Smarter and more eloquent people than I have weighed in on that Northwest Airlines flight that flew past their destination the other day but I think I'll add that today's QOTD gives me ZERO comfort. I love to fly even though I don't get to do it much. The incident won't give me pause because I feel certain that it's isolated and even more certain that it will be forcefully addressed. Still, I'm a little concerned that the only things mentioned here are that what they did was "strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination" and that "they were under investigation for possible revocation of their licenses". I'm sorry but this seems a little more serious than that to me.
Quote of the Day
The pilots said there was a concentrated period of discussion where they did not monitor the airplane or calls from (controllers).
National Transportation Safety Board
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "Sometimes after a tough loss, like the Falcons 37-21 day at Dallas, I find myself trying to get in the heads of players. I focus more on mental toughness than in-game decision making. I'm fascinated by professional athletes who, in the wake of plays good and bad, can refocus on the next pitch, snap or shot. With football's weekly opera and buildup we're left with the additional variables of time."
They will never pilot for a living, in this country at least, again. What are you thinking on top of that?
Just seems like losing their jobs and their licenses is not quite enough. In the end, that's all that's happening here. What they did just seems worse than the employee who got fired for putting the sale tags on the wrong merchandise or maybe for coming to work late a few times. Then again, there were no injuries so maybe I'm a bit too harsh.
I see your point. On the other hand, most sales clerks don't have the investment in their careers that those guys did and someone who is constantly tardy can clean up their act and most likely get another job in their field. I suspect those guys will never get another job driving planes. Not in this country.