Military notified too late to launch fighter jets, official says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military would have launched fighter jets to track down an errant Northwest Airlines flight that overshot the Minneapolis airport if officials had been notified sooner, a top commander said Thursday as federal authorities defended the decision to revoke the licenses of the pilots involved.

Gen. Gene Renuart, who heads U.S. Northern Command, said he learned of the incident just four or five minutes before the Federal Aviation Administration regained contact with the pilots, who flew 150 miles past their destination. They have said they got distracted while using their laptops in the cockpit.

Renuart said fighter jets were taxiing to the runway and should have been airborne, but they were held back when FAA officials told military commanders they thought they were re-establishing contact with the flight.