http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33436497/ns/us_news-life/
Last week, a Northwest airlines jet missed its destination airport in Minneapolis by 150 miles. The pilots of the plane, Cole and Cheney, say that they were not asleep, but were in a "heated discussion". Many find this hard to believe, however, because air traffic controllers had tried for more than an hour to make contact with the pilots, but received no response. The plane was being monitored closely by white house officials and the National Guard was alerted to prepare jets to chase the airliner, although none of them left the runway. NTSB spokesman said that fatigue and cockpit distraction will be factors looked into during the investigation. On Friday, a report was released that stated both pilots had apologized and had passed breathalyzer tests, indicating they were not intoxicated. It also stated that the crew had indicated they had been engaged in a discussion about airline policy.
If you really think about it, missing the airport by just 150 miles over a roughly 2,000 mile trip is not SUCH a big deal. It could be compared to missing your exit on a highway trip, leading you just a few miles off course. It only takes one mistake for an airline tragedy to ensue but while they made a minor mistake, thousands of other flights carried on as normal throughout that day. This indicates that airline travel is still a very safe mode of transportation and I think that some people are freaking out over practically nothing.
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I agree with you that this incident shouldn't be that big of a deal because people can easily make a mistake, but I think the public is being chaotic over this because after 9/11 anything related to flight mishaps scare everyone!
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that the pilots were in a “heated” discussion as they drift off 150 miles. I think that you are somewhat right of the media making a big deal out of this, but it is better to be safe then to have another 9/11 on our hands. I like that the white house was fast in dealing with the problem, because this means our country can be safer for the future and prevent another 9/11 attack.
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