It has been an interesting week. In the last few days two Part 121 ( airline) crews have made what would seem to be colossal blunders. Fortunately nobody was hurt.
In the first instance, a Delta Boeing 767 en route from Rio to Atlanta landed on a taxiway instead of its assigned runway. It ws a clear night so weather was not a factor. There were no aircraft on the taxiway so there was no collision. The taxiway runs parallel to the assigned runway.
Several days later, a Northwest (aka Delta) Airbus flew past Minneapolis for about an hour. The crew’s initial statement was they were involved in a heated discussion over airline policy. Many suspect they fell asleep. They were alerted (awoken), when a cabin crew member called them on the intercom.
At the same time a bill is working its way though Congress, and it appears headed for passage requiring part 121 flight crew members to possess a ATP license. An Airline Transport Professional license is currently only required for the captain. This bill is in response to the Colgan crash last February in Buffalo, New York. Crew inexperience is believed to have been partially responsible for the crew losing control of the aircraft.
The flight crews of the Delta and Northwest flight most certainly had ATP licenses all around. At the very least they would all have had experience far in excess of that which is required for an ATP, making the lack of experience questions moot.
While requiring minimum competency for various tasks is always a good, thing, one cannot assume experience alone will keep professionals from making stupid mistakes.
