Transportation Secretary Responds To Northwest Flight 188

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday the DOT's examination of the effects of distractions on the U.S. transportation system will be expanded to include the cockpit, following last week's incident involving an aircraft that overflew its intended destination.

The pilots of Northwest Flight 188 both said they were distracted by their laptops and an intense discussion of airline policy, which caused them to miss several attempts at radio contact and fly past Minneapolis-St. Paul by 150 miles.

The Associated Press reports that LaHood's comments came during testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "We're not going to equivocate on this. Any kind of distraction, whether it's trains, planes or automobiles is a distraction and we should figure out ways to get these cell phones, the texting, ... and the use of laptops out of the hands of people who are supposed to be delivering the public to somewhere safely," LaHood said.

Following the hearing, LaHood told reporters that FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt is looking into the whether there should be uniform federal regulations about the use of laptops in the cockpit.

Ray LaHood

The FAA immediately suspended the pilot's certificates for numerous violations of federal regulations, including failing to comply with air traffic control instructions and clearances and operating their aircraft carelessly and recklessly, the FAA said.

"We can't have these kinds of distractions in the cockpit. We can't," LaHood said.

FMI: www.dot.gov