This is an interesting flight path ...

[Are_grits_groceries]

Experts Puzzle Over How Flight Overshot Airport

<snip>
The plane, en route from San Diego with 144 passengers and a crew of five, passed over its destination of Minneapolis at 37,000 feet just before 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday. Contact with controllers wasn't established until 14 minutes later, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.

As of Thursday, NTSB investigators had not yet examined the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which were being sent to Washington for analysis.
<snip>

While the passengers were apparently unaware what was happening as they passed their destination, police on the ground were preparing for the worst and the Air National Guard had put fighter jets on alert at two locations.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/23/us/AP-US-Northwest-Airport-Overflown.html?hp

Were they talking to Mr. Heene.

[Barack_America]

1. It would have been interesting if they had made it to Canada.

So air traffic control was clearly aware of the flight, did they not radio the plane? Or were the pilots fighting so loudly they didn't hear it?

Bizarre.

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. They were radioing them constantly.

Every bell and whistle were going off.

[still_one]

2. That is amazing /nt

[supernova]

3. Drunken loop if I ever saw one

:wow:

[MercutioATC]

11. Actually, those are ATC vectors.

That's busy airspace. The plane had to descend from 37,000 feet and turn around in the middle of a busy corridor, so it had to be vectored to facilitate its descent.

[thunder rising]

4. Those two guys have some 'splainen to do. There is no way a heavy misses an initial approach.

This article is obviously wrong about the time without contact. The approach sequence starts 100 mi or more prior to passing the airport.

[Warpy]

6. They were obviously impaired for some reason

or broke the rules by leaving the cockpit, plane on autopilot. They also need to make sure that radio doesn't have a loose connection or something, although that seems unlikely considering how much redundancy is built into a commercial aircraft.

The recorders are going to be really interesting.

[MineralMan]

7. They were asleep. That's the only possible explanation.

And they were probably asleep for quite some time, with headsets off so they didn't hear the radio. The cockpit voice recorder will show some really interesting conversation once they woke up and realized where they were.

I expect the pilots to change their story shortly...before the evidence comes out.

Morons.

[MilesColtrane]

8. Aliens

It's the only explanation.

heh

[ipfilter]

9. I was thinking chemtrails.

DISCLAIMER: I don't believe in chemtrails.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

10. almost as interesting as Delta pilots

who landed on an active taxiway...thank goodness there were no planes taxiing at the time...

sP

[LeftHander]

12. Asleep....I bet. nt

[WolverineDG]

13. I was once on a plane that almost landed at the wrong airport

Fortunately, on descent, those of us in the window seats looked out to see if we could see our house & realized we were headed towards Harlingen, not McAllen. Call buttons went off like mad & I could hear someone in first yelling "THAT'S THE WRONG AIRPORT, DUMMY!" to the pilot (this was way pre-9/11). So the pilot turned around & followed the highway to McAllen. :eyes:

dg