‘Distracted' pilots miss airport completely

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities that they had become distracted during a "heated discussion about airline policy", as the plane flew at 11,300 metres. The NTSB said it would review the plane's flight data and voice recorders and interview the pilots.

Among other issues, investigators will explore crew fatigue, the NTSB said.

Northwest is owned by Delta Air Lines, which said the pilots had been relieved from active flying pending investigation.

The pilots should have had numerous warnings as they approached and passed Minneapolis: cockpit displays, controllers trying repeatedly to reach them, the city lights twinkling below.

Yet the pilots didn't discover their mistake until a flight attendant in the cabin contacted them by intercom, said a source close to the investigation.

Ben Berman, an airline pilot and former chief of major accident investigations at the NTSB, said it becomes second nature for pilots to know when to begin landing preparations.

Those preparations should have begun when the flight was 160 kilometres or more away. Passengers were apparently unaware what was happening, but police on the ground were preparing for the worst and the Air National Guard had put fighter jets on alert.