Originally Posted by Rightseat Ballast

The Captain pulled the power to idle (or just above idle) in level flight, while adding drag, and never added power back in until entering the stall. He bled off over 70 knots in level flight. He never lowered the aircraft angle of attack to break the stall.

That is not corporate culture. That is poor airmanship. I am not a remarkable pilot myself, but in this case I feel even I can call this for what it is. I don't enjoy putting blame on a fellow aviator, but there is no way around it here.

Colgan has some serious culture issues. Pay is poor, scheduling is the worst I've experienced, and there is always pressure to push things a little too far. But, airspeed is airspeed. A stall is a stall. This pilot should have known how to recover from a stall in a straight wing airplane. That basic skill should have been instinct since he was a student pilot.

Originally Posted by BoilerUP

What RB said...