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Flight Attendant: 'I Have No Idea' When We're Landing

Investigation continues into errant Northwest flight

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2009 10:42 AM CDT

(Newser) – The passengers aboard the Northwest flight that overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles—possibly while the pilots napped—didn't have a clue anything was amiss beyond a nagging sense that the flight was taking a long time. One tells the Star Tribune that he... Read full story »

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Northwest Pilot: We Weren't Sleeping

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(NEWSER) - One of the pilots of the infamous Northwest flight that missed the airport says neither he nor his co-pilot were napping. "I can assure you none of us was asleep," says Richard Cole, who gave separate interviews to ABC and the AP. "It was not a serious event, from a safety issue." So what gives? We may not know until federal investigators finish their inquiry, which will be next week at the earliest. More»

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(NEWSER) - Because the aircraft has an old cockpit voice recorder, the world may never know why the pilots of Northwest Flight 188 lost contact with ground control for 78 minutes. The recorder on the Airbus A320 has a maximum memory of 30 minutes, after which it tapes over itself. So investigators can listen only to the last half-hour of the flight—after the pilots has re-established contact with air traffic controllers and gotten back on course. More»

Northwest Pilots Were Working on Laptops: NTSB

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(NEWSER) - The pilots of the Northwest flight that wandered 150 miles past its destination were working on their personal laptops in the cockpit, a violation of company policy. The two denied falling asleep and could hear the radio when they fell out of communication with ground personnel, they told NTSB investigators yesterday. The flight attendants on the runaway plane are being interviewed today, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. More»

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(NEWSER) - Air traffic controllers who sought an explanation from the pilots of the "runaway plane," which overshot the Minneapolis airport by about 100 miles last month, got little satisfaction. After being out of radio contact for over an hour, controllers asked the crew of Northwest Flight 188 for a "brief explanation" of their radio silence, according to transcripts the FAA released today. "Ah [just] cockpit distractions, that's all I can say," one of the pilots responded. More»

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(NEWSER) - The FAA should have taken more decisive action on the Northwest Airlines flight that fell out of communication with ground control for 77 minutes last month, officials acknowledged today. While the plane was out of contact, air-traffic controllers changed shifts and failed to warn their replacements about the runaway plane. “We could have done better,” said FAA administrator Randy Babbitt. More»

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Flight Attendant: 'I Have No Idea' When We're Landing

Investigation continues into errant Northwest flight

Minneapolis • Northwest Airlines • San Diego • aviation • air travel • Minneapolis airport • pilot fatigue • Air National Guard • pilots

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More Newser Stories

Northwest Pilot: We Weren't Sleeping

But he won't offer more details on why they overshot airport

Cockpit Recorder No Help in Northwest Flight Probe

Device captures just half an hour; record of 78-minute gap lost

Northwest Pilots Were Working on Laptops: NTSB

Captain, first officer deny falling asleep in cockpit

Northwest Pilots Clammed Up After Overshooting Airport

FAA transcript shows pair blaming silence on 'cockpit distractions'

FAA Admits Flubs on Wandering Northwest Flight

Miscommunication marked regulator's response to stray airliner

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