US airlines: When pilots lose contact...

Contact was lost for over an hour

You would have thought that since 9/11, whenever an American airline 'lost contact', it would be all hands on deck. However yesterday, a US plane heading from San Diego to Minneapolis was classed as 'lost' for over an hour as it flew at 37,000ft and overflew its landing site by 150 miles.

An investigation has begun into what the pilots were doing, with reasons being everything from the two of them arguing to them falling asleep in the cockpit. One thing is clear though... it is still possible for planes to go AWOL despite stringent security methods.

Lost radio contact

The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely on Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy", however during this time communications were completely severed.

A statement released by the National Transportation Safety Board said, the crew had lost "situational awareness."

Whilst the plane was en route to Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport, contact was lost between 8 pm and 9:15 pm EDT, leaving ground control baffled. When contact was re-established by the crew, they requested permission to turn around and land.

The plane, owned by Delta Air Lines said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta.

Security breach

Upon the plane landing, it was boarded by airport police to determine whether there had been a hijacking or any other form of criminal activity.

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, who spoke to passengers, no-one realised what had happened until they landed and security officials boarded the plane.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, and the plane being out of contact for such a long period of time, the military was alerted and fighter jets put on stand by. According to the North American Aerospace Defence Command, the fact that the crew were not responding had given credence to thoughts that the plane had been hijacked.

Not just that, but it's the second unusual incident involving a US airliner this week.

On Monday, a Delta Boeing 767 with 182 passengers landed on a taxiway instead of its assigned runway at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport. The taxiway, which was parallel to the runway, was active but cleared of ground traffic.

It would appear that these recent incidents would seem to indicate an overhaul of airline communication protocols.

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