I remember all too well the Comair crash in Monroe MI. May they all rest in peace forever. May their family's heal quickly.

I know that feeling.......and it's not fun.:(

If you stay in this business long enough..( for me personally ...on and off for some 23 years ) .... you will bury a few friends..... in my case....17 in three separate accidents. Personally I never go on a trip with out telling my wife and two daughters how much I love them, you just never know if today might be the day.

Heart felt sorrow for those affected by this tragedy.

Did the first flight checks today.


GPWS test made me sick.

As a former snow, wind, thunderstorm, and ice-battling commuter pilot my heart really goes out to everyone at Colgan...and everyone else slogging it out in the mid-teens in the Great-Lakes region with nothing but de-ice boots and hot props. The rise of the RJ has sheltered many from this unique type of flying with the advantage of extra performance, high altitude cruise and heated wings. Such a senseless loss and a reminder of how much risk we all have come to accept as commonplace in this business, no matter what you fly.

Hopefully much will be learned from this tragedy so it doesn't happen again. I have really enjoyed reading all the nice stories about the crew...please keep them coming....I can think of no greater honor than having such praise come from my peers.

I dont want to speculate until a full investingation has been completed but this is a great video on tailplane icing. From what the NTSB has indicated so far, this video is pretty much is spot on.

NASA Tailplane Icing

My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.. Godspeed

One thing I will say is for those that fly Turbo-Props, the experience you will gain while flying IN THE WEATHER is bar-none the best you will get. There was not 1 hour of the 800 I had in the SAAB that I wasn't learning something, especially when it comes to winter flying and ICE. One thing for sure is I always know when I am flying with a guy that has time in a Turbo-Prop, and you guys know what I mean ;)

The media is clueless and I am sure they will view T-Props as dangerous but the fact is Turbo-props do 10x as many cycles as jets (minus some regional ones) and T/O & Landings are when bad things tend to happen, most major pilots do 2 landings a day, I know at Colgan it was 6, 7, and even 8 legs day for me and that alone just increases the chances of something happening, you make a 737 or 757 do that many short hops a day and the statistics would probably mirror that of a T-Prop as well.

Once again my thoughts to the crew & families of 3407 and I am impressed with all of you guys and this thread, class act!


This just breaks my heart, so sad.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/...ot.family.kiro

God bless the flight crew, passengers, bystanders, and their friends and families. God bless Colgan. You guys were my ride to and from work during my time at XJT and always made sure I got on. I read that the Captain was Houston based at one point and I may have met him. I was always welcomed with open arms when jumpseating on Colgan. Thank you and God bless.

I'm very sad for the loss of my Colgan brothers and sisters on flight 3407. I wish I would've had a chance to know them.

I did at least of the pleasure and honor of knowing and flying with Joe Zuffaletto. He was a really nice person and fun to fly with. I only got to fly with him once on a 2 day trip(when he was still on the SAAB), wish it could've been more. When I was on the fence between voting for ALPA or Teamsters, he helped convince me to vote for ALPA, glad I did. He will be missed.

My sympathies and prayers towards their families, as well as the families of the passengers.

Marvin, Rebecca, Joe, Matilda, and Donna...may you fly high.

-Mark:(