The pilots of Northwest Flight 188 assert they lost track of time and location--but never went to sleep--when they failed last week to respond to air-traffic controllers for more than an hour, according to people familiar with what the crew intended to tell federal safety investigators Sunday.
消息人士說，西北航空188號航班的飛行員聲稱，他們在上周一個半小時沒有回答空中交通指揮人員的事故中，忘記了時間和地點(diǎn)，但并沒有睡著，這是航班機(jī)組人員周日力圖對聯(lián)邦安全調(diào)查人員講的內(nèi)容。
During a session with a team from National Transportation Safety Board, these people said, the cockpit crew intended to recount the same sequence of events it previously sketched out for airline superiors: They became distracted in conversation while cruising at 37,000 feet Wednesday night, didn't realize how long the plane had lost radio contract and flew well past their airport destination. Such a scenario is consistent with the brief statements first officer Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., made to reporters earlier in the weekend.
機(jī)組人員在會見全國運(yùn)輸安全委員會時說，駕駛?cè)藛T打算繼續(xù)按照先前向航空公司上級敘述的先后順序復(fù)述事情經(jīng)過：周三晚在37,000英尺的高空飛行時，他們在交談中分了心，沒有意識到已經(jīng)有多久失去了無線電聯(lián)系，并飛過了目的地機(jī)場很長一段距離。這種敘述符合副機(jī)長科爾在周末早些時候?qū)γ襟w記者發(fā)表的簡短聲明。
During the 78-minute radio silence, controllers became so concerned about the fate of the 149 people aboard that they asked pilots of other aircraft in the vicinity to see if they could rouse the Northwest crew, according to industry and government officials. When that failed, the Federal Aviation Administration began to consider having military jets scrambled to intercept the twin-jet Airbus A320, these officials said.
美國航空業(yè)和政府官員說，在飛機(jī)與地面塔臺失去聯(lián)絡(luò)的78分鐘內(nèi)，空中交通管制員對機(jī)上149名乘客的安全非常擔(dān)憂，他們因此請求附近其他飛機(jī)的飛行員看看能否喚醒這架西北航空公司航班的機(jī)組人員。這些官員說，在呼叫失敗之后，美國航空管理局開始考慮讓軍用飛機(jī)升空攔截這架雙引擎的空客A320飛機(jī)。
The incident--which pilots and safety experts consider a bizarre break from routine procedure--had the plane crossing various air-traffic control zones and being passed to different groups of controllers without any verbal response. It comes as federal regulators, lawmakers and airlines are focusing on the issue of pilot fatigue and debating possible changes to rules that spell out how long pilots can fly or be on duty in a 24-hour period.
這起事故導(dǎo)致飛機(jī)飛越了諸多空中交通管制區(qū)域，數(shù)組不同的管制員曾先后試圖聯(lián)絡(luò)飛機(jī)，但都沒有得到口頭答復(fù)。飛機(jī)駕駛員和安全專家認(rèn)為這起事故奇怪地違反了例行程序。時下，聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管部門、國會議員和航空公司正在關(guān)注飛行員疲憊的問題，并展開爭論，可能對飛行員在24小時內(nèi)能夠飛行或值班多長時間的管理規(guī)定做出調(diào)整。
Safety officials at Northwest and its parent, Delta Air Lines Inc., appear to support the pilots' statements, according to one person involved in the deliberations. Even so, government investigators are pressing to see whether fatigue may have played a role in the bizarre flight of the Airbus A320 with 149 people aboard.
據(jù)參與討論此事的一位人士說，西北航空及其母公司達(dá)美航空公司的安全官員似乎支持飛行員們的陳述。盡管如此，政府調(diào)查人員還是希望了解，在這架搭載了149人的空客A320飛機(jī)的離奇航程中，是不是可能存在疲勞駕駛的因素。
With the probe picking up steam, some pilots and safety experts who initially strongly suspected snoozing pilots are tempering their position in light of additional data. One new factor, for example, is that Delta has confirmed that the crew's schedule that day wasn't especially demanding. And fatigue experts have weighed in to note that the evening hours when the incident occurred typically don't pose particular challenges for the internal body clocks of pilots.
隨著調(diào)查的深入，在新的資料面前，一些先前強(qiáng)烈懷疑飛行員打瞌睡的飛行員和安全專家正在緩和立場。比如有一個新的因素是，達(dá)美已經(jīng)確認(rèn)，當(dāng)天機(jī)組的安排并不是特別緊張。疲勞問題研究專家也說，雖然晚間是事故多發(fā)時段，但對飛行員的生物鐘并不構(gòu)成特別的挑戰(zhàn)。
But without clear-cut data from the plane's cockpit-voice or flight-data recorders, it may be hard for investigators to conclusively back up pilot assertions or precisely determine what happened. Spokesmen for Delta and the safety board declined to comment.
但在沒有來自艙音或飛行數(shù)據(jù)記錄器的明確資料的情況下，調(diào)查人員或許很難鮮明地支持飛行員的說法，或者是準(zhǔn)確界定當(dāng)時發(fā)生的情況。達(dá)美航空和全國運(yùn)輸安全委員會的發(fā)言人都拒絕置評。
消息人士說，西北航空188號航班的飛行員聲稱，他們在上周一個半小時沒有回答空中交通指揮人員的事故中，忘記了時間和地點(diǎn)，但并沒有睡著，這是航班機(jī)組人員周日力圖對聯(lián)邦安全調(diào)查人員講的內(nèi)容。
During a session with a team from National Transportation Safety Board, these people said, the cockpit crew intended to recount the same sequence of events it previously sketched out for airline superiors: They became distracted in conversation while cruising at 37,000 feet Wednesday night, didn't realize how long the plane had lost radio contract and flew well past their airport destination. Such a scenario is consistent with the brief statements first officer Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., made to reporters earlier in the weekend.
機(jī)組人員在會見全國運(yùn)輸安全委員會時說，駕駛?cè)藛T打算繼續(xù)按照先前向航空公司上級敘述的先后順序復(fù)述事情經(jīng)過：周三晚在37,000英尺的高空飛行時，他們在交談中分了心，沒有意識到已經(jīng)有多久失去了無線電聯(lián)系，并飛過了目的地機(jī)場很長一段距離。這種敘述符合副機(jī)長科爾在周末早些時候?qū)γ襟w記者發(fā)表的簡短聲明。
During the 78-minute radio silence, controllers became so concerned about the fate of the 149 people aboard that they asked pilots of other aircraft in the vicinity to see if they could rouse the Northwest crew, according to industry and government officials. When that failed, the Federal Aviation Administration began to consider having military jets scrambled to intercept the twin-jet Airbus A320, these officials said.
美國航空業(yè)和政府官員說，在飛機(jī)與地面塔臺失去聯(lián)絡(luò)的78分鐘內(nèi)，空中交通管制員對機(jī)上149名乘客的安全非常擔(dān)憂，他們因此請求附近其他飛機(jī)的飛行員看看能否喚醒這架西北航空公司航班的機(jī)組人員。這些官員說，在呼叫失敗之后，美國航空管理局開始考慮讓軍用飛機(jī)升空攔截這架雙引擎的空客A320飛機(jī)。
The incident--which pilots and safety experts consider a bizarre break from routine procedure--had the plane crossing various air-traffic control zones and being passed to different groups of controllers without any verbal response. It comes as federal regulators, lawmakers and airlines are focusing on the issue of pilot fatigue and debating possible changes to rules that spell out how long pilots can fly or be on duty in a 24-hour period.
這起事故導(dǎo)致飛機(jī)飛越了諸多空中交通管制區(qū)域，數(shù)組不同的管制員曾先后試圖聯(lián)絡(luò)飛機(jī)，但都沒有得到口頭答復(fù)。飛機(jī)駕駛員和安全專家認(rèn)為這起事故奇怪地違反了例行程序。時下，聯(lián)邦監(jiān)管部門、國會議員和航空公司正在關(guān)注飛行員疲憊的問題，并展開爭論，可能對飛行員在24小時內(nèi)能夠飛行或值班多長時間的管理規(guī)定做出調(diào)整。
Safety officials at Northwest and its parent, Delta Air Lines Inc., appear to support the pilots' statements, according to one person involved in the deliberations. Even so, government investigators are pressing to see whether fatigue may have played a role in the bizarre flight of the Airbus A320 with 149 people aboard.
據(jù)參與討論此事的一位人士說，西北航空及其母公司達(dá)美航空公司的安全官員似乎支持飛行員們的陳述。盡管如此，政府調(diào)查人員還是希望了解，在這架搭載了149人的空客A320飛機(jī)的離奇航程中，是不是可能存在疲勞駕駛的因素。
With the probe picking up steam, some pilots and safety experts who initially strongly suspected snoozing pilots are tempering their position in light of additional data. One new factor, for example, is that Delta has confirmed that the crew's schedule that day wasn't especially demanding. And fatigue experts have weighed in to note that the evening hours when the incident occurred typically don't pose particular challenges for the internal body clocks of pilots.
隨著調(diào)查的深入，在新的資料面前，一些先前強(qiáng)烈懷疑飛行員打瞌睡的飛行員和安全專家正在緩和立場。比如有一個新的因素是，達(dá)美已經(jīng)確認(rèn)，當(dāng)天機(jī)組的安排并不是特別緊張。疲勞問題研究專家也說，雖然晚間是事故多發(fā)時段，但對飛行員的生物鐘并不構(gòu)成特別的挑戰(zhàn)。
But without clear-cut data from the plane's cockpit-voice or flight-data recorders, it may be hard for investigators to conclusively back up pilot assertions or precisely determine what happened. Spokesmen for Delta and the safety board declined to comment.
但在沒有來自艙音或飛行數(shù)據(jù)記錄器的明確資料的情況下，調(diào)查人員或許很難鮮明地支持飛行員的說法，或者是準(zhǔn)確界定當(dāng)時發(fā)生的情況。達(dá)美航空和全國運(yùn)輸安全委員會的發(fā)言人都拒絕置評。