FMCは？TODでalarmも無視、２人ともNDを見ることさえしなかったって事？ ATCをAreaSpeakerにしてたらしいので自機が呼ばれても気づきにくいとしても何度もCallされてるだろうし・・・ 有り得ないー。ACARS MSGも完全無視ですかぃ。 信じられんincidentだな。 まぁそれに起因する大きな事故にならなくて良かった。。。
***quote from The Aviation Herald***
A Northwest Airlines Airbus A320-200, registration N374NW performing flight NW-188 from San Diego,CA to Minneapolis,MN (USA) with 147 passengers, was enroute at FL370 about 130nm southeast of Denver,CO at 5:56pm MDT (23:56Z), when radio contact was lost with the airplane. The airplane continued and overflew their destination Minneapolis 62 minutes later and continued on an easterly heading for another 15 minutes before radio communication was re-established about 110nm east of Minneapolis. The airplane subsequently descended to FL320, turned around and landed safely in Minneapolis 45 minutes after radio contact was restored.
The NTSB reported, that the crew told Air Traffic Control, that they had become distracted and had overflown Minneapolis and now requested to return.
The FAA reported, that according to post flight interviews the crew had engaged in a heated debate over airline policies and lost situational awareness.
The NTSB have opened an investigation, scheduled an interview with the crew and secured the black boxes of the airplane.
On Oct 26th the NTSB reported, that the crew gave testimony in separate interviews. The crew stated, that they had a 19 hour layover before departure and were both well rested (not fatigued). Neither of them fell asleep, and there was no heated argument on the flight deck. They were discussing a new monthly flight crew scheduling system now in place as result of ther merger (editorial note: of Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines). The discussion started in cruise, both pilots accessed their laptops while reviewing the new scheduling system and lost track of time. They did hear the radio, but did not monitor the calls, neither heard the calls by ATC nor noticed the messages from their dispatchers. About 5 minutes prior to estimated time of touch down a flight attendant entered the cockpit and asked for an estimated time of arrival. At that point the captain realized, that they had already passed Minneapolis, contacted ATC and requested vectors back to Minneapolis.
The NTSB said, that the use of laptops during flight is prohibited by company policy. The crew was using the cockpit loudspeakers in cruise flight, not their head sets. When asked by ATC about their silence on the radio, the crew told ATC, they had a "cockpit distraction" and were dealing "with company policies". Both pilots said, there was no company policy on the cabin crew checking the flight deck.
First analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder showed, that it recorded only 30 minutes. The cockpit area microphone channel was not working during this recording, the cockpit headphone microphones however recorded the conversation during final approach, landing and at the gate. The flight data recorder is still being analysed.
The FAA revoked the licenses of both pilots on Oct 27th citing violations of a number of Federal Aviation Regulations including failing to comply with ATC instructions and clearances and operating carelessly and recklessly.
