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by Tveg on November 29th, 2009
I have thousands of hours doing such a job, so have just a bit more insight than most here. I would say one probably did fall asleep, and the other wasn't paying attention for a brief period. They were foolish to not use falling asleep as an excuse. It is not at all uncommon for air carriers to be out of radio contact for brief periods. I have many times assisted ATC in trying to contact other airliners who "missed the switch". Traveling eight miles a minute, it doesn't take long for distance to add up. If they missed the ATC switch (VHF communication is line of sight limited), and either fell asleep briefly, or just weren't paying attention, it's not surprising such a thing could happen. Considering how many crew members I have flown with who slept for part of the flight, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Personally, I was never comfortable sleeping in the cockpit, and would always be the one to stay awake (three pilot crew). Adequate rest costs the airline money. If a fatigue related issue happens, it ends up being the crews fault for not calling in fatigued (and delaying the flight / getting called into the office). Many crew members don't feel calling fatigue is worth the hassle they will receive from management.
by HoboJoe on November 2nd, 2009
Only one reason. The pilots fell asleep.
by Marky Mark on November 2nd, 2009
Two possibilities present themselves:
1.) Faulty navigation equipment
2.) Naughty stewardesses doing lap-dances.
;D
by tintin on November 2nd, 2009
sleeping
by ItsMeT on November 2nd, 2009
secretly taping/viewing the mile high club in action.
by CaptainHarley adores his life penguin on November 2nd, 2009
Um ... naked stewardesses? : D
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You're reading In your opinion: What would cause the crew of a scheduled airliner to become so distracted as to overfly their destination by 150 miles and not know it?
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Comments
Thanks! Truly appreciate your input! Do you think the reason the crew didn't admit to falling asleep is that they feared the truth would get them fired? Or worse, lose their licenses?
by Pointeman1 on December 2nd, 2009
Saying they fell asleep would have been the much better choice to say regardless of whether or not they actually did fall asleep. Fatigue is a common problem in aviation, and the powerful airlines are for example, against shortening a duty day from 14 hours to 12 hours. More incidents such as this with the reason being falling asleep are one of the few things which could increase safety via speeding up new legislation requiring adequate rest. Saying they were on their computers really puts them in a bad light! I think they simply decided too quickly without talking to an ALPA attorney. Too bad this incident couldn't have aided the push for the safety of adequate rest!
I'm not positive about their airplane, but usually the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) can be reset (erasing the tape) once the aircraft is safely back on the ground. The CVR is designed as a method of improving safety, not as a method of spying on / punishing the pilots.
by Tveg on December 2nd, 2009