Full disclosure: The hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider avoids air travel like chocolate chip bagels (see baggage theft story here) – unless, of course, the flight deposits the hardworking staff at CDG.
Regardless, the Honey, I Overshot Minneapolis saga’s latest development cries out for comment.
First, the New York Times report, headlined “Details Are Added On Pilots in Overflight:”
The captain of the Northwest Airlines plane that overshot its destination by 150 miles in October told investigators four days later that he was “blown away” by how long he and his first officer had been distracted from their duties, according to documentsreleased Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Also:
The crew was out of radio contact with air traffic controllers for 77 minutes.
Cut to the Wall Street Journal, which reported this, under the headline “Errant Pilot ‘Blown Away’ by Incident:”
Summaries of interviews with the pilots, air-traffic controllers, company officials and other documents related to the investigation are consistent with preliminary conclusions that the pilots were perusing their personal laptops and discussing new company pilot-scheduling practices.
The captain, who estimated the discussion about schedules may have lasted 20 minutes, told investigators: “You don’t know how sorry I am.”
So, is it just me, or do we have a 57-minute gap to fill?
Your answer goes here.
Campaign Outsider 
Perhaps Rosemary Woods was one of the flight attendants? That may account for 18 minutes
Correction, John, the 57-minute gap was filled.
We just don’t know what was filled with.
The broader question is whether or not we need to know what they were doing since a) no one was anything more than inconvenienced and b) there are already strict rules to govern such lapses.
The pilots’ licenses have been revoked, so these dweebs won’t have a chance to repeat their mistake.
What else do we really need to know?