FAA: Military should have been told sooner

[October 29, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles have prompted the Obama administration to broaden its look at distracted driving to include distracted flying, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday.

The use of mobile devices and laptops while driving any type of vehicle is unsafe, LaHood told a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

"We're not going to equivocate on this. Any kind of distraction, whether it's trains, planes or automobiles is a distraction and we should figure out ways to get these cell phones, the texting, ... and the use of laptops out of the hands of people who are supposed to be delivering the public to somewhere safely," LaHood said.

The pilots of Northwest flight 188 told safety investigators they lost track of time and place while using their laptops to work out crew schedules. They said they were out of communications with air traffic controllers and their company's dispatchers for 91 minutes while cruising at 37,000 feet, unaware that they had flown past their destination of Minneapolis until a flight attendant called them on an intercom.

The incident "raises serious safety concerns," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the committee.

Also Wednesday, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt acknowledged that air traffic controllers didn't notify the military as quickly as they should have when they lost contact with Flight 188.

"Air traffic controllers repeatedly tried to reach the pilots of the Northwest flight as it continued on course without deviation," Babbitt said in a statement. "The plane followed its filed flight plan, the transponder remained on and the plane did not send any emergency or distress signals. However, the controllers should have notified NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) more quickly that the plane was not responding."

The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that controllers waited about 40 minutes after losing contact with the plane before notifying the military.

Babbitt said a review was under way, and that more training may be required.

At Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., noted that the FAA doesn't specifically prohibit the use of laptop computers above 10,000 feet and asked whether the Transportation Department might regulate the use of laptops by pilots.

"I have my own ideas about this, but I'm going to work with the folks at the FAA and our department to deal with this issue," LaHood said. "We're going to take a very close look at that entire issue."

Afterward, LaHood told reporters that Babbitt was exploring whether there should be a uniform prohibition on the use of laptops and other personal electronic devices during flight. Some airlines already have policies governing their use.

"We can't have these kinds of distractions in the cockpit. We can't," LaHood said.

He said he has no way of knowing if the problem extends to other pilots and other airlines, "but it's very serious."

"Look, these people board planes thinking they're going to get ... to Minneapolis safely and they get off the plane and discover that there was this kind of a lapse and these guys are on laptops and whatever, and we can't have that," LaHood said.

The Obama administration and lawmakers have already expressed interest in targeting distracted driving, including the use of mobile devices while behind the wheel. LaHood held a summit meeting in September that brought together researchers, regulators and other experts on distracted driving.

The FAA said Tuesday that it had revoked the licenses of the Northwest pilots -- Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer. Phone messages left at the homes of the pilots were not returned.

The pilots have 10 days to appeal the revocation to the three-member National Transportation Safety Board. If an appeal fails, they can apply for a new license after one year.

The pilots violated numerous federal regulations, including failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating their aircraft carelessly and recklessly, FAA said.

"You engaged in conduct that put your passengers and your crew in serious jeopardy," FAA regional counsel Eddie Thomas wrote Cheney in a letter accompanying the revocation order. "NW188 was without communication with any air traffic control facility and with its company dispatcher for a period of 91 minutes (over 1.5 hours) while you were on a frolic of your own. Failing to comply with ATC clearances or instructions while engaged in air carrier operations is extremely reckless."

A similar letter was sent to Cole.

The pilots union at Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, declined to comment. Earlier, the union had cautioned against a rush to judgment. The pilots told investigators who interviewed them on Sunday that they had no previous accidents or safety incidents.

Delta has suspended the pilots pending a company investigation.

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On the Net:

Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov/

National Transportation Safety Board: http://www.ntsb.gov/

[Associated Press; By JOAN LOWY and KEN THOMAS]

AP Airlines Writer Joshua Freed in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

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