Originally Posted by
captjns
Think about this..... Had PIC respected the stick shaker and the stick pusher, and the SIC had knowledge of cold weather operations as well as stalls, and fundamental flying skills and had she not raised the gear and flaps during the stall, would there be a memorial for the passengers and FAs, assuming that is the purpose of the memorial.
Cruel? Possibly.... but look at the root causes.... not the lack of sleep, but training/checking and inexperience issues and process at the carrier.
You just mentioned two misconceptions common with 3407. Icing had nothing to do with it. That was just the initial thought of the NTSB, and everyone just remembers that. The Q-400 can handle a lot of ice and the tail was specifically designed to prevent tail icing. According to Bombardier, tail icing is impossible (not a very smart thing to say in aviation). Also, the FO raising the flaps was not a major factor. When she say the nose pitch up, I believe she thought the other pilot was executing a go around and sim training took over causing her to raise the flaps. And not recognizing a stall with a shaker going off is probably a sign of fatigue. Also, the point where the flaps are raise, the aircraft is 40 knots below the stall speed, pitching up 15*, and banking 70* as a wing drops. With the other pilot fighting the stick pusher, it did not matter where the flaps were at that point.