Closing Arguments: Computers in the Cockpit

They shouldn't be fired. They should be suspended from work and pay. They did place in danger the integrity of the plane, but no harm no foul like the article says.

We all makes mistakes. Airline Executives make many more mistakes, yet are rewarded with bonuses. In this case, a suspension will suffice.

They absolutely should lose their job. And they absolutely did put the plane in danger. Not only had they taken the plane to an area where it was not supposed to be, but military jets were about to take off because of fear that this could be a hijacking. What if they had hit another plane, because they were not paying attention.

This is not "just" no harm no foul. They not only got distracted. They completely ignored radio calls that they said they heard.

They were irresponsible and should not be allowed to be in control of a plane, or the safety of that many people.

I'm sure many pilots have done worse - let's quit jumping to judge people who make the news. A fine is fine.

They should absolutely be fired. They took the lives of 144 people into their hands when they conducted personal business on personal laptops. It is a shame that people pay a high price to fly and have to worry about what is happening in the cockpit.

They should be fired. The fact that neither was doing their job with people on board and not in contact at all with the traffic control is inexcusable. They do not deserve to wear their wings!

They violated airline and FAA rules ,put passengers lives in possible danger. Luckily nothing happened.Without a doubt they should be fired and lose their licenses to fly.

They should be fired. They were responsible for the lives of the people on the plane-

A suspension and retraining are in order but not termination. To err is human and no injuries or deaths were involved. A strong inquiry should be made into how Airline restructuring, merges and financial cutbacks has affected the personal life of these extremely hard working professionals.

I'm sorry to say they should be fired. 88-minutes over the (populated) USA without radio contact and neither pilot followed normal safety procedures? Only by the grace of God did a tragedy not occur. They each shot their own careers!

Yes they should be fired... Look how many lives they put in danger.

They should be fired! The traveling public has enough to worry about each time they go the airport, let alone that the pilots are not paying attention to their job. They could have collided with another plane, been shot down by the military if over a 'no fly zone". Personally, I think they were probably watching porn on their computers an got wa-aaay into it!

Of course they should be fired, no question about it. The job of a pilot is to be in control of the airplane at all times. Obviously they were not in control and were not even paying attention to the world they were in. New airliners can be programed by the crew to fly to a designated airport, land on a designated runway and stop at the end of the runway. The pilots then taxi it to the terminal. That must be what these guys were thinking about while they napped. Laptops Ha

They should be FIRED!! they were responsible for 144 lives other than their own. No harm no foul, is that what would have been told to the families of the 144 people that was on the plane if it had crash.
they acted reckless.

I think that the pilots should loose their jobs in order to set an example to all flight crews and pilots. An aircraft flying 30,000 feet above sea level is no joke or something to take it lightly, and responsibilities should be taken seriously. That type of behavior is what causes catastrophic events with fatalities and usually passengers don't even know that these things are going on in the cockpit. I would not want to be on a flight with distracted pilots.

At the very least these pilots should be fired. As a survivor of a plane crash caused by pilots not paying attention to flying the airplane, there is no way they should keep their jobs. I know for a fact that my plane crash is used to teach pilots what NOT to do and the only reason pilots are on a plane is to fly it. They have the best job in the world and to risk the lives of their trusting passengers is unforgiveable. Let them be an example to any other pilots who think it's ok to fool around instead of doing their jobs. It's not that hard to pay attention and do the job you're hired to do. There are no acceptable excuses for this behavior.

are you people completely daft?
of course they should be fired and lose their commercial licenses forever.
This was not a mistake. They intentionally decided to engage in unlawful and dangerous behavior. The list of reasons why this was a bad idea and why they should pay the price goes on and on...

I'm not so bothered that they were on heir computers, but how can you not contact a control tower for 78 min. Nothing happened but hell they were about to scramble the F16s. Fire them.

These two pilots collectively have a good number of years in flying time. As Chesly Sussenberger stated, we need to hold on to and attract experienced pilots. And as Nance stated, with the instrumentality on these planes I guess it could get too easy to get too comfortable.
However, these men are responsible for the lives on those planes and they MUST! draw a severe reprimand because no one will ever know what could have culminated in that incident, or what can happen should this occur again.
Losing their jobs should not be the case unless this is a reoccurence.

No, in this day and age people in every type of job and industry are having their job responsibilities multiply. Due to layoffs, people are being required to do more and more. If these pilots aren't being given time to do all that they are required to, when else would they do than when they are coasting through the air. I feel they should be reprimanded, maybe a week without pay or something to that nature. But losing their jobs is too much. They need to be given adequate time to do their jobs.