I’m not really sure if all of you heard about this story right away or not but living in Minnesota, we were aware of it right away while it was going on. We kept hearing “pilots overflew Mpls airport and are somewhere over Eau Claire, Wisconsin.”
The first thing we were told was these two pilots fell asleep. Then we heard they were having a “disagreement” and just didn’t answer the radio calls. Now we hear that they were on their personal laptops “studying the airlines new policies”. Alrightythen.
Now I’m sure you’ve all heard their pilots licenses have been revoked and they have 10 days to file an appeal. Okay, nobody was hurt and they did get the plane where it was supposed to be “eventually” and I won’t even fly but I think to lose their licenses forever is a bit harsh.
But that’s not what I wanted to ask you all. What I wanted to know is why this story keeps changing. Everyday I hear new things. Today I even read that they were having sex with one of the flight attendants. I do wonder though where our national security was….okay, I digress……does it really matter what they were doing? Does it matter if they were sleeping? Does it matter if they were playing on their laptops? They ignored all those people trying to get a hold of them and yet all everyone wants to know is what they were doing and that story keeps changing and I sit here and thing WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
Do you think they should be banned from piloting forever or just a set amount of time? Do you honestly care what they were doing while they weren’t doing their job? Is that issue even important anymore? Is there a difference between taking a nap or playing online or even having sex? They should have been paying attention and flying the darn plane and I could care less about wasting all this time and money speculating the “truth.”
Us Girls..Our Views 
I think it does matter what they where doing. Because the people on that plane expected to be landing on time and probably had people picking them up, and it just screws everything up. Speaking of screwing if that’s what they where doing I think they should face suspension but not getting there license taken away. Those pilots put in a lot of time and spend a lot of money on getting that license. It just shows a lack of responsibility any way you look at it. “They where not doing there job”
Would you be mad if someone from fed ex didn’t deliver your package on the day you where expecting it because they where having sex, or playing around on a cpu??
The point I was trying to make Shane is they already overflew the airport by almost an hour. So everyone’s plans were already messed up. It already happened. To me, it doesn’t matter what they were doing BUT they weren’t doing their job. If they were on the computer, napping or having sex, they were already flying over WI. Does it matter what activity they were doing if they weren’t flying the plane is what I meant.
Bottom line, if I was expecting something from Fed Ex and it didn’t come, it wouldn’t matter to me “why” it wasn’t there, just that it wasn’t.
Here’s one more question…
How come *nobody* on that plane said a word?
You know that at least 3/4 of those passengers had cellphones, why would NONE of them call someone when they noticed that their plane was an hour past landing?
Where was the rest of the crew? The Flight Attendants that I’ve witnessed run those flights with near-military precision. They deal with the safety procedures, serve drinks, then clean up the cabin, and get the landing procedures started right on schedule. Didn’t they notice that they were starting the landing procedure, but the plane wasn’t losing altitude or speed? I don’t fly very much and I can tell when that’s happening… they do it every day, and it should be second nature to them.
Why wasn’t one of them banging on the cockpit door?
Frankly, I don’t care what the pilots were doing…. they obviously screwed up and should face the consequences (and honestly, I don’t know what they should be… this country is so screwed up with administering consequences anyway), but where was everyone else?
With what, 100 people on board? NOBODY says a word when a flight that was originally on time is now an HOUR late?
Thats exactly the question I asked too.When I fly Ive actually had the flight path on the little tv sceen in front of me and I watch the planes progress to my destination.Even if they didnt have that I cant imagine how NO one noticed the time in the air.I always count the minutes while in the air…..bafaling how no one said anything.
I guess what matters to me is, were they misbehaving or did something else cause this issue.
My first thought was, they could have just lost track of time for even a minute and missed the landing. Everyone is talking as if they were clueless for an hour or whatever. I’m not a pilot, but it seems to me that there is a significant lead time for landing, and if you’re not in the right position at the right moment, then you have to circle around and try again, and if that happens, you also have to wait your turn as others are landing on the limited number of runways. So are we talking about one minute’s distraction, or 10, or what?
Whatever it is, it seems clear to me that this flight team was misbehaving. They didn’t hear communications. To me, this is a big deal because the communications could have been about matters affecting the safety of everyone on the flight. What if they were getting close to another plane? “Near misses” happen all the time even with the pilots listening to communications. What about knowing what the weather was like at the landing place – isn’t that kind of important? These folks know they have people’s lives in their hands and a lot is expected of them.
I think the authorities want to get down to the facts so they can decide if they need to make any new rules or whatever. I think many Americans just like the gossip aspect of it. Personally, I don’t see a difference between them arguing, having sex, playing on their laptops, or sleeping, because all of the above could equally endanger the people on the plane. But again, I might weigh whether this was a momentary lapse or something more flagrant.
I’m not sure how long they should lose their licenses. I think that ought to be decided by a panel of veteran pilots. They would be the ones to know how far these people strayed from what is reasonable and forgivable. But if the pilots won’t tell the truth in the first place, then I don’t see how a decision can be made in their favor.
One of my brothers (a private pilot) send this to me last night. It’s hilarious…
http://www.thefump.com/embedded_player.swf?fumpID=1236
That really was funny. Was it a coincidence or did he see this post? Too funny.
He IM’ed it to me last night, before you put up the post. He surfs pilot bulletin boards and blogs a lot, so he comes across this stuff regularly. I thought it particularly appropriate for today…
I’m sorry but I can’t read all of this right now…wicked head cold and I must lay down. I will try to read it later. Didn’t want ya to think I wasn’t interested! 🙂
I think there should definitely be some consequences. There are usually consequences in any job if someone doesn’t do their job. And those pilots clearly were not doing their job. And flying and airplane is kind of a big deal! I, for one, want the pilots flying any plane I’m on to be paying attention to what is going on!
I must live under a rock…no no I just don’t watch the news! 😦 I know I should but everytime I think, okay tonight I will watch the news, within 5 minutes I’m regretting it because it either makes me sad or mad. I know still Ishould watch so at least I’m know wth is going on!
This makes me mad. I have to side with Joy on this one, they weren’t doing their JOB, does it matter what they were doing instead? NO, sex, games, whatever…they weren’t putting the passengers first! I hate to think of the kinds of things that could have gone wrong. Far worse than landing late! I hate flying, now, is this supposed to make me feel any better?! What happened to responbsiblity? You are flying a 9,000,000 lb air craft! Safe the sex, drinking, games, ect. for when ya land! MY GOODNESS!
I think it’s just another case of the media has to over dramatise everything for a good story. They overflew their landing & we don’t have a good reason, is boring. Scandals sell newspapers so what’s better than a sex in the cockpit story to rev up peoples imagination
That’s so true Tony.
Best is to stop with a strict warning .
Now what I’d like to know is why does everyone need to know whether it was the male or female cop who shot down Nidal Hasan? The media care more about that “scandal” than the government’s acts and omissions that led to 13 deaths. Sick.