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NWA 188 Captain Explains Why Flight Overshot Minneapolis
Ever since the pilots of NWA 188 overflew their Minneapolis destination, speculation has been rampant about what actually happened in the cockpit. It was widely assumed that the pilots had fallen asleep. I’ve just posted a long email, originally reported by the Dallas Morning News, which gives the full details of what happened on the flight as reported by Captain Tim Cheney to a friend. (www.maxtrescott.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
extra ride for the money :)
Sounds like they actualy got there faster than they should have with the delay taking off.
Thank you for a great post. I have no sympathy for the pilot or F/O. They got what they deserve. An incident like this tarnishes an airline's reputation needlessly...
The FAA records all transmissions between aircraft they are in communications with and retains those records for several weeks, longer if their is an incident or accident, or assumed violation. The same applies to controller relief briefings, they are recorded. So, it there is a question as to whether or not a controller gave the f/o of flight 188 the wrong frequency it would be on the tape. The same applies to the controller relief briefing, it the briefing was not complete as to a communications problem with flight 188 it would be known. This information is available via the Freedom of Information Act for a fee! One thing I will agree with is the Captains remarks that the is responsible for the flight and accepted responsibility for the incident.
One thing I find unbelievable is that an experienced crew would go 78 minutes without contact from ATC and not think anything was wrong. In a typical scenario it is unusual to go 15 minutes without contact from ATC. I feel for the pilots and am glad to hear they take responsibility for the incident. I am sure the FAA acted accordingly.
Dean, I totally agree with about going 78 minutes without contact. I was on a flight Saturday flying down the coast of Central California in a new Cirrus SR22 Perspective and we lost radio contact. We noticed we could hear other airplanes talking but were no longer hearing the controller. I bet we weren't in that situation for 5-10 minutes before we realized we need to do something. I would have been easy to look up the nearest Center frequency on the Perspective. But we didn't have to as another aircraft took it upon himself to call ATC and relay our call. ATC then passed the new frequency to him and he relayed it to us. Loosing ATC is so common and so easy to resolve that you really have to wonder how these guys got so far out of the loop.