Wayward airline pilots grounded

Two US pilots who overshot their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles are grounded indefinitely unless the National Transportation Safety Board grants them a reprieve.

The Federal Aviation Administration said yesterday that it had revoked the licences of the pilots of Northwest Airlines Flight 188 – Timothy Cheney, the captain, and Richard Cole, the first officer.

The pilots have 10 days to appeal to the three-member National Transportation Safety Board, the same agency that investigates air crashes and makes safety recommendations. If an appeal fails, they can apply for a new license after one year.

The pilots told investigators they were working on their personal laptop computers and lost track of time and place last Wednesday night.

Flight 188 was out of communication for more than an hour during the incident despite repeated attempts by air traffic controllers in two states to reach the airliner, the FAA said in a statement.

Northwest’s dispatchers also tried eight times to contact the pilots, without response, the agency said.

The pilots violated numerous federal regulations, including failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating their aircraft carelessly and recklessly, the agency said.

The pilots said they realised they had overshot their destination when a flight attendant contacted them on the aircraft’s intercom. By then, they were over the neighbouring state of Wisconsin at 37,000 feet (11,300 meters). They turned the Airbus A320 with its 144 passengers around and landed safely in Minneapolis.