The flying public was given something else to think about last week when two Northwest Airline pilots overshot their destination by 150 miles before being alerted and turning back to land safely.

The Northwest flight from San Diego cruised over Minneapolis, its intended destination, at 37,000 feet and continued on to Eau Claire, Wisc., before the cockpit crew could finally be reached and alerted. Around the time of the Minneapolis flyover, the Northwest flight crew was out of communication with anyone on the ground for an hour.

The crew reportedly told authorities that a heated conversation about airline policy was the reason for nobody noticing the plane's location or repeated attempts to contact the pilots, including flashing cockpit lights and radio transmissions.

What in the world was going on in there?

The pilots have been suspended, pending investigations by both the Federal Aviation Administration and Northwest's parent company, Delta Air Lines.

There is speculation that the pilots had fallen asleep. Some experts suggest pilot fatigue might have been a factor, but two pilots dozing off at the same time is hard to fathom.

Whatever the explanation, it won't be good enough. Imagine what the 144 passengers are thinking.

During the flyover, emergency crews on the ground were preparing for the worst and the Air National Guard put four fighter pilots on alert, through they never took off.

The plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder are being examined by the National Transportation Safety Board. Whatever the NTSB's conclusions, the pilots and their employer should face serious consequences and stiff penalties.

Maybe the next generation of antiterrorism cockpit doors should be made of bulletproof glass, so passengers can see what's going on.

After a long quiet spell, there is finally evidence of progress in the so-called Bonusgate investigation in Harrisburg.Two stories last week remind voters of the Bonusgate scandal, which alleges elected officials and others used taxpayer funds to pay for political activities, which is illegal. Bonusgate stories should encourage voters to continue pressing for prosecution of any elected officials or staffers implicated in the scandal.Prison time is an appropriate punishment for such abuses of the public trust. Bonusgate prosecutions will be a follow-up act to the federal case against former State Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who recently began serving his sentence after being found guilty of a wide range of activities that misused about $3 million in public and charity funds for his own personal and political benefit.One development in the Bonusgate affair has five of 12 defendants, from the House Democratic caucus, agreeing to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors.Those five still face serious charges and could spend years in prison if found guilty. But it's a fair trade-off, reducing potential jail time in exchange for testimony that could lead to more lawmakers and top staffers being convicted and sent to prison.Two of the five agreeing to cooperate are particularly notable. Michael Manzo, 40, had served as the chief of staff to Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, the former Democratic leader and current Democratic Whip.Another top staffer with potential to lay out details of political corruption is Jeff Foreman, 58, who has already appeared as a witness for the prosecution against former Democratic Whip Mike Veon, who represented Beaver Falls.In another development related to Bonusgate, it was learned last week that Rep. John Perzel, R-Philadelphia and as many as 11 former House Republican aides have been invited by prosecutors to testify before the Bonusgate grand jury.The Bonusgate matter has been dragging on for too long. It's time for state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who is a Republican candidate for governor, to get moving on these prosecutions and aggressively follow-up any and all leads provided by cooperating witnesses.Taxpayers and voters deserve to see the end of this corruption issue, and Corbett will be vulnerable to charges of playing politics if it drags on into next year's campaign season.

Trouble and controversy continues to swirl in Connoquenessing Township, where the latest embarrassment is missing paperwork related to a state grant.For failing to provide supporting documents to prove how money related to crafting a comprehensive plan was spent, the township has been flagged by the compliance division of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.It is expected that the missing documentation can be located or somehow reproduced, but two township officials disagree over who should take responsibility.That's foolish bickering. This incident is a problem for everyone in township government.Evelyn Hockenberry, chairwoman of the township supervisors, says the burden to resolve the problem should fall on Supervisor Stephen Misko, who was chairman of the supervisors when the DCED grant was received. But Hockenberry is in charge now and this is a problem now.The timing of the grant or missing paperwork should not be an issue, and the finger pointing doesn't look good. Everyone on the township board, regardless of position and despite reported personality conflicts, should work to get this issue resolved — quickly.Until it is resolved, the township is prevented from receiving any more state grants. And even once the issue is resolved, the incident doesn't cast the township in a favorable light, either in the eyes of township residents or state government officials.