240 km and back

It is only having exceeded the Minneapolis airport of 240 km that the pilot and his navigator realized their mistake. The Airbus then made a bend at 180 degrees to land in Minneapolis. The Airbus A320 of Northwest Airlines flies Wednesday from San Diego (California) to Minneapolis (Minnesota) exceeded its 240 km destination, starting inquiries of the Office of the security of transport (NTSB) and FBI. The NTSB will question the pilot and his navigator on Monday and will listen to the recording of the conversations in the cockpit contained in the black box of the aircraft during the weekend, said a spokesman, refusing to comment beyond the communiqué. According to the communiqué of the NTSB, based on information passed on by the FAA (the American authority of the civil aviation), the air-traffic controllers were able to establish the contact radio with the crew of the flight with 147 passengers on board during no more than two hours, arousing growing fears. The anxiety was such that four fighters of the Air Force were put on the alert, without taking off however, according to the daily paper of Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The contact with the tower was then restored and the Airbus made a turn at 180 degrees to land normally in Minneapolis. The pilots explained that they had an animated discussion about the future of their company and they were not concentrated (sic !), indicates the communiqué of the NTSB. Another possibility is naturally the fatigue and they were able to fall asleep. Some other report only the case of a pilot who had fallen asleep the last year and had missed its destination in the Hawaiian Islands. The passengers aboard the Airbus apparently noticed nothing during the flight with the exception of the fact of having found the time of flight a bit long according to testimonies. They were however surprised with the reception made at the airport. Federal agents of security, armed, went aboard to make an inspection before the passengers can leave the aircraft, without explanation. "That seemed serious ", said a passenger, who did not know what took place before the next day. However, he remembered a "strange" answer made by a steward whom one of the passengers asked when the plane was going to land. He then went in front of the plane, returned ten minutes later to announce: "I have no idea".