We now know what it was that caused those experienced Northwest Airlines’ pilots to miss the Minneapolis Airport recently. They overflew their destination because they were distracted by their cockpit use of personal laptops. As a result, they were out of radio contact for more than an hour.
Their licenses were suspended, with Delta, which acquired Northwest last year, issuing this no-nonsense, common-sense statement: “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.”
Interestingly — and alarmingly — enough, leaving an airplane unmonitored to tend to personal laptop matters is only a violation of airline regulations – not those of the Federal Aviation Authority. Who knew?