NORTHWEST pilots miss landing strip

[sykocus]

Sounds to me that somewhere along the line they missed something. Wrong Frequency? Misinterpreted command from the controller? These things happen

You don't fly 100 mi past your destination at your cruising altitude because you missed a frequency change or had a simple misunderstanding.

[martgenia]

Do you remember Flight 522 operated by HELIOS AIRWAYS when both pilots became unconscious because faulty presurisation systems ... not a chance of happening something similar...? 

[bphendri]

Do you remember Flight 522 operated by HELIOS AIRWAYS when both pilots became unconscious because faulty presurisation systems ... not a chance of happening something similar...? 

Is there a chance?  Yes.  Is it likely / probable?  No!  Since the flight deck shares the same presurization / air supply as the cabin (Unless they where on Supplemantal 02), there would have been somebody else (Cabin crew) that would have lost conscioness too, and would have said something.

I am not sure about Airbus (If someone knows, please chime in).  but at least on the Boeing 768/744.  Once you get within about 20KM of your T/D (Top of decent.) if you have not already done so, you will get a chime, and an EICAS message, and Amber Master Caution to RESET MCP ALT.  (Which is an indication for the flight crew to enter their next lowest hard altitude in the Altitude selector on the Mode Control Panel.

How did they also miss the SELCAL chime when their company called.  The 744 also has a company option that if no buttons or radio trasmissions are made within a certain time, a warning alarm sounds, and you get a "NO CREW SLEEPING" message on the EICAS...

[joeyb747]

"MINNEAPOLIS — The first officer of the Northwest Airlines jet that missed its destination by 150 miles says there was no fight in the cockpit, neither he nor the captain had fallen asleep and the passengers were never in any danger.

But in an interview with The Associated Press two days after he and a colleague blew past their destination as air traffic controllers tried frantically to reach them, pilot Richard Cole would not say just what it was that led to them to forget to land Flight 188."


""We were not asleep; we were not having an argument; we were not having a fight," Cole told The Associated Press."

From:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20091023/US.Northwest.Airport.Overflown/

[joeyb747]

"WASHINGTON — Not sleeping, the pilots say. They were engrossed in a complicated new crew-scheduling program on their laptop computers as their plane flew past its Minneapolis landing by 150 miles — a cockpit violation of airline policy that could cost them their licenses."

From:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20091026/US.Northwest.Flight.Overflown/

...wow...

[nitescream]

wow! I cant believe they were on their laptops while flying the airplane.... thats so dangerous! If the flight attendant didnt ask about when they are expected to land, i fear the worst would have happened.

[N9IIT]

Just think if they were on AirTran with their new WiFi they'd be playing on Facebook and find themselves in Milwaukee before they headed back to MSP.

[jmx53]

Even with headphones off and not monitoring comms, wouldn't the flight crew should have heard the SELCAL chimes?

Also, the reports I have read say that national guard fighters were "being prepared"...When Paine Stewart's learjet depressurized and lost comms 10 years ago, weren't they able to scramble intercept aircraft quickly compared to this incident? 

Doesn't look like this flight crew has done their fellow pilots any favors in the arguments against big brother on the flight deck.

[adl320]

Do you remember Flight 522 operated by HELIOS AIRWAYS when both pilots became unconscious because faulty presurisation systems ... not a chance of happening something similar...? 

I am not sure about Airbus (If someone knows, please chime in).  but at least on the Boeing 768/744.  Once you get within about 20KM of your T/D (Top of decent.) if you have not already done so, you will get a chime, and an EICAS message, and Amber Master Caution to RESET MCP ALT.  (Which is an indication for the flight crew to enter their next lowest hard altitude in the Altitude selector on the Mode Control Panel.

Good point as I was thinking this myself. Not to spark a Boeing vs. Airbus tirade, (I actuall like Airbus), BUT if this had been on a Boeing, AND they dialed in the lower alt restriction into the MCP, the plane would have automatically started going down at the TOD. I guess though that could have brought about a whole different set of problems.

I believe in the Airbus, the FMGC does NOT indicate you've missed the TOD. It will instead say "DRAG REQUIRED" indicating you are deviating from the path. Once you are far enough off the path I believe a message like "DESCENT PATH UNACHIEVABLE"  or something to that affect appears. The plane will soldier on in HDG and ALT mode as did NWA 188.