NORTHWEST pilots miss landing strip

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Good point as I was thinking this myself. Not to spark a Boeing vs. Airbus tirade, (I actuall like Airbus), BUT if this had been on a Boeing, AND they dialed in the lower alt restriction into the MCP, the plane would have automatically started going down at the TOD. I guess though that could have brought about a whole different set of problems.




Not entirely correct.  Even with a lower ALT in on the the MCP.  The A/P will not begin a descent even at TOD on it's own..

On the 763, The FMC will disengage VNAV and enter ALT HOLD, and will not climb or descend unless V/S is activated and changed, or VNAV button is pressed again, OR FLCH is pressed.

On the 744, The ALT INTERVENE button must be pressed, OR FLCH mode engaged, OR V/S mode is selected.

I am NOT sure if different companys can have different configurations though.

See the Boeing engineers are not as stupid as you think

[mhawke]

An update to this story on http://avherald.com/

An e-mail supposedly written by a friend of the captain on flight NW-188 says......."

Sorry but I don't buy it.  That doesn't explain being out of contact for 1 Hr and 17 minutes, there is still more to the story.

[otto_pilot]

Its sad. All I can say is wow I no I am way late on this but I was trying to not post on this one. Seriously these guys hurt the industry more then shown at first glance. People now think all pilots do stuff like this. Its crap, and they should have no licences period. Well looks like big brother will be in the flight deck by the time I make it the airlines in a few years.

[joeyb747]

"WASHINGTON — The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis have blamed air traffic controllers in part for the incident, saying controllers violated procedures."

"FAA officials have said controllers repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to contact Northwest Flight 188 as it flew from San Diego across a broad swath of the continent. They've also said there were several shift changes during that time in which controllers going off duty who had handled the plane didn't inform controllers coming on duty that the plane was out of radio contact."

From:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20091207/US.Northwest.Flight.Overflown/

[sykocus]

"WASHINGTON — The Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot Minneapolis have blamed air traffic controllers in part for the incident, saying controllers violated procedures."

"FAA officials have said controllers repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to contact Northwest Flight 188 as it flew from San Diego across a broad swath of the continent. They've also said there were several shift changes during that time in which controllers going off duty who had handled the plane didn't inform controllers coming on duty that the plane was out of radio contact."

From:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20091207/US.Northwest.Flight.Overflown/

They were MIA for well over an hour during which time controller tried numerous ways to contact them. Even if controllers didn't do everything perfect the pilots have to carry the responsibility for doing their job of flying the plane (which they didn't do). I know they're fighting an uphill battle for their jobs, but that still sounds pretty weak.

[rekno13]

How dare they blame ATC. That's just insulting people's intelligence.

[joeyb747]

I think they are just trying to find somewhere to divert the blame too. The bottom line is they missed the frequency change, and went out of contact. Crew Error.

[joeyb747]

A little more info:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4219f00f&opt=0