The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles have filed appeals of their license revocations with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The appeals were filed Nov. 4, according to an NTSB spokesman, noting that appeals are typically heard by an administrative law judge within 120 days.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Oct. 27 revoked the licenses of Capt. Timothy Cheney and First Officer Richard Cole.
The two wrong-way pilots were previously suspended from flying for Delta Air Lines through completion of various investigations, said a Delta spokesman. “We are cooperating with the FAA and the NTSB in their investigation as well as conducting our own internal investigation,” the airline added.
Northwest Flight 188. an Airbus A-320 (NO3274), en route from San Diego, CA with 144 passengers and a crew of five, passed over its intended destination at 37,000 feet on Oct. 21.. It eventually circled back and landed safely in Minneapolis. The pilots told NTSB investigators they were working on personal computers and engrossed in discussing work issues.
Air traffic controllers in Denver and Minneapolis tried to raise the crew without success.
The Air National Guard had put fighter jets on alert at two locations, but did not intercept the errant airliner in the end.
In grounding the two veteran airline pilots, the FAA said “the pilots were out of contact with air traffic controllers for an extended period of time and told federal investigators that they were distracted by a conversation. Air traffic controllers and airline officials repeatedly tried to reach them through radio and data contact, without success.” The emergency revocations cited violations of a number of Federal Aviation Regulations. Those include failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly.
Attorneys for the pilots declined to comment.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban nonessential electronics, including personal laptops, from the cockpit.
U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) want to prohibit the use of personal wireless communication devices by the flight crew while operating commercial aircraft.
The proposed legislation specifically prohibits the use of personal wireless communication devices and personal laptop computers by the flight crew during operation of the aircraft. The bill permits use of personal electronic devices to assist in the operation of the aircraft or for emergency, safety, or employment-related communication.
Most airlines prohibit the use of personal computers, but it is not enforceable at the federal level.
This legislation, if enacted, would allow the FAA to suspend or revoke an airman’s certificate for a violation or impose a civil penalty of up to $25,000 against an air carrier or up to $1,100 against an individual pilot.
It instructs the FAA to issue a final rule implementing this provision within one year, and gives the FAA appropriate discretion to address issues related to changing technology or identifying any potential unintended consequences of the ban.
“Our FAA rules must adapt to the changing times,” said Dorgan. “The passengers in the back of the plane, who are relying on those pilots to get them to their destination safely, need to know that those flying the plane are not distracted by the personal use of electronic devices. Most major air carriers have already recognized this problem and have rules prohibiting it, but this legislation gives the FAA the ability to enforce those rules with penalties.”
“Passengers should not have to worry about whether the pilots are flying the plane or checking their laptops,” said Klobuchar. “In their jobs, there is nothing more important than the safety of airline passengers — this legislation will allow the FAA to make sure distractions are removed from the cockpit and increase the safety of our air carriers.”
A pilot union is angry over the FAA’s decision to revoke the licenses of the two Northwest pilots, saying the move threatens to disrupt voluntary safety reporting programs in place at many airlines.
The Delta Master Executive Council, the Delta branch of the Air Line Pilots Association, (ALPA), said: “In any aircraft incident, there is always more to the story than first appears in the press. We do not condone the abandonment of due process that will result from a rush to judgment; instead we implore all interested parties to move with deliberate and unemotional professionalism as the events surrounding this incident are investigated.”
It added: “Over the past several years, labor, management, the industry and government agencies have partnered, expending significant amounts of time, money and effort, to develop programs such as Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAP) and Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs designed to improve the safety of our nation’s aviation system. The core tenet of these programs is the ability of pilots to self disclose without fear of retribution in order to help make the U.S. aviation system the safest in the world.
“To date, all crew statements related to this case have been voluntary. We are disappointed that these voluntary statements are being used without regard for the breach of trust and confidence their use will cause,” the union said.. “Programs like ASAP and FOQA could be dealt a debilitating blow as pilots question the integrity of these voluntary programs. A rush to judgment by the NTSB will have a direct impact on the future of voluntary safety programs, which are at the very core of the safety structure of the U.S. aviation industry. The continued viability of these programs themselves will be placed at risk. That will, in turn, cause irreparable harm to the safety of our nation’s aviation system.”
The pilots said the NTSB “is not charged with prematurely releasing self-disclosed information to be sensationalized in the press.”
Capt. John Prater, ALPA president, said “recent events have caused ALPA pilots grave concern about the integrity of safety reporting programs–such as the FAA’s ASAP–that have become a cornerstone of safety in the U.S. airline industry.
“The release of information, even factually accurate information provided through safety reporting programs, before the investigatory process is permitted to work not only sets the stage for sensationalism and distracts from the investigation, it also undermines ASAP and other voluntary reporting programs that are proven to make the air transportation system even safer.
“ALPA supports the highest standards of professional behavior for airline pilots, but at the same time we expect aviation safety professionals throughout government and industry to adhere to similarly high standards in ensuring that all facts surrounding incidents and accidents are allowed to be brought to light before conclusions are drawn,” Prater added.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, a former head of ALPA, also weighed in on the subject in a speech at the International Aviation Club in Washington.
“The overshoot of Minneapolis is a very sad example. As a pilot, it doesn’t matter much whether they were using their laptops, or re-enacting the Lincoln-Douglas debates — what they did was wrong and they lost total situational awareness and that’s why their Airman’s Certificates have been revoked.
“There is no substitute for situational awareness. They knew a lot better and they were trained a lot better. And they ignored it. But especially in the context of our push for professionalism, this whole incident is extremely disappointing,” he told the crowd.
“The passengers aboard that airplane sat comfortably because they assumed that the people up front were paying attention. Being distracted by compound problems is always a risk in the cockpit, which is why the captain and the first officer are trained and professional paid positions. You get paid to be a professional. That’s actually the definition of the difference between being a professional and an amateur,” Babbitt added.