Scheduled 14 CFR Part 121: Air Carrier operation of COLGAN AIR INC (D.B.A. Continental Connection)
Accident occurred Thursday, February 12, 2009 in Clarence Center, NY
Probable Cause Approval Date: 03/28/2010
Aircraft: BOMBARDIER INC DHC-8-402, registration: N200WQ
Injuries: 50 Fatal.
NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The Safety Board’s full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-10/01.
On February 12, 2009, about 2217 eastern standard time, a Colgan Air, Inc., Bombardier DHC-8-400, N200WQ, operating as Continental Connection flight 3407, was on an instrument approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, New York, when it crashed into a residence in Clarence Center, New York, about 5 nautical miles northeast of the airport. The 2 pilots, 2 flight attendants, and 45 passengers aboard the airplane were killed, one person on the ground was killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The captain’s inappropriate response to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover. Contributing to the accident were (1) the flight crew’s failure to monitor airspeed in relation to the rising position of the low-speed cue, (2) the flight crew failure to adhere to sterile cockpit procedures, (3) the captain’s failure to effectively manage the flight, and (4) Colgan Air’s inadequate procedures for airspeed selection and management during approaches in icing conditions.
The Safety Board’s full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-10/01.
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Just six months before the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407, airline supervisors raised doubts about the training and qualifications of the pilot, according to newly released emails.
A lawyer for the families suing Continental and its partner, Colgan Air, called the emails a smoking gun.
"We're now able to prove what we've always suspected," said Hugh M. Russ III, a lawyer for several families. "Facing financial difficulties, Colgan chose profit over safety."
Russ said the emails go to the heart of the families' allegations that Capt. Marvin D. Renslow was not properly trained to fly the twin-engine turboprop that crashed Feb. 12, 2009, killing 50 people.
He said the emails, obtained during the discovery phase of the federal court case against the airlines, provide a glimpse into how Colgan viewed Renslow's ability to fly the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
"How about Renslow?" a Colgan supervisor asks in an email to two other Colgan supervisors. "You might want to check the training records. There is something in the back of my mind on Renslow."
"Yes, you are correct," one of the two supervisors responds in an email. "Renslow had a problem upgrading."
"Anyone that does not meet the mins [minimum standards] and had problems in training is not ready to handle the Q," another supervisor says in an email.
"He is already off the list," one of the other supervisors said of Renslow.
Lawyers say the newly discovered emails support the allegation that Colgan Air did not adequately train Renslow before the plane crashed in Clarence Center.
"A month later, they do promote him and then there's the crash," Russ said today. "Colgan knowingly promoted an unqualified pilot to fly that plane."
Pinnacle Airlines, which owns Colgan, released a statement today suggesting Renslow was adequately trained and qualified to fly the turboprop that crashed in 2009.
"Captain Renslow was properly trained, certified and qualified under all applicable federal aviation regulations to act as pilot-in-command of a Q400 aircraft," said airline spokesman Joe Williams.
Renslow successfully completed Colgan's FAA-approved Q400 training program and was issued a Q400 type rating by a federal aviation examiner, Williams said in his statement.
He also claims Renslow completed more than 20 hours of transition operating experience in the plane without any deficiencies or problems.
In his statement, Williams also claims Colgan agreed to the email release.
"The plaintiffs asked Colgan to reconsider the confidential designation and we have voluntarily agreed to do so," he said. "We remain confident in our full compliance with FAA regulations governing our training processes, then and now."
The lawsuits against Colgan, a regional carrier, and its partner, Continental Airlines, are based in part on the contention that Colgan did not adopt adequate safety programs and that it also failed to sufficiently train its flight crews.
The plane that crashed in Clarence was owned by Colgan but flew under the "Continental Connection" banner.
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