WASHINGTON -- The two Northwest Airlines pilots who overflew their Minneapolis destination by 150 miles told federal investigators that they were going over scheduling using their laptop computers when the mistake occurred.
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed in a statement Monday that the pilots told investigators the first officer was instructing the captain on monthly flight crew scheduling on a laptop. However, the use of laptop computers in the cockpit is prohibited. Previously, Richard Cole told KGW he was not asleep when the Northwest Airlines airplane he was piloting Oct. 21 overshot its destination but he would not elaborate on what did happen. The airplane turned around more than one hour after flying beyond Minneapolis and landed safely. National Transportation Security Board investigators spoke with Cole on Sunday. The two pilots could have their licenses revoked, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. “I know there’s a lot of discussion … there’s a lot of misinformation going on,” Cole told KGW Friday. “Nobody was asleep in the cockpit.” A report released by airport police Friday identified the pilot as Timothy B. Cheney and the first officer as Richard I. Cole. The report said the men were "cooperative, apologetic and appreciative" and volunteered to take preliminary breath tests that indicated they were not under the influence of alcohol. Minneapolis airport police say controllers tried to contact the pilots of the wayward jetliner by radio, data message and cell phone after it failed to land as scheduled. The pilots initially said they had been having a heated discussion about airline policy, causing them to simply miss their destination. But aviation safety experts and other pilots were frankly skeptical they could have become so consumed with shop talk that they forgot to land an airplane carrying 144 passengers Federal officials and controllers initially thought the plane might have been hijacked. A police report released Friday identified the pilots as Timothy Cheney and Richard Cole. The report offers few new details about why they flew past the airport. The three-page report says the pilots "were cooperative, apologetic and appreciative" and both voluntarily submitted to alcohol-breath tests. The tests found no evidence that the pilots were drinking.
