Both Northwest Airlines pilots have been suspended while the incident is investigated
A Northwest Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 150 miles, officials said on Thursday.
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."
The NTSB said on Thursday it would review the plane's flight data and voice recorders and interview the pilots. Among other issues, investigators will explore crew fatigue to see if the pilots were tired, the NTSB said.
Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending completion of the NTSB investigation and an internal probe by Delta.
Safety board investigations can take several months to complete.
The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it lost radio contact between 8 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. EDT.
Flight 188 was 150 miles off course by the time the crew re-established communications and requested permission to turn around, officials said.
Airport police boarded the plane in Minneapolis to ensure there had not been a hijacking or other criminal activity, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport said.
Military authorities were alerted during the incident and put fighter jets on stand-by status temporarily, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.
It was the second unusual incident involving a U.S. 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.
Aviation chiefs in the U.S. are investigating to see if the pilots of a passenger jet with 144 people on board fell asleep as it prepared to land.
A Northwest Airlines flight overshot its intended destination by 150 miles before the crew realised they had missed their airport.
The two pilots of the Airbus A320 told investigators they been involved in a 'heated' argument in the cockpit and had become distracted.
But air traffic controllers said they were unable to raise the pilots for over an hour as it flew at 37,000ft across the state of Minnesota.
Officials are concerned that the pilots, who have not been named, dropped off while the jet was on auto-pilot.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that they are looking into pilot fatigue as a reason for the overshoot.
'We will look into fatigue issues,' said NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said.
The Northwest Airlines flight was enroute from San Diego, California, to Minneapolis on Wednesday evening.
Controllers were unable to speak with the pilot or co-pilot to give them information about their landing approach as they neared the end of the four hour flight.
The radio silence continued for an hour and 18 minutes.The jet, with 144 passengers and crew on board, was tracked on radar.
The aircraft flew over its intended destination, Minneapolis St Paul International airport, and continued northeast for approximately 150 miles over the next 16 minutes.
The airport's controllers then re-established communication with crew members, who said they had become distracted.
FBI agents and police boarded the plane after it landed safely in Minneapolis amid fears of a hijacking.
Passenger Andrea Allmon said: 'We landed, everyone got ready to get off the plane and suddenly police were getting on the plane and telling us to sit down.
'They went into the cockpit, looked around and then told everyone to get off the plane.'
Both pilots have been suspended while the NTSB investigate the incident. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been taken away for analysis.
Northwest Airlines,which is part of Delta Air Lines, said they were cooperating with the FAA and NTSB in their investigation as well as conducting their own internal investigation.
An airline spokesman said: 'The pilots have been relieved from active flying pending the completion of these investigations.'
It would not be the first time a pilot has fallen asleep at the controls.
Early in 2008, the two pilots of a go! Airlines flight from Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii fell asleep for at least 18 minutes while in the air.
The plane flew past the airport and out to sea before air traffic controllers finally were able to reach the pilots, who turned the plane around.
The captain later was diagnosed with sleep apnea.
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