laptops, crew says arguing) that they'd failed to notice them? There might have been 144 passengers and 5 crew members shot down all because of these irresponsible pilots' "mistakes".

and Mylz,

Most importantly, they lied. We still don't really know what 'mistake' they made because they refuse to tell the truth. People are fairly forgiving if you fess up, admit you screwed up, apologize and repent. These pilots are still searching the internet for dictionary sites to get a better definition of CYA.

Now if you lie two or three times and then decide you have to tell the truth, you can't expect sympathy from anybody. Don't believe me, go ask Bill Clinton.

Go ask Georgie and the Dick about nobody believing their lies anymore.

HA HA HA... That story is only believable if "laptops" is the name of a NEW designer drug and the whole story was a hallucination.

Nice try boys... got any other tall tales for us. Of course by this point you have completely lost your audience so this next one better be really good.

Yes MYLZ....I'm saying it here. Fire them. There are two of them flying the plane. It is their job. If I miss my exit on the freeway, big deal. If my engine on my car dies, it will roll to a stop and I can call for help. If they lose an engine, or worse, two (like the Hudson flight), after getting control of the plane (if they even noticed anything was wrong) they would need to know where they are. At least one of them should. Imagine how the Hudson flight would have ended had the captain not known where the heck he was and just let it crash into the city or listened to the controllers who wanted them to try to glide it back to the airport. Neither of them had a clue where they were and what was below them.

BS, HS & CS.

Than you're the only one that doesn't. Go back to the union hall and cry in your beer.

Contrary to the belief of take21a...all union members are not on their laptops all day...Hell some of us do not have laptops...and what do you think my LD?EBD 6th graders would be doing if I were on a laptop all day...grow up and quit making generalizations because of how you work...

Yo can see from the history on the laptop what sites they were on and at what times they were in the sites.

FYI for all union bashers...not all union members get a choice to belong and pay dues...mine does little for me, I pay $65.00 a month in dues but if I want to teach and I do because I enjoy my job, I have to belong to the union...no choice..........

Yes, I know. Unions are terrorists also. They threaten businesses with shutdowns and bankruptcy unless you pay them protection money. They threaten their own members the same way. The mafia didn't go away, they just changed their name.

take2la, anyone wasting time on their computer when they are supposed to be working should be fired, surf on your own time.

Un-Frickin-believable!!!

I wholeheartedly agree! Fire the A$$! They are out of contact for OVER 1 hour!?! They over shoot their destination by 150 miles! They aren't paying any attention to anything but their laptops??? Gesh, what a pair of first class losers! What on God's Green Earth are these clowns getting paid to do???? I have a teenager that is more responsible then these 2 clowns!!!

Question is how many more bad ones are there that haven't been 'caught' yet. Install those video cameras boys, let's get some real surveillance going.

Exactly! I don't think there is a reasonable excuse here. With un-employment close to 10%, there must be two responsible pilots available to take the places of these two.

They were on standby to scramble, this aircraft did not display any course changes when out of communication like the aircraft involved in 911 did.

Yep! That's my guess, too!

Gotta be World of Warcraft. I know guys who can play for 24 hours straight. Their house could burn down around them and they'd still be playing. So 150 miles off course in a commercial jet, no biggy. "Look at me, captain. I'm leveling up. Whee!"

You are if what you're working on has 'audio' . Mmm, I can't imagine 'scheduling' required them to take off their headphones. I can imagine playing Halo3 or watching videos (i.e. porn) required them to take off their headphones.

Another lame news day fabrication to protect the lazy and stupid. By the way, aren't these pilots employed by Delta, not Northwest.

I'm sleepy now, so I'm going to put my business on auto pilot for the night.

They just don't want to announce publicly that they were having sex in the cockpit. That might look bad on their resumes.

I was thinking the same thing. Nothing else matches the facts and it is believable.

After this little incident...I dare say that their resumes are toast anyway.

I'd never hire these clowns as pilots!!!

If nothing else, the fact that they're lying about what happened is enough to justify kicking them out. Who can trusts pilots that lie about their actions?

Actually, 147 lives if you count the three flight attendants.

So says Rob, the pilot union representative.

Hmm, how about let's install video surveillance in the cockpit and aircraft so we really know what's going on during these flights. If it's good enough for 7-11 stores, it should be good enough for our ultra-safety conscious airline pilot unions.

How can this be "old news", Rob? After all, it just happened!! This plane was out of contact for over an hour!! Ground had no way to know what was going on!! The pilots had to be told by a flight attendant that they missed the airport!

rrobeson, I like that idea. They have black boxes, but they record over themselves and only keep 30 minutes. Perhaps nice little nanny cams in every cockpit!!

LS,

Yeah, never thought of it in the 'nanny' sense, but in most flights outside of takeoff and landing, the pilots pretty much are 'babysitting' the airplane until or unless trouble comes up.

And like many babysitters, they get bored and distracted and find other things to do.

If they are that bored, then quit and find a more interesting job. There are lives involved with their actions or should I say inaction. And if they are baby sitters then lets reduce their pay.

I saw on one report the day after this happened that said the pilots forgot to switch radio frequencies after they left Denver air space and did not realize their mistake until they had missed their destination.

wow, so now they're incompetent and distracted. Hey, I can program their computer to change frequencies at the right time if they can't remember.

That's as bad as an employee showing up late for work because he 'set his alarm wrong'.

yeah, that's where the original need for naps that the union wants came from.

All you need to become a Pilot is to be able to read write add and substract. Pilots are Glamourized Taxi Drivers. They fought for 2 man Crew now claim fatigue. Their main job is to look at instruments ensuring that the aircraft is on track, altitude and distance. Any comment that is excusing these jokers for a mistake that could have caused the death of 150 humans needs their head examined. Iwas a pilot for 40 years retiring 747-400, just finished 11 years basic education 6 months flight traing, Viola got a job as pilot trainee in small commuter airline and thereafter 35 years, just sitting on backside earning. Sack the incompentent mo----fa-----

agreed. if you buy their story, call me so we can discuss sale of a bridge!!

if you belive their story then 9/11 was a hoax