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IMAGE SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons / A Continental Connection Bombarder Q400
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), on Sunday, said commuter Flight 3407 that crashed three days ago in Buffalo, New York, appeared to be flying normally until just 26 seconds before it came down.
Continental Connection Flight 3407 to Buffalo from Newark, crashed into a home just six miles from Buffalo’s Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 passengers and one man inside the home.
Weather conditions have emerged as a central focus of the investigation. The NTSB disclosed on Friday, that the recovered cockpit voice recorder captured the pilots discussing ice buildup on the wings and other parts of the plane shortly before it plummeted from the sky.
According to preliminary information provided by Steven Chealander, spokesman and NTSB member assigned to the scene, during the last minute of flight, the plane flew about 1,600 feet above the ground, southwest toward the Buffalo airport; the crew lowered the landing gear. Seconds later, one of the pilots attempted to extend the flaps to 15 degrees, standard procedure before landing.
The airplane’s nose immediately began to pitch violently up and down and and roll side to side. The stick shaker, a mechanical device that rapidly and noisily vibrates the control yoke (the "stick") of an aircraft to warn the pilot of an imminent stall, came on. It takes matters out of the pilots’ hands by pushing the yoke forward, thereby pushing the nose down and increasing airspeed to avoid stalling.
The crew increased engine power, but was never able to regain control: the plane hit the house, having spun around to face northeast, although it was flying southwest.
A Mystery Unfolding
The description of the crash indicates the aircraft – a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 – suffered an aerodynamic stall, which means the flow of air over the wings was disrupted or too slow to sustain flight. But, thus far, the reason is a mystery to investigators.
Icing, which the crew reported shortly before crashing, is one possible reason, but Mr. Chealander, said the airplane had a sophisticated ice protection system.
"The plane was equipped with pneumatic boots, similar to tires, on the front edge of the wings. The tail and vertical stabilizer inflate and contract twice a minute to break accumulations of ice, and has electrically heated propellers. The system notifies the cockpit if any boot is not working, and so far, investigators have not found such indications," said Mr. Chealander.
“This Dash 8 is a workhorse airplane,” he said. “It’s not susceptible to ice.”
The NTSB usually takes from a 12 to 18 months to reach a final conclusion, although, general outlines become clear within a few days.
Thursday’s crash was the first fatal crash of a commercial flight in the U.S. since August 2006, when a Delta Comair jet crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49 people.
In January, Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III was able to steer a US Airways Flight to a water landing that has been dubbed “Miracle on the Hudson,” when geese were sucked into both engines of the aircraft sapping them of thrust. All 155 passengers and crew members survived. #