There is a time and place for everything.
When operating a car, it's not time for texting. When sitting in class, it's not time for Facebook.
And when flying a plane, it's not time for anything other than flying a plane.
Federal safety officials said Monday that the two pilots who overshot their destination by 150 miles were using their laptops and "lost track of time," according to an article on CNN.com.
Air traffic controllers first tried to contact the pilots by radio, according to the Associated Press. Other pilots tried reaching the plane. Northwest then tried texting the pilots using an in-plane system that chimes in the cockpit. Finally, after 78 minutes of silence, a flight attendant told them they were off course.
The pilots are both veterans, together clocking an estimated 30,000 hours - that's 1,250 days - in the air. They have never had violations or accidents, according to a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board.
And fortunately, they have been suspended from flying.
Everyone is guilty of getting wrapped up in the Web when we should be, say, writing editorials. But writing a paper doesn't make you responsible for the lives of about 150 people that were on board when the two were busy Internetting.
We can only imagine what the two were doing on their computers for the 78 mid-air minutes that they spent incommunicado from air traffic controllers.
Most airlines forbid pilots from using electronic devices or engaging in anything unrelated to, you know, flying planes.
These days, most pilots don't have to do much between taking off and landing - except stay in contact with air traffic control, which is precisely what they failed to do.
This accident speaks to the irresistible and incredibly distracting qualities of the Internet.
Unless, of course, they were just watching some porn.
