NWA pilot: lots of misinformation, but can’t talk about it

by Tom Johansmeyer on

All eyes are on the Northwest Airlines crew that missed Minneapolis by 150 miles. Rumors abound, such as dozing and arguments in the cockpit. Richard Cole, a crewmember on Northwest Flight 188, wouldn’t talk, except to say that it wasn’t his fault: “But other than that, I cannot tell you anything that went on because we’re having hearings this weekend, we’re having hearings on Tuesday. All that information will come out then.”

The flight had 144 passengers and five crewmembers and left San Diego for Minneapolis. At one point in the trip, there were 78 minutes of radio silence, and when the air traffic controllers reconnected with the crew, it had overshot the airport by 150 miles. The police who met the plane said the pilots were “cooperative, apologetic and appreciative.”

Northwest pilots fly plane miles past airport where plane was supposed to land

by Jamie Rhein on

Missing a highway exit, thus driving well past it and needing to turn around may be common, particularly if a driver is feeling spaced out and road hashed. Missing an airport, thus flying past it, is unusual. Even so, it happened this past Wednesday. A Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 overshot Minneapolis where it was heading.

Luckily, the plane only went 150 miles further before the pilots realized their mistake and turned around. I guess they must have missed the fact the landscape below had turned from rural to suburban to urban. Minneapolis does have impressive architecture and it’s not small. How do you not notice a city?

Overshooting Minneapolis wasn’t the pilots only mistake. They didn’t contact radio controllers for over an hour. Because of this, the Air National Guard was alerted to be on stand-by and airport police met the plane when it landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport. Police involvement is standard procedure when there is a communication failure.

As an explanation for the big whoops!, the pilots said they were distracted by a heated discussion they were having about airline policy. That must have been some discussion.

There is a possibility that the pilots may have been suffering from pilot fatigue which caused these errors. They could have been taking a snooze. Whether it was fatigue or a heated discussion, the pilots are suspended from flying during the investigation.

As for the 144 passengers, they didn’t know anything was amiss until the police showed up.

I can imagine those people who had scrambled to get their bags out of the overhead bin before the seat belt sign went off thinking when they saw the police board the plane, “Wow, I won’t do that again. I promise I’ll keep my seat belt fastened and wait for that last ding. I swear I will.” [Bloomberg.com]

*The photo is of an aerial shot of Minneapolis. Along with the tall buildings, it seems like the water could be a nifty visual cue to keep in mind when flying to Minneapolis.

Nessie spotted! … in Minnesota

by Annie Scott on


WTF is a Scottish mythical beast doing in Lake of the Isles??

This is messed up, people. The Loch Ness monster is alive and well and living in Minneapolis. A few years ago, I went to Inverness and saw no monster. Now, I know why. How on earth did he/she(/it?) get there?

Here’s my theory: Nessie can probably only survive for a limited amount of time on land, or there’d be more sightings of her in forests and such reported. Still, with her ancient wisdom, as well as her enormous size and generous length — and possible inchworm-like movement capabilities — she might be able to move rather quickly across land. As of yet, there are no rumors that Nessie can fly, so we’ll go with that. This big, long monster would have had to slither her way over northwest Scotland into the Scottish Sea of the Hebrides and veer north to avoid Ireland (or perhaps she stopped off for a pint of Guiness, who’s to say?). Then, there must have been a long trek over the Atlantic Ocean — hopefully she picked up the fabulous blue jewel dropped by the old lady at the end of “Titanic” — and an eventual, weary arrival somewhere between Labrador and Florida. Caribbean and Greenlandian detours are unlikely, unless this is all the result of an elaborate yaycation.

Once arriving in North America, thanks to the glaciers, Nessie must have had a fabulous selection of lakes to hop to and from, and really, it’s no surprise that she finally settled in Minnesota’s Lake of the Isles, where she’s nice and close to the city (optimal for terrorization), but no motors are allowed (no irritating speed boats to swat).

According to LakeCreature.com, she’s been there for quite some time now and you can actually follow her on Twitter. I don’t know how she’s getting reception out there — I think she must be stealing from that nearby church, which is a conspicuous, if somewhat innocuous act.

Open letter: Dear Nessie, what do you want? Is it Sebastian Joe’s ice cream? Do you have an evil plan? I understand that my mom’s friend Patty recently paddled out to you in her kayak and gave you a firm smack with her oar to see what you were made of, and you barely flinched. Are you going to let Patty live? What are your plans? And my biggest question of all, your majesty, is: do you know how freaking cold it’s about to get?

Write me here, Nessie. I’m waiting.
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Minneapolis-St.Paul airport spends $2.2 Million to end terminal confusion

by Scott Carmichael on

When departing out of Minneapolis-St.Paul airport (MSP), do you know whether you are leaving from Lindbergh terminal or Humphrey terminal? Well, neither do 25,000 other people planning to take a flight from this airport.

The two terminals are 3 miles apart, and the only highway signs mention the terminals by their name, not by the airlines that fly out of them.

In a move of sheer brilliance, the airport authority has finally come to its senses, and is going to invest $2.2 Million on new signs and some simple logic to help passengers get to their correct terminal.

One of the measures will rename the terminals “one” and “two”, a system that works for every other airport in the world. Though locals need not worry, as the official names of the terminal buildings will stay unchanged.

Lindbergh was always the main terminal for MSP, and Humphrey was only used by charter planes. The spectacular growth in low cost carriers changed all of that, but the airport never took the time to re-evaluate its signage.

Hopefully the new terminal descriptions and better signage will prevent people from showing up at the wrong terminal, especially since there is no easy way to get from one terminal to another when you screw up.

Crane falls in India: A thought about geography lessons and missed opportunities

by Jamie Rhein on

Tucked into the news this morning, in the midst of seemingly endless Michael Jackson news and the confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, was a quick story about cranes falling over in India. The cranes were being used to clean up the debris caused from a flyover that had collapsed.

It wasn’t that a flyover had fallen, or that cranes had tipped over that had caught my attention as much as the words “in India.” If you’ve ever looked on a map, you know just how big India is. As a person who lived there for two years and managed to see quite a bit, even according to Indians, I can vouch for the diversity and expansiveness. As much as I saw, I only saw a fraction of what India has to offer.

When the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007, the news didn’t say that a bridge collapsed in the United States. The specific location was noted. I would bet that when the news about that bridge was announced in India, The word “Minneapolis” was part of the footage.

It can’t be that the name of the city would take up that much extra time? Or that people in the United States wouldn’t be interested in the particular name of the city in India. It’s one I would hope they’d recognize if they heard it. One would hope. It’s the capital.

New Delhi. That’s where the tipped over cranes are—along with the collapsed flyover and the six people who died because of the first mishap. With the cranes collapse, four people were injured. Here’s the article about the accident in the Times of India.

Perhaps the reason why Americans, like Kellie Pickler, for example, do so poorly in geography quizzes is that opportunities to educate us get lost in the shuffle of other news. Michael Jackson, from what I’ve heard, took loads of Xanex. And in case you didn’t know, Neverland is in California, and Michael isn’t buried there–supposedly.