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Plane that crashed near Buffalo was on autopilot
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 15 - 02 - 2009


The commuter plane that crashed
into a home near Buffalo was on autopilot when it went down
in icy weather, indicating that the pilot may have violated
federal safety recommendations and the airline's own policy
for flying in such conditions, a federal official said
Sunday, according to AP.
Steve Chealander, a National Transportation Safety Board
member, said the company that operated the flight
recommends pilots fly manually in icy conditions. Pilots
are required to do so in severe ice.
«You may be able in a manual mode to sense something
sooner than the autopilot can sense it,» Chealander told
The Associated Press in an interview, explaining why the
NTSB also recommends that pilots disengage the autopilot in
icy conditions.
The preliminary investigation indicates the autopilot was
still on when the plane crashed, he said. That has not been
confirmed by information from the plane's flight data
recorder.
The pilots of Continental Flight 3407 discussed
«significant» ice buildup on their wings and windshield
just before crashing into a home Thursday night in a
suburban neighborhood near the Buffalo airport in western
New York state. Forty-nine people aboard the plane were
killed, as well as the homeowner.
The flight was run by Colgan Air, which operates a fleet
of 51 regional turboprops for Continental Connection,
United Express and US Airways Express.
In a December safety alert issued by the NTSB, the agency
said pilots in icy conditions should turn off or limit the
use of the autopilot to better «feel» changes in the
handling qualities of the airplane.
Chealander also said Colgan, like most airline companies,
had begun following NTSB recommendations that pilots use
deicing systems as soon as they enter conditions that might
lead to icing.
He said it was not yet clear exactly when the pilot on
Flight 3407 turned on the plane's advanced deicing system.
By Sunday, authorities had recovered the remains of 15
people from the wreckage as crews raced to finish their
work before a storm arrives later in the week.
Erie County Executive Chris Collins said recovery efforts
intensified after the arrival of additional federal
workers. A forecast of snow for Wednesday added to the
urgency.
The storm could hamper recovery efforts, but «the
investigation will continue snow, rain or shine,» said
David Bissonette, the town's emergency coordinator.
Recovery crews could need as much as four days to remove
the remains from the site. Chealander described the efforts
as an «excavation.»
«Keep in mind, there's an airplane that fell on top of a
house, and they're now intermingled,» he said.
DNA and dental records will be used to identify the
remains, he said.
Once all the remains are recovered, the focus will turn to
removing wreckage of the 74-seat aircraft from the
residential neighborhood where it went down Thursday night
near the end of a flight from Newark, New Jersey.
About 150 people were working at the site. The blue tail
of the plane still stuck out from a mound of black ash and
rubble.
The turboprop, flying through light snow and mist, crashed
belly first into the house, with the aircraft's nose
pointed away from the airport.
Investigators did not offer an explanation, but the
orientation raised the possibility that the pilot was
fighting an icy airplane. Possible explanations are that
the aircraft was spinning or flipped upon impact.
According to the flight data recorder, the plane's safety
systems warned the pilot that the aircraft was perilously
close to losing lift and plummeting from the sky.
Moments before the crash, a «stick shaker» and «stick
pusher» mechanism had activated to warn the pilot that the
plane was about to lose aerodynamic lift, a condition
called a stall. When the «stick pusher» engaged, it would
have pointed the nose of the plane toward the ground to try
to increase lift.
Indicator lights showed that deicing equipment on the
tail, wings and propeller appeared to be working,
Chealander said.
Investigators who examined both engines said it appears
they were working normally at the time of the crash, too.
Experts were also analyzing data from the flight data
recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, including
statements by crew members describing a buildup of ice on
the wings and windshield, Chealander said.
The NTSB planned to use that data to determine whether the
plane was in a flat spin before it crashed. Flight data
indicated «severe» pitching and rolling before impact.
Other aircraft in the area Thursday night told air traffic
controllers they also experienced icing around the time
that the plane went down.
Icing is one of several elements being examined by
investigators, Chealander said, adding that a full report
will probably take a year.
One aspect of the investigation will focus on the crew,
their training and whether they had enough time to rest
between flights. Other investigators will review the
weather and the mechanics of the plane.


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