By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist

The FAA has yanked the licenses of the two Northwest pilots who claim to be so engrossed with their laptop computers they overshot the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport.

The way things turned out, it's kind of ironic the pilots were working so hard to figure out their new work schedules. They won't need them now.

On a bigger scale, this shouldn't be the end of the discussion. The two pilots were in violation of rules, but pilot distraction is a problem in general, and so is pilot sleepiness -- the first cause that was suspected for this bizarre incident. Passengers really want to know that their pilots are well-rested and on the case.

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