Congress Moves to Ban Cockpit Laptops

Lawmakers Working on a Bill in Aftermath of Northwest Airlines Incident with Distracted Pilots

(AP)  Lawmakers are moving to ban the use of computer laptops and other personal electronic devices in airline cockpits to prevent another incident like the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, chairman of the aviation subcommittee, said in an interview that his staff is working on a bill that he expects to introduce in about a week. He said he was surprised to learn after the Oct. 21 incident that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't specifically prohibit pilots from using laptops, DVD players, MP3 players and other devices during flight except below 10,000 feet while the plane is taking off or landing.

The two pilots of Northwest Flight 188 told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that they didn't notice repeated attempts by air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers to contact them because they were working on a new crew scheduling program on their laptops. The plane carrying 144 passengers was out of communication with anyone on the ground for 91 minutes, prompting the military to ready fighter jets for launch and the White House situation room to alert senior White House officials.

The plane zoomed past its Minneapolis destination before the pilots were alerted to their situation by a flight attendant. By that time, the plane was over Wisconsin.

"We now understand from this flight at least that this can happen and there ought to be a more clear understanding by everyone in the cockpit that there is a national standard that would prohibit this and that they need to take it seriously," said Dorgan, D-N.D.

Delta Air Lines, which acquired Northwest last year, has a policy prohibiting the use of personal laptops by pilots during flight. The airline has suspended the two pilots - Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer - pending an investigation. The FAA has revoked the pilots' licenses, and the NTSB is investigating the cause of the incident.

Dorgan said he expects his proposal to eventually be wrapped into a larger aviation bill pending before the Senate. He also said he doesn't anticipate any opposition to the measure.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., has also said he wants to introduce legislation to prohibit pilots from using laptops and other personal devices during flight, and several other senators expressed support for a ban at a hearing last week.

Dorgan said his bill will make an exception for "electronic flight bags" - laptops containing navigational tools issued to pilots by some airlines.

[Chuckl]

This just shows, once again, how our lawmakers have no clue as to what goes on regarding poorly crafted laws they are proposing. In the past few years the FAA has approved the use of laptop style computers in the cockpit for navigation. The advantage of computers is many fold. The greatest benefit is immediately available charting and terminal procedure (generally known as "approach plates"). With old "paper" charts, your weekly updates might get lost in the mail on not arrive in a timely manor, or may be out of date due to a missed revision. With the computer version of the "Electronic Flight Bag" all navigation information is instantly updated with a simple download from the internet. A pilot can now carry charts for the entire world on a small computer instead 10 very large, awkward, binders of charts that required constant updating.

But of course, no Congressman would be smart enough to check what the possible effects of his/her legislation might be down the road, and lose the chance to have their name recorded in the Federal Register of a "photo op" on "C-Span."

[Seevee]

What the heck.... a major over reaction!!!!

How the heck can these guys review their porn, do email, or surf the net? Airline pilots need this stuff. Who cares if they miss a few waypoints....

been flying capt on international for almost 30 years...my money is on the pilots sleeping.
That being said...just try to tell an airline you can't fly the airplane because the maids were shouting outside your hotel room all day while the room below you had a hammer drill going where they fixed a bathroom and some guy calls ten times for "Killa" and asking if you have the "stuff" all while you are on the FAA's minimum of 8 hours between flights! also the hotel is an hour from the airport 'cause it's REALLY cheap so you really have less than 5:30 in the room and you have to unpack, shower, get two meals, and pack up again which leaves you maybe 3:30 tops to sleep during the maids shouting. Try that for an entire week. Only 15 hours sleep in five days of flying ain't good folks. But, as the nice lady in scheduling always says, "It's legal!"
And if you do tell the airline, their answer will be "you know Capt, some people were just not cut out to do this job...(hint, hint)" But then who MADE you stay in the unsuitable hotel? Right...the same guys threatening to fire you! NOW you've got a law that needs to be passed!

Laptop Laws...sheesh. and that health care thing? Just pass a law that makes it criminal to get sick! Then we won't need health care because if you need it, we'll just throw you in jail.

[hungry1968-17]

Don't just ban the laptops - install the cameras TOO!!!

[jxknowles]

Waste of time. The airlines should enforce their own rules about pilot distractions in the cockpit. If they are in violation, pink slip, adios.

[hockeymom441]

oh - for god's sake... another stupid rule.

Here's a bright idea - why don't you just hire good pilots! Then you don't have to make rules about things that seem COMMON SENSE to the rest of the breathing world.

These losers were either sleeping, or having really hot sex.

I wouldn't necessarily fire them for falling asleep... but definately for lying and providing this COMPLETELY B.S. cover-up story.

[gerryrigger]

Agree with blindersoff 100%. This is an insult to the great majority of airline pilots who conduct themselves professionally and fly us safely. The NWA case is an isolated incident blown way out of proportion by media coverage. Now if this were a widespread problem, then something is terribly wrong with the industry, namely the breakdown of discipline, and it will take way more than an act of Congress to fix it. There are a lot more Sullies in our skies than kids arguing, teens surfing the net, or goofballs sleeping on the job. Congress, stop acting like you are dealing with children!

[blindersoff]

Not necessary to ban laptops from cockpit. They may need a lap top on occasion. Of course don't miss you destination by miles, but it should be available. Why is Congress so reactionary? Leave it up to the FAA, they can decide is something else should be done.

[newyorkmom]

THEY WERE SLEEPING...why was noone able to get their attention. When I am on my laptop I dont have trouble hearing the radio or a knock on the door. They were taking a snooze.

[wf_tx]

Congress is so full of knee-jerk reactionists!! Everyone's jockeying for position. Does every 1-out-of-a-million incident require a federal law?? Why can't we leave it to the FAA to govern commercial avaiation rules and regulations?? Stupidity. That's the real pandemic.

[rocketjl]

Congress needs help!!!

Is there a doctor in the house????

This is one of those situations that rises to the top of the news and Congress wants to make a law to prohibit what this airline's policy had already prohibited and these pilots had violated. I guess aircrew searches are next.

[AOCGUY]

This is pure political grandstanding proposing a solution to a non-existant problem. The airline already had a policy of no personal electronics in the cockpit during flight, and in fact the NWA pilots were suspended for violating that policy. Does Dorgan actually think that these pilots wouldn't have done this if there was a federal law?

[coltsnsox]

This is yet another example of Congress Out of Control. Are their egos really THAT big?? I wonder if Congress, in all it's wisdom, knows that several if not all airlines issue laptops to their pilots. We use them to exchange data with the company (weight and balance, flight release, etc). Come on CONGRESS, TAKE THE REST OF THE DAY OFF!

[retiredgustav]

This is something for the FAA to put in their rule book not for congress to act on. This is just feel good legislation, something both parties are guilty of.

[ALBrainTrust10]

Stuart....You must have slept in and not gone to school today.

GET UP and get to school and then after, go to work and flip some more hamburgers.

[clarkalex]

Doesn't congress have anything better to do right now?

[Surelyoujest]

It's a matter stupidity. No new law is needed. A company policy? Yeah! But not a law. Do we really need a law that specifically says "It's illegal for a person to drink battery acid." No different here.

[jjjc3]

Come on Senator! There is double digit unemployment all over the place. And this is all you can think of? They took their licenses. That sounded like a cost effective solution to me. Lordy, put your staff to work addressing our real problems.

[dblbar1]

this is crazy.....does nobody but me believe these guys were SLEEPING........they weren't on their laptops.......THEY WERE SLEEPING!!! So pass a law that has absolutely nothing to do with what really took place......G E E Z .......

This is NOT AN ISSUE FOR CONGRES! They need to look at the bog picture and address the real p[roblems facing this country. They are getting too invasive into areas they should astay oput of. We are NOT THEIR CHILDREN!

[ALBrainTrust10]

THE ISSUE IS NOT ABOUT LAPTOPS, IT'S ABOUT SLEEPING IN THE COCKPIT.

It is IMPOSSIBLE that these two pilot did not look at their instruments for the period 100 miles prior to the destination nor the 150 miles past it.

THEY WERE ASLEEP! THE MUST HAVE BEEN ASLEEP.

[toldyouso21]

Maybe.. they were doing something else. Maybe something that involved both of them and they became sooo engrossed that they failed to not only notice that they overshot the airport but also deliberately TURNED OFF all communication with the ATC tower. Now what could that something else be? Rescheduling of crew on laptops? How would communication with the tower prohibit or inhibit them working on a job schedule? SEX? Maybe they did not want interruptions. Sleep?? Both of them? Within miles of the air port and why would they turn off communication then? The ATC would have helped to wake them up.

Many people believe there were lap tops involved, but not electronic ones--many believe the two were engaged in sex and that is why they disrupted communication and lost tract of the time.