Airline Fires Pilots after They Flew Off Course
First Air said incident aircraft had different flight management system from the rest of the fleet

Kanata, Canada-based First Air said it fired two Boeing 737 pilots last week after an incident in which the crew allowed the aircraft to stray from its programmed flight plan on a March 31 trip between Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and Iqaluit. Initial reports claim the pilots might not have followed the company’s standard operating procedures and mis-programmed the aircraft’s flight management system. The aircraft, carrying 19 passengers and four crewmembers, arrived safely at its destination, 20 minutes late. Other reports highlighted that the airplane involved in the incident was the only one in First Air’s fleet that used a flight management system different from that aboard the company’s other aircraft.