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Sen. Al Franken Calls For Expedited Flight Probe

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Oct 23, 2009 3:13 pm US/Central

Sen. Al Franken Calls For Expedited Flight Probe

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Sen. Al Franken is asking the Department of Transportation to expedite its investigation of a flight that overflew the runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Northwest Flight 188 stopped responding to air traffic control operators for 75 minutes and overflew its destination by 150 miles before landing safely.

Franken says that Minnesotans deserve to know what went wrong as soon as possible. He says the incident -- along with a situation in August where a plane sat on the runway in Rochester, Minn. for nine hours -- show the need to revamp the air traffic control system.

Franken called for the expedited investigation in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood he sent on Friday.

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Thursday, Franken won a legislative victory as the Service Dogs for Veterans Act cleared the Congress and went to President Barack Obama's desk.

Two weeks ago, an amendment he authored was approved seeking to block federal funding to companies that don't allow their employees to sue the business for sexual assault.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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