The latest excuse offered by the pilots of Northwest flight 188 for missing the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles is, my laptop made me do it!
Kinda. Actually in pilot-speak, they claimed they “lost situational awareness.” According to federal investigators, the wayward crew blamed their oversight on a perfect storm of individually trivial events that combined to cause their inattentiveness – a food delivery, a bathroom break, a conversation with a flight attendant and a laptop session that included the now infamous ‘heated discussion’ about airline issues (since further qualified as a discussion pertaining to work schedules, the latter subject apparently a really ‘hot’ topic in light of the Delta/Northwest merger).
Supposedly all of these seemingly innocuous activities made two experienced aviators neglect the controls and miss tower communications until a flight attendant interrupted their exchange to ask when they should prepare for a landing.
My first reaction to this was, hey, so they get free in-air wireless?
I mean, seriously, for years we were fed this line that computers interfered with the plane’s navigation controls and communications equipment. (Apparently not, given these pilots’ proximity to the controls was about … two feet). Then, when the airline figured out a way to charge for the ability to log on, it became OK as long as you came equipped with a credit card. Or a pilot’s license.
Oh, think of all the possibilities! Updating Facebook with that cool shot from behind the plane’s windshield, verifying Google Earth snapshots in real time, checking in with that segment’s girlfriend or doing a little online Christmas shopping.
OK, all humor aside, the initial reports from the NTSB are both illuminating and concerning.
Newly emerging details include these snippets:
“Neither pilot said he noticed messages sent by company dispatchers…”
“The pilots said there was a ‘concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls’ from air traffic control…”
“Neither pilot said he was aware of where the plane was until a flight attendant called the cockpit…”’
Apparently some of the rest of the crew were clueless as well. The report stated the lead flight attendant told the NTSB, “she was unaware there had been an incident aboard.”
These pilots have a combined 31,000 hours in control of commercial aircraft. That’s equivalent to 4 years worth of time – all day, every day – being in charge of numerous human lives. Even while it’s true that we all have the occasional bad day at work, most of us don’t perform our duties 37,000 feet in the air. That’s probably why airlines instituted a back-up plan in the form of a co-pilot. And that back-up plan was…also AWOL. What now?
“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,” Delta said in a statement. Guess it’s time for another company-wide memo, as some didn’t get that one.
In fact, other pilots surveyed by the media have admitted that it’s not uncommon for pilots to break out computers or even DVD players to while away the time during long, idle, dull flights. And federal regulations apparently don’t prohibit that practice, even if airline policies do.
With planes that practically fly themselves, boredom has become a big concern for aviators. According to experts, flying sophisticated automated planes has made routes so routine that they’ve coined a term for the recent phenomenon (Sully Sullenberger notwithstanding) of pilots who’ve lost, or maybe never even learned, the true and unassisted art of flying: ‘proficiency failure.’
Part of it stems from recent history. Mostly gone are the rough and ready surplus World War II and Vietnam military pilots whose combat training elevated their understanding of aeronautics to the highest levels of understanding. Situational airline and FAA testing on simulators in clinical settings is no substitute for real world conditions, and is also not adequate preparation for the hours of unending tedium a pilot can face after reaching cruising altitude where little interaction is required. And, even though it may not be the case for Flight 188, if you combine that with even a little fatigue, the very real danger of being asleep at the controls arises.
For sure, the saga of NW188 will push new questions about airline safety as it pertains to pilot behavior to the forefront. Many contributors to this site have called for a passengers bill of rights, which, in light of recent events, should include the right to have your plane piloted by a commander unimpaired by sleepiness, boredom or extraneous electronics.
Rules that stipulate caps on a pilot’s consecutive hours behind the controls, installation of voice recorders, airline policies and even the renewed call for cockpit video cameras (opposed by pilot groups) may still be our only hope for survival, but as long as that online shopping option is available, I’d add another suggestion:
A Magellan 310 GPS unit available on eBay for $79.00-
Product Description
Affordable, rugged and pocket-sized, the Magellan® GPS 310 adds a new level of fun and safety to your adventure. The GPS 310 lets you explore the outdoors with confidence; you’ll always know exactly where you are and where you’re going to within 15 meters or better. Save your route with up to 10 legs while the trip odometer tells you exactly how far you’ve traveled, making it easy to find your way back.
(Photo: Courtesy Air France, a Delta/Northwest partner)
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I was a stewardess back in the 1950’s when those ex-WWII jocks you mentioned were manning the flight decks. Which occasionally led to a whole different hazard involving laps. Seriously, I don’t doubt for a minute that these guys are telling the truth. How many of us have lost an hour – maybe more, at our laptops. Granted, not at 37,000 ft with 147 passengers and cabin crew in the back wondering when they were going to land. The inattention displayed by these pilots resulted in a fantastic tale that captured the 24/7 news cycle and filled the void left by balloon boy’s safe return. Their airline and the FAA have no choice but to mete out some pretty dire consequences.
Well, with all the media attention it was assured these guys would face some repercussions – its been announced now that the FAA will revoke their pilots’ licenses. Perhaps harsh for an hours’ lapse, but there was a lot at stake (what if the flight attendant hadn;t alerted them and they had missed, say, communications that they were entering another planes’ airspace?), and a pretty good warning to others.
The FAA has no other choice but to revoke the pilots’ licenses.
Why is it not going to shock me when we find out they were “tweeting” rather than paying attention to their jobs. It wouldn’t be the first or last time. Now the pilots will have a lot about which to twitter.