DHC-8 crash near Buffalo

De Havilland Canada DHC-8-402 Q400 (registration number N200WQ, serial 4200) was released in 2008 (the first flight took place on February 15). April 16 of the same year was transferred to Colgan Air . Equipped with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprop engines . On the day of the disaster, it made 1809 take-off and landing cycles and flew 1819 hours ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

The aircraft was controlled by an experienced crew, the composition of which was as follows:

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 47-year-old Marvin Renslow. A very experienced pilot, worked at Colgan Air for 4 years and 6 months (since August 2004). He flew the aircraft PA-28 , PA-32 , Cessna 172 and Beechcraft 1900D . In the position of commander of DHC-8 - from November 18, 2008. Flown 3379 hours (over 1030 of them as pic), 111 of them on DHC-8.
• The co - pilot is the 24-year-old Rebecca Lynne Shaw . An inexperienced pilot, worked at Colgan Air for 2 years and 6 months (since August 2006). She flew PA-28, PA-32, PA-44 , Cessna 152 , Cessna 172, Diamond DA40 , Beechcraft 23 and Beechcraft 1900 aircraft. She has been the co-pilot of the DHC-8 since March 16, 2008. 2244 hours flew, 774 of them on DHC-8 ^[4] .

Two stewardesses worked in the airplane cabin:

• Matilda Quintero
• Donna Prisco.

In addition, on board was another pilot (FAC) of Colgan Air - 28-year-old Joseph James Zuffoletto ( born Joseph James Zuffoletto ), who flew this flight as a passenger ^{[5] [6]} .

In total, there were 49 people on board - 45 passengers and 4 crew members.

Flight CJC3407 departed from Newark at 9:18 pm EST and headed for Buffalo. It was performed by De Havilland Canada DHC-8-402 Q400 board N200WQ. On board were 4 crew members and 45 passengers.

At 22:16:28, when landing at the Buffalo airport at an altitude of 694 meters, the plane suddenly sharply pulled its nose up, capsized on the left wing, then sharply tilted to the right and almost fell into a tailspin . Pilots were able to level it, but the plane has already begun to lose altitude. At 22:16:45, the plane again sharply capsized to the right and entered an uncontrolled dive. Pilots were able to get the plane out of the dive, but it was too late.

At 22:16:53 flight CJC3407 crashed into a residential building in Clarence (a suburb of Buffalo) 10 kilometers from Buffalo Niagara Airport and completely collapsed. 50 people died: all 49 people on board the plane and 1 person on the ground. In addition, 4 more people were injured on the ground, two of them were directly in the house on which the plane crashed. A single-family residential building was completely destroyed, and due to a fire, residents of 12 nearby houses were evacuated.

According to the Buffalo ATC service, the pilots did not report any problems. After the approach dispatcher handed over the plane to the airport dispatcher, the latter was no longer able to contact him. During the landing it was light snow with rain, it was foggy, the wind speed was 7-8 m / s.

• Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a phone call to Barack Obama expressed his condolences over the disaster ^[7] .
• The 2008/2009 NHL championship hockey match between Buffalo Sabers and San Jose Sharks began with a moment of silence in memory of those killed in the crash.

On February 13, 2009, investigators from the National Transport Safety Council (NTSB) went to the crash site.

An initial analysis of the data from the flight recorders showed that the aircraft began to fluctuate sharply in roll and pitch after the release of the landing gear and landing flaps. Until this moment, the flight proceeded normally. Initially, the aircraft sharply “pulled up its nose” - increased the pitch to 31 °, then “lowered the nose” - reduced the pitch to −45 °. Moreover, he initially tilted to the left by 46 °, then sharply right to a heel of 105 °, after which he collapsed onto the house ^{[8] [9]} .

Back in December 2008, the NTSB issued a warning recommending pilots to manually fly airplanes in conditions of severe icing. With manual piloting, the pilot is able to timely sense the adverse changes in the behavior of the aircraft associated with the growth of ice. When the autopilot controls the plane, it fights off these changes as long as it can, and then, disconnecting, leaves the pilots in an unexpectedly difficult situation. Decoding of the recorders showed that the flight took place in conditions of moderate icing, the anti-icing system was turned on almost immediately after take-off and worked the entire flight, the aircraft was controlled by autopilot. The catastrophic situation developed very quickly - only 26 seconds passed from a normal flight to an impact on the ground ^{[10] [11]} .

Also, the decryption showed the operation of the device, preventing the stall of the aircraft. It pushes the helm forward so that the plane lowers its nose, thereby increasing its speed, which is necessary for stable maintenance of the aircraft in the air. But the pilots, knowing about the low altitude of the flight, could adjust their anti-stall device, thereby introducing the aircraft into stall or in a tailspin. NTSB President William Voss said the plane was in deep stall mode ^{[12] [13]} .

On March 25, the NTSB published new information to investigate the causes of the crash of flight 3407. It indicated that although icing of the aircraft was present, it played a minimal role in the development of the situation. The main reason for the loss of control of the aircraft is called the inadequate response of the crew to triggering an alarm about the impending aircraft stall (the mechanism of the steering wheel shaking). Instead of the required recoil of the helm from itself, a pulling force of 11.3 kilograms was recorded. This, in fact, led the aircraft to perform an upward maneuver, loss of speed, stall and fall.

The blood test of the co-pilot did not reveal any traces of alcohol, and a medicine that regulates blood pressure (approved for use) was found in the blood of the crew commander.

The investigation center focused on analyzing the training of both pilots on how to get out of stall and other aspects of the human factor ^[14] .

On May 11, 2009, new information was published. The reason for the crash was the crew’s incorrect reaction to the warning about approaching the stall mode (steering wheel shaking mechanism).

It became known that the PIC repeatedly showed poor results when training on an airplane simulator, and the co-pilot was an inexperienced specialist (3 minutes before the development of the catastrophic situation (according to the data of the voice recorder), she told the commander that she had never gotten into icing conditions before and was very scared ) The FAC's reaction also looked like a fright. In addition, the crew did not rest enough before the flight ^[15] .

The final report of the NTSB investigation was published on February 2, 2010.

• The crash of Flight 3407 is shown in season 10 of the Canadian documentary television series Crash Investigations in the Deadly Tired series.
• It is also featured in the MSNBC American documentary television series Why Planes Crash in the Human Error series. However, it is indicated as a Continental Connection-3407 flight.

• Description of the disaster on the Aviation Safety Network
• Computer reconstruction of the crash of Colgan Air-3407 flight - NTSB
• NTSB Final report
• Colgan Air Flight 3407 Information from Colgan Air
• Website created and maintained by family members and close friends of victims who perished onboard flight 3407
• Flight track data for Continental Connection flight 3407 at flightwise.com
• Flight tracker and track log
• Photos from the crash site
• Photo of a crashed plane 4 months before the crash
• Buffalo Crash Puts Focus On Regional Airlines from NPR
• Frontline - Flying Cheap - February 9, 2010. One year after the deadly crash of Continental 3407, FRONTLINE investigate the safety issues associated with regional airlines.