Pilots Overshot Destination, Say They Were Arguing, Experts Think Otherwise

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Pilots Overshot Destination, Say They Were Arguing, Experts Think Otherwise

Story Created: Oct 23, 2009 at 12:45 PM CST

Story Updated: Oct 23, 2009 at 12:45 PM CST

Two pilots of a flight that lost radio contact for over an hour and missed their landing said they were in a heated discussion, but aviation experts suspect otherwise.

Investigators want to know how the pilots of Northwest flight 188 overshot their landing by 150 miles. Passengers didn't know anything had happened until they landed.

 Andrea Allmon, passenger, said, "When the doors openedm everyone was getting their bags off and the plane was swarmed by police."

Everything was fine when the flight took off from San Diego, headed for Minneapolis, but air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilots  as they passed over the Rockies. An hour later the plane flew right over its destination at 37,000 feet and continued for another 150 miles. The FAA feared the plane had been hijacked and  put fighter jets on standby. Finally, the pilots radioed in, turned around and landed safely.

The pilots told the FBI they were "in a heated discussion over airline policym and they lost situational awareness."

The plane's voice recorder is expected to be flown here to Washington later today, but some experts are already speculating the two  pilots were sleeping, not arguing.

Peter Goelz, former Managing Director of NTSB, said, "If this was a heated conversation it never should have taken place, and if they were asleep that's even worse."

Pilots have fallen alseep before. In 2008, a flight in Hawaii overshot its destination by 15 miles after the pilots dozed off. As for this latest flight, "I'm absolutely horrifed that they weren't paying attention, they weren't doing their job," said a passenger.

Northwest says the pilots will be grounded until the investigation is completed.

Courtesy of Joel Brown with CBS NEWS

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