Buffalo Plane Crash

US air accident investigators are expected to examine the role played by freezing weather conditions as they begin the task of trying to find out what caused flight 3407 to crash in Buffalo, New York, last night.

It has emerged that there were safety fears over the model of plane involved in the crash. The propeller-powered Q400 built by the Canadian engineering firm Bombardier was temporarily withdrawn from service by the Scandinavian airline SAS in 2007 after a crash-landing in Copenhagen. It is the first fatal accident involving the Dash 8 Q400 series, which came into service in 2000 with an estimated 215 in use around the world.

However, the aircraft safety expert David Learmount, a former turbo-prop pilot, said there were no serious safety concerns over the Q400 and the problems with the SAS fleet were largely related to maintenance issues.

Learmount, a Flight International magazine editor, said the freezing conditions at the time of the crash, and the fact that it happened at night, would be investigated by officials from the US National Transportation Safety Board.

"It was cold, snowing and dark but these planes are designed to fly in icy conditions," Learmount said. "However, those conditions can be very fickle and if ice builds up on a plane it can be very difficult.

"At this time of year, when a pilot crashes approaching an airport that they will know well, the first thing you look at is the weather."

The 74-seat plane was being operated by Colgan Air on behalf of Continental Airlines. It was flying from Newark Liberty International airport, in New Jersey, to Buffalo Niagara International airport in light snow, fog and 17mph (27kph) winds.

The Bombardier Q400 series has a de-icing system on the tips of its wings that pumps air through the wing edges, creating a vibrating surface that prevents ice from building up. Learmount said any failure in this system would destabilise the aircraft rapidly.

"If ice forms on the wings, the wings change shape and the plane simply stops flying."

He said that when a plane succumbed to ice, one engine normally stalled first, causing a single wing to dip. According to one eyewitness, "the left wing was a little low" shortly before the crash.

On a recording of Buffalo air traffic control's radio messages just before the accident, the voice of a female pilot on flight 3407 can be heard communicating with air traffic controllers and does not appear to register any concern as she is asked to fly at 2,300ft (700 metres). A minute later, the controller tries to contact the plane but receives no response.

"Whatever happened, happened quite suddenly," Learmount said.

The investigation is likely to be complicated by the fact that any ice that may have contributed to the crash will have melted on impact, leaving investigators with the task of identifying the cause by a process of elimination if ice was the main factor.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Buffalo
• Plane
• Crash
• 48
• aboard
• crashes
• into
• house
• in
• suburban

[DeadRaymanWalking]

I had a fear of going on the Dash 8 on my way home from California....but I made it home safely...otherwise I wouldn't be standing here :)

[cruisemate]

Not limited to landingear though... Probs with indications in cocpit ,lights going on and off. probebly has nothing to do with this, seems like pilot error. Maybe America needs better training of its pilots?

[fluffycheep]

They were unsafe due to landing gear problems, not for falling out of the sky.

[luisihne]

this is my theory, they had the airplane in autopilot, and the autoshit, but down the Flaps(you never put flaps when having icing on the wings!!!!! NEVER) so when that happen, the aiplane lost the lift from the horizontal stabilizer and went down. the pilot didnt try retratcing the flags, so she failed!

[cruisemate]

A bombardier dash-8 Q-400 plane.

In Scandinavia known as the crash-8.

Has crashed in Buffalo. Oups.... Ajajaj !

Scandinavian airlines grounded them as they where seen as unsafe and that SAS costumers hade lost faith in them.

We´ll see if this was a pilot error or maininace screw up or construction fault !

[1tonykirk]

Sadieaugust,

I'm praying that somebody captured this interview.

Initially, I dismissed it as a horrible accident.

I heard what they said and it was ordinary and credible.

It wasn't until much later that I heard the " Official Story"

of "ICING" obviate their eyewitness statement.

One guy was fair and lanky with light brown hair, the other

wasn't quite so fair, very dark hair a huskier. Comparing them to their surroundings and the reporter, I'd guess both were around 5'10-6' tall.

[1tonykirk]

sadieaugust,

I was up for work @ 5:30 am and turned on WABC-TV NY as usual. A reporter "live on the scene" was looking to interview the 'locals' and found a pair of young men about 20 who were "up late watching TV". They heard the sound of a loud low flying plane that didn't sound normal, ran outside & saw that the right engine was on fire. The plane was out of control, made a sharp u turn and fell to the ground". It was later that these two were left out and the Official Story was massaged.

[kimmer6]

Conspiracy, Sadie?

[kimmer6]

See below, Sadie. I would be interested in the data on the power settings on the engines. It may have power dived from 2000 ft straight down, concentrating the debris field to the house at 6038, not even damaging their garage. Perhaps the anti icing system failed. The pilot and copilot discussed the windshield icing long before the crash. If there was a system failure this may be a clue as to why the anti icing boots on the wings and tail failed to work. Mechanical failure, not pilot error...

[kimmer6]

Sadie, fool, don't trust asyone over 30, right? The flight data recorders were in the tail of the plane which was intact the next morning. Rime icing was most likely the cause of the crash, even though the anti icing switch was on according to the data recorder. Large pitch and roll excursions were also recorded after the gear was down and 15 degrees of flap was selected. It went out of control due to icing as the crew was raising flaps and gear. It probably dove vertically into the house.