Aviation regulators bar two Northwest pilots from flying

US aviation regulators on Tuesday revoked the commercial flying licenses of two Northwest Airlines (NWA) pilots who flew over Minneapolis airport and missed their landing by 150 miles. Pilots of the Minneapolis-bound Flight 188 on 21 October, en route from San Diego, lost contact with air traffic controllers for over an hour and overflew their destination.

The NWA mishap caused grave concern among air traffic control officers. Airport officials feared a crash or hijacking, and warned the White House of the incident. Luckily, the plane with five crew and 144 passengers aboard landed safely after turning around to return to the original destination.

Initial reports suggested that the pilots had fallen asleep or had a furious argument, and lost contact with the airport’s controllers. However, later investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) discovered that the NWA pilots lost their bearings while chatting about the company’s policy and using their own laptops.

The NTSB report stated that both pilots used their personal laptops while having a conversation on NWA’s new crew scheduling procedure, an outcome of the airline’s merger with Delta Air Lines last year. The first officer, who is more knowledgeable about the policy, was giving instructions to the captain.

The Minneapolis-St Paul airport police identified the two NWA pilots as Richard Irwin and Timothy Cheney. The Federal Aviation Association found various aviation violations committed by the pilots, including the use of laptops on the flight deck, leading for NWA to suspend both employees.

Lee Moak, Chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association, urged NTSB to cautiously investigate the event and to avoid quick judgements.