Pilot's chilling premonition minutes before horror crash killed all board
When Colgan Air Flight 3407 departed from Newark, New Jersey bound for Buffalo, New York, the 49 passengers on board were oblivious to the tragic fate that awaited them.
On 12 February 2009, the Colgan Air aircraft went into an aerodynamic stall and crashed into a house, resulting in the death of all 49 individuals on board and one person on the ground.
A cockpit voice recorder transcript released by the National Transportation Safety Board reveals the chilling final words of Captain Marvin Renslow, followed by a scream from his co-pilot, First Officer Rebecca Shaw, recorded just seconds before the fatal crash.
In the moments leading up to the catastrophic accident, as they neared Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Renslow and Shaw can be heard discussing the First Officer's career and expressing their concerns about flying in icy weather conditions.
Shortly thereafter, the twin-engine turboprop Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier experienced an aerodynamic stall and plummeted into a house, causing devastating destruction and loss of life, reports the Express.
In the cockpit transcript made public by the Safety Board, Renslow and Shaw are first heard discussing the amount of ice accumulating on their wings. This conversation took place less than seven minutes prior to the crash, as their plane descended from 6,000 to 4,000 feet while approaching Buffalo on a frosty night.
Shaw observed, "it's lots of ice," prompting Renslow to respond, "Oh yeah that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the leading edges in a long time, in a while anyway I should say."
Renslow then mentioned he'd clocked up roughly 625 hours flying in the area prior to joining Colgan Air.
Shaw replied: "I really wouldn't mind going through a winter in the Northeast before I have to upgrade to captain. I've never seen icing conditions. I've never de-iced. I've never seen any. I've never experienced any of that. I don't want to have to experience that and make those kinds of calls. You know I would've freaked out. I would've like seen this much ice and thought, 'Oh my gosh, we were going to crash.'".
Addressing Shaw's concerns, Renslow responded: "I would've been fine. I would have survived it. There wasn't, we never had to make decisions that I wouldn't have been able to make but.. now I'm more comfortable."
As the crew deploys the undercarriage and modifies the flaps, a noise resembling the flap handle's operation is captured at precisely 10:16.26 pm, with Shaw audibly uttering, "Uhhh."
Within a fraction of a second, the cockpit records sounds matching the stick shaker - an alert delivered via the control stick indicating the aircraft is nearing an aerodynamic stall. The warning persisted for a duration of 6.7 seconds, and was soon followed by the distinct sound of a horn, signalling that the autopilot had been disconnected.
This tone carried on without interruption for the rest of the cockpit recording. Approximately three seconds after the stick shaker was activated, a clicking noise was heard, along with a noticeable increase in engine power.
At precisely 10:16.34. 8 pm, Captain Renslow's voice is captured as he exclaims, "Jesus Christ."
Subsequently, First Officer Shaw communicates that she has retracted the flaps and queries whether to raise the landing gear too, eliciting Renslow's response: "Gear up, oh (expletive)."
Amid escalating sounds and commotion within the cockpit, Renslow declares: "We're down."
This is followed by a thud, and Shaw utters "we" - her words cut off by a harrowing scream. The transcript concludes at this point, at 10:16.52 pm.
Further insights were provided by documents from the Safety Board, which disclosed that a training instructor had described Renslow as initially "was slow learning" the Dash 8 aircraft, but noted an improvement towards the end of his training.
The same instructor also mentioned that Renslow had faced challenges in familiarising himself with the flight management system of this specific model and had difficulties adapting to the different control positions, which were contrary to what he had been accustomed to on another type of aircraft. Nevertheless, the instructor spoke highly of Renslow's decision-making capabilities, labelling them as very good.
Cogan Air was compelled to admit Renslow's training on the aircraft did not cover simulations or demonstrations of the plane's stick-pusher system.
A stick-pusher is designed to automatically activate when an aircraft is on the verge of stalling, pushing the nose down into a dive to gain speed and enable the pilot to safely recover control.
However, during Flight 3407's descent towards Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Renslow contravened standard procedure by pulling back on the control column as the stick-pusher activated, in an attempt to lift the nose and halt the dive. The correct response would have been to push forward to increase speed.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that pilot error and inadequate training were the primary causes of the catastrophic crash. It was determined that the pilots had responded "inappropriately" to stall warnings, leading to disrupted airflow over the wings and a swift drop in altitude.
As a result, the pilot lost command of the aircraft, which crashed into a house merely five miles from the end of the runway.
This calamity prompted the grieving families of those who perished to take decisive steps, culminating in the introduction of new safety measures in the commercial aviation industry. The legislation enacted in 2010 brought about more stringent crew rest requirements, limitations on duty time, and required airlines to disclose the operator of each flight.
Moreover, a database has been set up to guarantee that pilots amass over 1,500 flying hours before they are certified to fly an aircraft.
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Daily Record
7 days ago
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Pilot's chilling premonition minutes before horror crash killed all board
All 49 people on board the Colgan Air Flight 3407 perished, as did one person on the ground, after the plane crashed into a house on February 12, 2009 in Buffalo, New York When Colgan Air Flight 3407 departed from Newark, New Jersey bound for Buffalo, New York, the 49 passengers on board were oblivious to the tragic fate that awaited them. On 12 February 2009, the Colgan Air aircraft went into an aerodynamic stall and crashed into a house, resulting in the death of all 49 individuals on board and one person on the ground. A cockpit voice recorder transcript released by the National Transportation Safety Board reveals the chilling final words of Captain Marvin Renslow, followed by a scream from his co-pilot, First Officer Rebecca Shaw, recorded just seconds before the fatal crash. In the moments leading up to the catastrophic accident, as they neared Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Renslow and Shaw can be heard discussing the First Officer's career and expressing their concerns about flying in icy weather conditions. Shortly thereafter, the twin-engine turboprop Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier experienced an aerodynamic stall and plummeted into a house, causing devastating destruction and loss of life, reports the Express. In the cockpit transcript made public by the Safety Board, Renslow and Shaw are first heard discussing the amount of ice accumulating on their wings. This conversation took place less than seven minutes prior to the crash, as their plane descended from 6,000 to 4,000 feet while approaching Buffalo on a frosty night. Shaw observed, "it's lots of ice," prompting Renslow to respond, "Oh yeah that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the leading edges in a long time, in a while anyway I should say." Renslow then mentioned he'd clocked up roughly 625 hours flying in the area prior to joining Colgan Air. Shaw replied: "I really wouldn't mind going through a winter in the Northeast before I have to upgrade to captain. I've never seen icing conditions. I've never de-iced. I've never seen any. I've never experienced any of that. I don't want to have to experience that and make those kinds of calls. You know I would've freaked out. I would've like seen this much ice and thought, 'Oh my gosh, we were going to crash.'". Addressing Shaw's concerns, Renslow responded: "I would've been fine. I would have survived it. There wasn't, we never had to make decisions that I wouldn't have been able to make but.. now I'm more comfortable." As the crew deploys the undercarriage and modifies the flaps, a noise resembling the flap handle's operation is captured at precisely 10:16.26 pm, with Shaw audibly uttering, "Uhhh." Within a fraction of a second, the cockpit records sounds matching the stick shaker - an alert delivered via the control stick indicating the aircraft is nearing an aerodynamic stall. The warning persisted for a duration of 6.7 seconds, and was soon followed by the distinct sound of a horn, signalling that the autopilot had been disconnected. This tone carried on without interruption for the rest of the cockpit recording. Approximately three seconds after the stick shaker was activated, a clicking noise was heard, along with a noticeable increase in engine power. At precisely 10:16.34. 8 pm, Captain Renslow's voice is captured as he exclaims, "Jesus Christ." Subsequently, First Officer Shaw communicates that she has retracted the flaps and queries whether to raise the landing gear too, eliciting Renslow's response: "Gear up, oh (expletive)." Amid escalating sounds and commotion within the cockpit, Renslow declares: "We're down." This is followed by a thud, and Shaw utters "we" - her words cut off by a harrowing scream. The transcript concludes at this point, at 10:16.52 pm. Further insights were provided by documents from the Safety Board, which disclosed that a training instructor had described Renslow as initially "was slow learning" the Dash 8 aircraft, but noted an improvement towards the end of his training. The same instructor also mentioned that Renslow had faced challenges in familiarising himself with the flight management system of this specific model and had difficulties adapting to the different control positions, which were contrary to what he had been accustomed to on another type of aircraft. Nevertheless, the instructor spoke highly of Renslow's decision-making capabilities, labelling them as very good. Cogan Air was compelled to admit Renslow's training on the aircraft did not cover simulations or demonstrations of the plane's stick-pusher system. A stick-pusher is designed to automatically activate when an aircraft is on the verge of stalling, pushing the nose down into a dive to gain speed and enable the pilot to safely recover control. However, during Flight 3407's descent towards Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Renslow contravened standard procedure by pulling back on the control column as the stick-pusher activated, in an attempt to lift the nose and halt the dive. The correct response would have been to push forward to increase speed. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that pilot error and inadequate training were the primary causes of the catastrophic crash. It was determined that the pilots had responded "inappropriately" to stall warnings, leading to disrupted airflow over the wings and a swift drop in altitude. As a result, the pilot lost command of the aircraft, which crashed into a house merely five miles from the end of the runway. This calamity prompted the grieving families of those who perished to take decisive steps, culminating in the introduction of new safety measures in the commercial aviation industry. The legislation enacted in 2010 brought about more stringent crew rest requirements, limitations on duty time, and required airlines to disclose the operator of each flight. Moreover, a database has been set up to guarantee that pilots amass over 1,500 flying hours before they are certified to fly an aircraft.
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In the moments preceding the fatal accident, as they neared Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Renslow and Shaw can be heard discussing the First Officer's career and expressing their apprehension about flying in icy conditions. Shortly after, the twin-engine turboprop Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier experienced an aerodynamic stall and crashed into a house, resulting in devastating destruction and loss of life, reports the Express. In the cockpit transcript provided by the Safety Board, Renslow and Shaw are first heard discussing the amount of ice accumulating on their wings. This conversation occurred less than seven minutes prior to the crash, as their plane descended from 6,000 to 4,000 feet on its approach to Buffalo on a frosty night. Shaw observed, "it's lots of ice," prompting Renslow to respond, "Oh yeah that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the leading edges in a long time, in a while anyway I should say." 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Within a second, the cockpit registered sounds matching the stick shaker - an alert sent through the control stick indicating the aircraft was nearing an aerodynamic stall. The warning persisted for 6.7 seconds before a distinct horn signalled the autopilot's disengagement, with the tone carrying on throughout the cockpit recording. A mere three seconds after the stick shaker was activated, a click and the engines' thrust increasing were audible. At 10:16.34. 8 pm, Captain Renslow is heard exclaiming, "Jesus Christ." Subsequently, First Officer Shaw reports that she has raised the flaps and queries whether to retract the landing gear, to which Renslow urgently replies: "Gear up, oh (expletive)." Amid escalating sounds and noise in the cockpit, Renslow declares: "We're down." This is followed by a thump, and Shaw utters "we" before a harrowing scream cuts through. The transcript concludes at 10:16.52 pm. 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The 2010 law brought in tougher crew rest demands, duty time restrictions, and required airlines to disclose the operator of each flight. Moreover, a database was set up to guarantee that pilots rack up over 1,500 flying hours before they're deemed qualified to fly an aircraft.
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