The thing that worries me the most about this incident, is this plane was over 150 miles off course before communication was reestablished. Why were the fighters still not airborne?

150 miles goes by pretty quick in a transport category aircraft at cruise.Despite what you see on TV and in the movies, I doubt you could scramble jets and get them in the air in much less than 15 minutes anyway. Unless they were already in the air. I doubt they sit around 24/7 with their g-suits on, helmet in hand waiting for the call.Just my 2 cents,Joe

The thing that worries me the most about this incident, this plane was over 150 miles off course before communication was reestablished. Why were the fighters still not airborne? Why were they only on standby? Didn't we learn anything from 9/11? At the point the the 9/11 planes went off course, they were about the same distance away from there target.

When there was a possible real hijacked plane flying nobody knew how to handle the situation

Didn't we learn anything from 9/11?

Yeah, we learned there is no perfect security. No government can assure that. The same way no government can protect you when you cross a street or when you are in an office building. The delay between launching fighters, confusion about exact status of aircraft, its intentions, decision to shoot or not to shoot is such a large grey area that all scenarios are possible. The lessons from 9/11 are pretty much limited to what happens at the airport - before it even takes off. In this case there was absolutely no evidence of any mischief unfolding.

FO apparently denies both - that they were either sleeping or engaged in a discussion.My wife has another theory - they were of different sexual orientation and had a little ....

That's the most believable explanation I've heard yet...:( If they were familiar with MSFS they could have said "We were so used to the Microsoft IFR ATC that approach vectoring 150 miles from the destination airport seemed liked normal operating procedure....and no we didn't notice because we were in a heated discussion about whether FS9 or FSX was better." :(

Apparently you have a more rosy colored experience with the airline you worked for than many others.

Don't know how I painted US Air or any airline in a rosy color. I was answering your reply stating the airline is at fault when it is obvious the crew screwed up. In fact today it has come out the two were playing on their laptops rather than monitoring the aircraft and radio calls. If they find the two pilots were screwing around on their laptops, sleeping or conversing rather than flying both should be reprimanded/fired and their certs suspended. And not that it matters but I was with CO Express prior to the '02 spinoff. ACA and Kitty Hawk followed until I got tired of furloughs and indications that my employers would fold. So I don't have a "rosy" opinion on commercial aviation, however I have many friends still flying (ASA, Eagle, SWA, JetBlue, FedEx) without any issues. I just thank God everyday I as lucky enough to have found a nice corporate gig that has kept me sane for many years. An old instructor of mine at ERAU who was retired TWA said it best; go to the airlines if you like the following 4 things. 1.) Never be at home2.) Don't know if you will have a job tomorrow3.) Personal bankruptcy 4.) Getting divorcedIf you don't mind those 4 your airline career will be great. :( And I remember Eric very well from the days he was with Eagle on the Saab.

150 miles goes by pretty quick in a transport category aircraft at cruise.Despite what you see on TV and in the movies, I doubt you could scramble jets and get them in the air in much less than 15 minutes anyway. Unless they were already in the air. I doubt they sit around 24/7 with their g-suits on, helmet in hand waiting for the call.Just my 2 cents,Joe

I could go along with that if it was only the distance, but they also couldn't establish contact with the aircraft for 75 minutes. Even on 9/11 the jets out of Otis scrambled much sooner than that.

150 miles goes by pretty quick in a transport category aircraft at cruise.Despite what you see on TV and in the movies, I doubt you could scramble jets and get them in the air in much less than 15 minutes anyway. Unless they were already in the air. I doubt they sit around 24/7 with their g-suits on, helmet in hand waiting for the call.Just my 2 cents,Joe

During the Cold War, we had 5 minute alert birds stationed around the country. One squadron what the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Langley AFB in Hampton VA. The alert birds had their own hanger just off the northwest side of the runway and the pilots were in the cockpits or in a ready room just off the hanger. When given the alert, they started engines and got priority clearance to take off directly after taxiing from the hanger to the runway. From the 60's to 82, they flew F-106 Delta Darts before shifting to the F-15. The squadron was deactivated in 91 and the planes sent to St. Louis with the Missouri ANG.Still, even if we had 5 minute alert birds, it would take 15 minutes or so to even get to Washington, 130 miles away. It would be similar for what happened with the NWA flight. The HRO Before We Knew It Was Called HRO page details some of what I stated above.

Hello,This is how it work (or must work !!) in Belgium:Regularly our F-16's are on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Two of our F-16 aircraft are night and day on stand-by. They can take off in 15' to intercept any suspicious plane in full flight. Usually it is an aircraft in difficulty.http://www.mil.be/aircomp/subject/index.as...E=29&MENU=0Regards.Gus.

Hello,This is how it work (or must work !!) in Belgium:Regularly our F-16's are on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Two of our F-16 aircraft are night and day on stand-by. They can take off in 15' to intercept any suspicious plane in full flight. Usually it is an aircraft in difficulty.http://www.mil.be/aircomp/subject/index.as...E=29&MENU=0Regards.Gus.

By the time the fighters got in the air, the aircraft would have already been out of their airspace :(

Still, even if we had 5 minute alert birds, it would take 15 minutes or so to even get to Washington, 130 miles away. It would be similar for what happened with the NWA flight. The HRO Before We Knew It Was Called HRO page details some of what I stated above.

We're not talking about 15 minutes, ATC was out of contact with the aircraft for 75 minutes. Plenty of time to scramble fighters. I'm not saying they should automatically shoot them down, but the fighters, could establish their intentions, and if there was an equipment failure with the radios could have safely escorted them down to land, rather then them flying uncontrolled.

We're not talking about 15 minutes, ATC was out of contact with the aircraft for 75 minutes. Plenty of time to scramble fighters. I'm not saying they should automatically shoot them down, but the fighters, could establish their intentions, and if there was an equipment failure with the radios could have safely escorted them down to land, rather then them flying uncontrolled.

Except that they were sticking to their route. If the aircraft began deviating from the route or the transponder disappeared, then I would bet that the fighters would have been launched then. But since they were only out of radio contact, then they were being treated as more of a nordo than a hijack. And nordos happen about as often as plates break at a restaurant, and there are procedures for it, so don't expect a fighter to launch each time a plane goes nordo. However, it does impress me that these guys were so lost in themselves that they never noticed that an hour and a half flew by without having to say anything on the radio. If it does turn out that the laptop story is the truth, I would think that Delta/Northwest will have the laptop trays removed from the cockpits of their Airbuses in typical reactionary form.

So! They were using their laptops to "check flight crew schedules"... must be code for they were actually playing FSX! :(

No, I'm willing to bet that they were playing World of Warcraft. My brother in law is an American Airlines pilot and he and his wife are WoW addicts, playing it in most of their spare time. This same pilot HATES to run FS, even in his spare time. He told me that the real flying is enough for him.Playing an immersive video game can totally focus your brain from any outside influences, so it's possible that was the scenario. Sleeping is the only other explanation for total lack of situational awareness on their part. Checking flight crew scheduling, yea sure....... so boring it put them to sleep!So, should these two pilots be suspended for a time or fired?

So, should these two pilots be suspended for a time or fired?

Here is a line from Delta's statement

Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination.

I am still somewhat torn. Big part of me says fire them and yank their certs cause what they did is inexcusable. However another part understands they have families and if no other blemishes exist they should be dropped to non-flying for a while then put back on the line. But this might set a bad precedence that you can screw up royally and all will be forgiven.

We're not talking about 15 minutes, ATC was out of contact with the aircraft for 75 minutes. Plenty of time to scramble fighters. I'm not saying they should automatically shoot them down, but the fighters, could establish their intentions, and if there was an equipment failure with the radios could have safely escorted them down to land, rather then them flying uncontrolled.

In this case, it very well may have been possible for them to catch the plane. Even if the fighters had been scrambled, the pilots might not have even seen them if they were so enamored with their laptops and not on flying the bird though I am sure passengers would have noticed and thought something wrong.The pilots should lose their job for not paying attention to those entrusted to their care.