The journalism gods turned prankish Friday. As Chesley Sullenberger was taping a PBS News Hour interview about how he how saved 155 lives by landing safely in the Hudson River last January, two other pilots were overshooting Minneapolis by 150 miles.
The incident recalled an old standup routine in which Bob Newhart comes on the intercom as a clueless cockpit voice to ask, “Would any of you folks back there recognize Cleveland if you saw it?”
Now, the Northwest pilots are facing suspension as the FAA tries to figure out what caused their lapse to send fighter planes scrambling and put the White House situation room on alert.