NWA Flight 188

Most of you have heard of the Northwest Airlines/Delta flight 188. If not, a Minneapolis/St. Paul bound plane missed their landing and went 150 miles beyond their destination. Further, the pilots were out of communication with air traffic controllers for more than an hour. The pilots finally realized their mistake when one of the flight attendants asked them, via intercom, why the plane had not yet descended. It was then determined that both pilots were distracted in conversation and using personal laptops while discussing the scheduling system. Delta said this would be a violation of company policy on personal computers.

The story made national news and I think Delta did a good job responding to the PR crisis. They posted a press release on their website soon after stating that the company suspended the pilot's licenses until the federal investigation was complete. Also, Delta CEO Richard Anderson made a statement saying: "Nothing is more important to Delta than safety. We are going to continue to cooperate fully with the NTSB and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in their investigations." Further, Delta stated that 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. On Monday Delta Air Lines said they were sending letters and $500 vouchers for future travel to all passengers on the flight.

On the evening news earlier this week I saw one of the pilots speak and apologize to TV reporters from his home's front door. Even though he did not say anything wrong, I thought it was interesting that someone from Delta/NWA had not advised him not to publicly speak.

The incident has been taken very seriously even though no one was hurt. It was a sad day for the pilots On Tuesday. The FAA revoked their licenses, saying they "carelessly and recklessly'' put their passengers and crew in jeopardy. Now they have a chance to appeal.