By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer Joan Lowy, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 20 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Federal safety investigators said Wednesday the flight data recorder from last month's air crash near Buffalo, N.Y., shows the plane's stall warning system had activated before the accident and there was some ice accumulation, but no mechanical problems were found with the plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the data "shows that some ice accumulation was likely present on the airplane prior to the initial upset event, but that the airplane continued to respond as expected to flight control inputs throughout the accident flight."

Continental Connection Flight 3407 was about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, flying in icing conditions the night of Feb. 12 when the plane tumbled wildly out of control and plummeted onto a house. All 49 people aboard the plane and one man in the house died.

A key question from the beginning of the board's investigation has been whether the twin-engine turboprop plane experienced an aerodynamic stall caused by icing and the pilot's reaction to the stall. Ice accumulation can change the shape of a plane's wings, causing it to lose lift.

Turboprops rely on deicing boots on the leading edge of the wings that inflate and deflate to break up ice. The decades-old technology isn't as effective as the deicing systems on jetliners, which direct engine heat to the wings to melt ice.

Former NTSB accident investigator Greg Phillips said it appears so far that the ice in the Buffalo crash "wasn't anything the plane shouldn't have been able to handle."

Investigators are continuing to examine the Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier's deicing system and to probe the flight crew's training, the statement said.
The information from the data recorder doesn't indicate any problem with "the airplane's systems, but you still have to leave the possibility of the icing system operation open until those examinations are complete," Phillips said in an interview.

The board has scheduled a three day public hearing for May 12-14 on the crash. The hearing will cover a range of safety issues, including the icing effect on the airplane's performance, cold weather operations, sterile cockpit rules, crew experience, fatigue management, and stall recovery training, the statement said.

"The tragedy of flight 3407 is the deadliest transportation accident in the United States in more than seven years," acting NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said in the statement. "The circumstances of the crash have raised several issues that go well beyond the widely discussed matter of airframe icing, and we will explore these issues in our investigative fact-finding hearing."

Feds: Plane in Buffalo crash had stall warning

 

all hell will break lose when the NTSB publishes its final report, these pilots unfortunately will be crucified

 

I have a feeling you're right. It's unfortunate, but like any other accident a series of events led to this tragedy.

Tailwinds to Colgan 3407

 

We don't know what the final report will be. However, we must accept the fact that the pilots *may* be to blame. I know it sucks when a friend and colleague makes a mistake. Unfortunately, that is the nature of our business.

I assure you, if your family was on a plane that crashed due to pilot error, you would "crucify" them too!

 

Plenty of accidents have been caused by "mistakes" from pilots. I'm not sure, but there seems to be an undercurrent implying that these pilots were practically playing cards on the center pedestal and singing songs all the way into Buffalo.

If you read between the lines, it seems that the investigators are implying "other issues" had a significant impact on the cause of this accident.

Somethings up, but I can't figure out what.

 

Wonder if the crew were both heads down and they got a false GS capture. If they were descending with the power back, and a sudden pitch up to capture the GS, could easily cause a stall.

We'll see...

 

...................or descending on autopilot, leveling off, never adding power. I know we hear it all the time in training, but SOMEONE always has to be "flying the airplane".

We had a crew here essentially do the same thing in a climb (A/P on heads down), no one flies the airplane its going to do what you tell it to do until it no longer aerodynamically can, the difference was 37,000ft to recover

 

People please. Have some respect. Speculation is the worst thing you can do with something like this. Maybe it was their fault, maybe not. Lets wait until the NTSB releases its report, and when that happens we can all argue about it. Until then no one here really knows what happened. Until such time it is disrespectful to all of us.

 

Did they release the CVR transcripts yet? Or were they discussed at your meetings in IAD, IAH, etc over the past few days?

 

I knew the Captain and what a class act he was. Marv would never hesitate to take full responsibility, regardless of the situation, if he had the chance.