C'mon. There is absolutely no way that someone missed a handoff for more than an hour due to screwing around with a laptop. Even on lonely flights across the blackest reaches of the upper midwest in the dead of winter, after fifteen minutes or so without hearing a call, everyone starts checking charts or twiddling with the FMS to ensure that the frequency in the box matches.
Yep, it appears that there is still more to the story.
yes, these guys screwed up. but...oh well...better to start looking for a new job
Delta seems to be sending that message:
"Using laptops or engaging in activity unrelated to the pilots' command of the aircraft during flight is strictly against the airline's flight deck policies and violations of that policy will result in termination," Delta said Monday in a statement.
Report: Stray jet's pilots were on laptops - CNN.com
'will result in termination' rather than 'may result' sounds like unusually strong language at this early stage of the NTSB investigation.
The RD's have always told me that Delta was a 'pilot's' airline, if you screwed up and came clean, they would protect your job. A lot of that depends on who is the director of ops and chief pilot in my past observation. And, in this case, we have 'public outcry' generated by the media.
Those guys who landed on the ATL taxiway the other day must be thankful to the Delta-N crew for lowering the profile of the earlier incident.