Delta suspends pilots who flew past airport

By Staff

For the AJC

For the second time in a week, Delta Air Lines has suspended pilots who made an apparent error at the end of a flight.

The latest incident involved a Northwest Airlines jet that overflew the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles before crew members discovered their mistake, authorities said Thursday. Northwest is now owned by Atlanta-based Delta.

The plane landed safely just after 9 p.m. Wednesday, and none of the 149 passengers and crew were injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the Northwest Airbus A320 was flying from San Diego to Minneapolis and lost radio contact with controllers before 7 p.m. The NTSB said communications were re-established at 8:14 p.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the crew told authorities they became distracted during a heated discussion over airline policy and lost track of where they were.

“The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority,” Delta said in a statement, adding it is cooperating with the FAA and NTSB probe as well as conducting its own. “The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations.”

On Monday, a Delta jet landed on a taxiway, rather than its assigned runway, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after arriving from Rio de Janeiro about 6 a.m.

An FAA spokeswoman said Thursday that the Boeing 767 had been cleared to land on a runway usually used only for takeoffs. The plane’s pilots had earlier told controllers they had a medical emergency involving a non-flying pilot on the flight.

The Delta jet was cleared to land on runway 27R, usually a departure runway, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. It is parallel to and a short distance from Runway 27L, usually used for landings.

Instead, the flight landed on a taxiway running alongside 27R. The taxiway was “active” at the time but there were no vehicles or other aircraft using it, averting a potential disaster.

It was dark at the time. Both the runway and taxiway were lit, though runway approach lights were not in use for Runway 27R, officials said.

The pilots of that flight also were relieved of duty pending investigations.