Hey Dave, where'd you put that map again? Or, WAKE THE FUCK UP IT'S TIME TO LAND THE PLANE!

Yesterday I said I would post a bit about two pilots who missed their target and here it is.

I'm sure by now you've heard of the two pilots that overshot their target city by oh say 150 miles or so before the ground controllers were able to get in touch with them right? If not here is a link to the story if you wish to see what I am writing about.

http://www.twincities.com/topstories/ci_13630715

The pilot claims that no one was asleep and that they weren't distracted by so called shop talk, but he isn't saying anything else. He won't say why they missed their target and that is probably because his union rep has told him to keep his mouth shut until their lawyers figure out the best way to go forward from here. The most likely thing is that these two pilots nodded off and I would like to say that I can't really blame them because I have a hard time driving to work and back without my eyelids getting heavy on me. However, as a pilot (or any operator of a mass transit machine) you have a responsibility to stay awake on the job.)

At first stories like this seem a little bit comical because no one got hurt, but then it takes on a much more serious note when people start to think about the safety of it all. Although it is a factor, I am not as worried about two pilots falling asleep and the plane crashing into the ground or ocean because jumbo jets typically have autopilots and will fly at altitude for a long time. Also, a good flight crew includes the attendants and they know how long it takes to fly from one airport to another just by virtue of experience, so they will know when something isn't quite right after a while.

What I am concerned about here is someone being a little overzealous at the local Air National Guard base and scrambling a couple F-16's up to take down an otherwise innocent airplane. Everything changed after 9/11/2001 and with this latest incident planes at a local Air National Guard base were put on standby. Fortunately everything was resolved and the fighter jets stayed on the ground. Make no mistake about it though, while no one wants to see a plane get shot down, no one wants to see another one crashed into a sky scraper again either.

If these two did fall asleep then they should just come forward with that and take their lumps like men. Maybe the airlines need to put some kind of loudspeaker in the planes that cannot be turned off and is only to be used by ground control and/or other aircraft if need be. This way when the normal radio communication is lost someone can still holler at the pilots and tell them to friggin' pay attention. What do you think?

Tomorrow, I have a story about musicians, and other artists, who think they are the stewards for what is right and wrong in the world.