Arguing pilots fly 150 miles past runway

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Angry

They just kept flying. Just like you would keep driving. There is a better form of cruise control up there as well. Thay call it "Auto Pilot".

Eveyone thinks that just because they are flying in a plane that they are paying more attention. The truth is that after you get comfortable doing something, you get complacent. It happens to everyone; no one is immune, especially when you have a job as redundant as flying or driving. I am suprised that this sort of thing does not happen more often. You may disagree with the comparison, but I have seen things like this fist hand.

Sorry, it's not the same. Becoming distracted while flying a plane is undoubtedly more dangerous. The comparison may work from a purely functional standpoint but pilots get paid a pretty good amount of money to be doing what they are doing. And for good reason. Their ability to fly that plane, and all the skills required to do so, gives them responsibility for dozens if not hundreds of lives. In the end the potential consequences of the two aren't nearly the same. Just because something like this happens more often than we'd like to know doesn't make it any better. They should be fired and lose their licenses.