"Overshoot" Pilots Were on Their Laptops: NTSB

No, according to the pilots of the Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 that overshot their Minneapolis, Minn. destination by 150 miles, they weren't napping. Rather, they were on their laptops.

And no, they weren't browsing the web, and certainly not adult sites. Instead, they were, according to interviews conducted over the weekend with the NTSB, going over monthly flight crew scheduling on their laptops.

Nevertheless, that's a violation of company policy.

Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash., the captain, and Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., the first officer, said in interviews conducted over the weekend that they were not fatigued and didn't fall asleep. Neither were they arguing. Instead, Cole and Cheney told investigators that they both had their laptops out while the first officer, who had more experience with scheduling, instructed Captain Cheney on monthly flight crew scheduling.

The pilots of Flight 188 were out of communication with air traffic controllers and their airline for more than an hour. Cheney and Cole have been suspended pending the NTSB investigation. Northwest Airlines is cooperating and doing its own internal investigation, as well.