Northwest Episode Prompts DOT to Look at Cockpit Distractions

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The focus had been on distracted driving -- but after last week's Northwest Airlines incident, the Obama administration is also trying to tackle the issue of distracted flying.

In fact, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a Senate panel today that the use of mobile devices and laptops while driving any type of vehicle is unsafe.

The Northwest Airlines pilots who flew past their destination of Minneapolis last week have said they were engrossed in their laptops in the cockpit.

LaHood said, "Any kind of distraction, whether it's trains, planes or automobiles, is a distraction."

The committee's chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, says the Northwest incident "raises serious concerns."

And Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey noted that the FAA doesn't ban the use of laptop computers above 10,000 feet. He asked wither the Transportation Department might do so.

LaHood promised to "take a very close look at that entire issue."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)