Sometimes the mind wanders to very inconvenient places for your current settings.  Perhaps you’re driving in snow when you recall the statistics of car wrecks related to wintry weather conditions or an image of a skidding car from an icy bluff fills your head.  Certain situations are worse for these unwelcome thoughts.  For example, the thoughts that enter the mind of a scared passenger on an airplane unexpectedly. 

“What if the pilot is drunk or preoccupied?” Now there is a certain level of professionalism and higher code of conduct certain professions warrant such as doctors and pilots, but this is just a perception.  Technology like cell phones and laptops invade practically every inch of human society now.  Use of these devices is a problem in classrooms and even on the roads so what about in the air? 

The Dallas Morning reports that Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Randy Babbitt said that pilots need to restore a sense of professionalism to their career. 

His remarks were sparked in part after two Northwest pilots overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles.  The pilots, Captain Timothy Cheney and first officer Richard Cole said that they were working on scheduling for crew members on their laptops during the flight.

The distracted pilots told the National Transportation Safety Board that they got lost in what they were doing and did not notice the time.  The event even raised some questions about national security when the plane was not reachable from air-traffic controllers.

Perhaps this incident will raise enough scrutiny to start legislation to prohibit the use of laptops and cell phones by pilots while flying.  The discussion of banning cell phones in classrooms is active already, and many states have prohibited the use of cell phones while driving.  Furthermore cell phone usage by bus and truck drivers may be prohibited soon.

It was after three Northwest pilots were fired in the 1990’s for suspicion of drinking alcohol too close to flight time that the discussion of drinking and flying came under scrutiny.  Just four years later rules were set for testing pilots and other airline personnel for alcohol. Previously pilots were not tested for alcohol, and the standard was that pilots could not drink 8 hours before taking flight. 

The next time your mind wanders to that unfriendly place while on an airplane, try not to let it wander to this article.  Just take a deep breath, tighten your seatbelt, and review the safety information located in the seat back in front of you.