(CNN) — The Northwest Airlines pilots who flew their jet past their destination city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 21 have blamed air traffic controllers for the snafu.
In separate responses to the administrative law judge handling their case, Capt. Timothy B. Cheney, 53, of Gig Harbor, Washington, and First Officer Richard I. Cole, 54, say air traffic control rules weren't followed, which contributed to the incident.
"The air traffic controller(s) did not comply with the requirements of the air traffic control manual and other relevant orders, rules, procedures, policies and practices with respect to Northwest Flight 188, nor coordinate effectively with Northwest dispatch, and such failure was a causal or contributing factor in the incident," they said. The responses were filed November 24, but made public Monday.
"Since this is the subject of an ongoing legal process, we can't comment," said Laura J. Brown, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the Federal Aviation Administration. The pilots are appealing the revocation of their licenses by the FAA.
The National Transportation Safety Board has reported that the pilots told investigators they used personal laptop computers during the flight, in violation of company policy, and lost track of time.
via Pilots who overshot destination blame controllers – CNN.com.
