NTSB Official: Downed Commuter Plane Was On Autopilot
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NTSB Official: Downed Commuter Plane Was On Autopilot
A federal aviation official said Sunday the twin-engine commuter plane that crashed into a home in Buffalo, N.Y. killing 50 was on autopilot at the time, which is a possible violation of airline policy.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (February 15, 2009)--A National Transportation Safety Board official said Sunday the twin-engine commuter plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y., killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down, a possible violation of airline policy in icy weather.

Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board said Colgan Air recommends pilots fly manually in icy conditions and pilots are required to do so in severe ice.

Pilots of the doomed plane discussed "significant" ice buildup on their wings and windshield just before the plane crashed Thursday night.

Colgan Air operates a fleet of 51 regional turboprops including Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express.

Chealander says the preliminary investigation indicates the autopilot was still on when the plane crashed.

Meanwhile Sunday, authorities said 15 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of Flight 3407 as recovery crews race to finish their grim work before a snowstorm arrives later in the week.

Workers were back at the site at dawn Sunday, trying to retrieve the remains of the 49 people on board when the Continental flight crashed into a house Thursday night.

The homeowner also died.

Once the remains are recovered, the focus will turn to removing wreckage of the 74-seat aircraft from the suburban neighborhood where it went down near the end of a flight from Newark, N.J.

About 150 people are working at the site near the Buffalo airport.

The tail of the plane sticks out from a mound of black ash and rubble.

NTSB Web Site

Latest Comments

Posted by: Someone Location: Near-Here on Feb 15, 2009 at 02:13 PM

I really hate to hear of tragedys that happen like this, but preliminary findings sound like lack of common sense caused this accident.
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