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The probable cause of the Colgan Air crash that killed 50 people near Buffalo, N.Y., a year ago was the captain's inappropriate response, characterized as "startle and confusion," after the stick shaker was activated, pulling back when he should have pushed forward, the NTSB reported in a hearing on Tuesday. Contributing factors included the crew's failure to monitor airspeed and their violation of the sterile-cockpit rule. In the daylong hearing, which ran past 7 p.m., the board split over the issue of whether or not fatigue was a contributing factor in the accident. Board chairman Deborah Hersman argued that several...

Washington (CNN) -- Confronted with signs that his plane was entering an aerodynamic stall, the pilot of Continental Flight 3407 pulled on the plane's control column when he should have pushed -- a simple but inexplicable error that led to the death of 50 people, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday evening. The board's ruling, coming a year after the crash near Buffalo, New York, is stark in its simplicity.

Flight Data Show Response to Loss of Speed Resulted in Deadly Stall That Downed Plane Investigators examining last week's Continental Connection plane crash have gathered evidence that pilot commands -- not a buildup of ice on the wings and tail -- likely initiated the fatal dive of the twin-engine Bombardier Q400 into a neighborhood six miles short of the Buffalo, N.Y., airport, according to people familiar with the situation. The commuter plane slowed to an unsafe speed as it approached the airport, causing an automatic stall warning, these people said. The pilot pulled back sharply on the plane's controls and...

Jim Hall Says ATR 42, Q400 Have Inherent Risks In Icing Even as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation into the downing of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo, NY -- and investigators take pains to note it's too soon to draw any conclusions about what caused the fatal crash -- a former head of the NTSB says all twin-engine turboprop airliners should be grounded immediately. The Toronto Star reports Jim Hall -- who was appointed by then-President Clinton to head up NTSB in 1994, and left in 2001

When I first heard about the crash of Flight 3407, I had a bad feeling about icing conditions. I had posted a thread on the Skew_T data and ATC chatter. Today my feelings have been confirmed. The NTSB has released information on PIREPS that verify what my forecasting experience has taught me. That the conditions at and near Buffalo New York, warranted icing forecasts of moderate to severe icing. Not light to moderate as the NTSB is indicating. Moreover an investigation into ATC's handling of the forecasts and NWS forecasters should be done. My comments on the matter are in...

Q400 Pitched Up 31 Degrees Before Crash The crew of the Bombardier Q400 that crashed in Buffalo on Thursday got a stall warning and the stick pusher engaged but still the aircraft pitched upward 31 degrees before turning almost 180 degrees and dropping onto a house in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center, near the outer marker for Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The sequence of events, which included a 45-degree dive with a 106-degree right bank ended 26 seconds later in the fireball on the ground, killing 49 people on the plane and one on the ground, the owner of...

The commuter plane that crashed near Buffalo was on autopilot until just before it went down in icy weather, indicating that the pilot may have ignored federal safety recommendations and violated the airline's own policy for flying in such conditions, an investigator said Sunday. Federal guidelines and the airline's own instructions suggest a pilot should not engage the autopilot when flying through ice. If the ice is severe, the company that operated Continental Flight 3407 requires pilots to shut off the autopilot.

A federal aviation official says the plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down, a violation of airline policy.

Clay Yarber was on Continental Connection Flight 3407, a decorated Marine who had twice survived helicopter crashes in Vietnam but was left with a fear of flying so deep he often preferred to drive, even cross country. But Thursday, Mr. Yarber, 62, had boarded a flight from California, connecting through Newark, to visit a friend in the Buffalo area. (snip) He had received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam. “He was a really great father,” said Michele Keratsis, his last wife. She said that around the time of the Tet offensive in 1968, Mr....

Associated Press CLARENCE, N.Y. – Investigators have recovered the two "black boxes" from the burned-out wreckage of a plane that crashed near Buffalo and killed 50 people. Spokesman Keith Holloway of the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders have already been sent to Washington for examination...

Minutes before Continental Flight 3407 plummeted to the ground killing all on board the pilots noticed a build up of ice on the plane's wings and windshield, an official said Friday. The plane was on its approach to Buffalo airport, New York state, when the crew spotted the problem, according to recordings taken earlier Friday from the aircraft's black boxes after the crash left 50 dead. "The crew discussed significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and leading edge of the wings," Steve Chealander, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told a press conference. "The crew briefed...

A Sept. 11 widow who lost her husband in the World Trade Center was among those who perished aboard a commuter flight that crashed into a house in Buffalo, N.Y. Beverly Eckert of Stamford, Conn., whose husband Sean Rooney died in the 2001 attacks, was one of the 50 victims of the Continental Flight 3407 accident. Her sister Sue Bourque was at the Buffalo airport awaiting official confirmation that Eckert had been on board. Officials investigating the crash have not yet confirmed Eckert was among the 44 passengers killed Thursday night. "We know she was on that plane," Bourque told...

So So sad - May you rest in peace A woman who lost her husband in the September 11 terror attacks was among the 50 people who died in a plane crash last night. Beverly Eckert was apparently on her way to celebrate what would have been her husband Sean Rooney's 58th birthday. 'We know she was on the plane and now she's with him,' her sister Sue Bourque said.

In this Friday, May 24, 2002 file photo, Beverly Eckert, 50, of Stamford, Conn., holds a picture of her late husband Sean Rooney, 50, in Stamford, Ct. Eckert, one of the victims of Continental Flight 3407, was a Sept. 11 widow who lost her her husband Sean Rooney, her high school sweetheart, in the World Trade Center

Authorities from across Western New York are rushing to the scene of a plane crash in Clarence Center. Authorities tell 2 On Your Side the plane went down in the area of Long Street. That's near the intersection of Goodrich and Clarence Center Roads. There's no word on the kind of plane that crashed or the conditions of people on board or on the ground. Stay with 2 On Your Side and wgrz.com for the latest information. WGRZ-TV/wgrz.com

New York state police say a 50-passenger commuter plane has crashed into a home in suburban Buffalo. State Trooper John Manthey says the plane hit a house in Clarence around 10:10 p.m. Thursday. The house is engulfed in flames.

SNIPPET: "BREAKING NEWS — A Continental Express plane with 48 people aboard crashed into a suburban Buffalo home and erupted in flames on Thursday night, killing everyone onboard. The FAA reported 44 passengers and 4 crew members were on the plane. There was one unconfirmed death on the ground." SNIPPET: "Authorities say Continental Airlines Flight 3407 was operated by Manassas, Virginia-based Colgan Air. It was en route from Newark, New Jersey to Buffalo. The plane is a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400."