Flight 3407

7 Stories

Pilot Transcripts Show Idle Talk, Then Terror

Flight 3407 transcript released ahead of public hearing

(Newser) - Just seconds before the worst US air crash in more than 7 years, the pilot exclaimed "Jesus Christ" and moments later his first officer screamed as Flight 3407 plunged to the ground. A cockpit voice-recorder transcript released today shows that only minutes before the Feb. 12 crash outside Buffalo,...

Pilot Error Likely in Buffalo Crash

Their training, experience is under scrutiny

(Newser) - Pilot error, not icing, appears to have caused the Continental Airlines crash in Buffalo that killed 50 people Feb. 12, an investigation report released today states. When a warning device alerted pilots they were flying too slowly, they pulled the plane’s nose up—rather than down, as pilots are...

DJ AM Swears Off Flying After Cheating Death—Again

Had booked ticket on doomed Buffalo flight

(Newser) - Adam Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, is finished with planes, TMZ reports. Not only was he badly burned in a plane crash last year, but the DJ had a ticket for the Continental commuter flight that crashed near Buffalo last month, killing everyone on board. Goldstein didn’t board...

Buffalo Flight's De-Icing 'Antiquated:' Suit

(Newser) - The first lawsuit involving the crash of Continental Flight 3407 contends that the turboprop airplane should not have been flying at all in icy conditions, the Buffalo News reports. The “antiquated de-icing boots,” said a lawyer filing suit on behalf of Cantor Susan A. Wehle, “are 1920s,...

Airline Warned of Runway Glitch Before Buffalo Crash

(Newser) - Add this to the mix in the Buffalo plane crash: Southwest Airlines warned its pilots just weeks ago about a landing glitch involving the same runway the Continental flight was destined for, CNN reports. It seems an earthen dam near the runway interferes with signals in a so-called instruments landing,...

Crash Highlights Regional Pilots' Inexperience

Investigators looking at Flight 3407 crew's records

(Newser) - The captain and first officer on the Buffalo plane that crashed were typical of regional airline pilots, the Buffalo News reports: They had far less experience than their counterparts on major airlines. No one interviewed blames either pilot for the accident, but Capt. Marvin Renslow, 47, and Rebecca Lynne Shaw,...

Plane Plummeted 20 Times Faster Than Normal

Flight recorders found; cause of crash still unknown

(Newser) - Nothing went wrong on Flight 3407 until 26 seconds before the plane slammed into the ground. But in that time, it fell more than 20 times faster than normal, at one point dropping 800 feet in 5 seconds, the Buffalo News reports. Black box recorders found on the ground in...

7 Stories