Squabbling pilots overshoot minneapolis airport by 240 km
Squabbling pilots overshoot minneapolis airport by 240 km The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said it is investigating a flight that overshot its destination by 240 km when pilots reportedly got into a "heated discussion" on airline policy.
The NTSB said the Airbus A320 became a "no radio communications" flight on Wednesday evening as it travelled at 37,000 feet from San Diego, California, prompting fears it had been hijacked.
Military jetsFour military fighter jets were readied to chase down the plane before contact was reestablished.
The flight was carrying 147 passengers and five crewmembers and was supposed to land at Minneapolis airport.
But instead, the plane flew over the airport and continued to fly for another 240 km before air traffic control at Minneapolis airport managed to regain contact.
"The crew stated they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness," the NTSB said.
Cockpit distraction The NTSB said they plan to interview the crew and that the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder are being sent to the laboratory for analysis.
Investigators don't know whether the pilots may have fallen asleep, but fatigue and cockpit distraction will be looked into. The pilots have been suspended from flying.
