Plane crashes into house in New York state

[Rockville]

To me, this looks like the final blow to the Dash 8-Q400. Can't think of another type in recent history that suffered from a reputation this bad.

Brief history facts can be found here .

[flying_kiwi]

Unfortunately, the death toll has been raised by one, as there was an offduty Colgan Air captain also on board who was not included in the initial count.
It'll be interesting to see which direction the investigation takes, the early speculation on the various forums is icing, but it's somewhat premature to disregard other possiblities.

Regards,
Yorden

[JS50557]

Probe After Plane Crash Kills 50

Investigators are sifting through the wreckage of a US plane that nosedived onto a house in New York state, exploding in a fireball and killing 50 people.

Teams of police, special agents and officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) moved in after firefighters spent hours dousing walls of flames that had engulfed the area, outside Buffalo.

Continental Flight 3407, on a flight from Newark in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International airport plummeted onto the house in Clarence Center late on Thursday local time.

Recordings on black box flight recorders recovered from the scene revealed pilots had been concerned about ice building up on the wings as they approached.

They also showed the crew had been concerned about low visibility due to snow and mist.

They asked to drop to 11,000 feet, but began to see a problem with ice.


Tragic events such as these remind us of the fragility of life, and the value of every single day.

US President Barack Obama

The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop plane exploded on impact around 10.20pm (3.20am GMT) about five minutes before it was due to land, carrying 49 passengers and crew.

One person in the house it hit also died, although a woman and her daughter escaped from the rubble of their home with only minor injuries.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have said they are "deeply saddened" by the incident.

"Tragic events such as these remind us of the fragility of life, and the value of every single day," Mr Obama said.

See more pictures of the crash scene in our gallery.

Among the victims was Beverly Eckert, whose husband was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, and Alison Des Forges, an expert on Rwanda and senior advisor to Human Rights Watch.

Ms Eckert met Mr Obama at the White House earlier this month along with other relatives of those killed in the attacks, was traveling to Buffalo to mark what would have been her husband Sean Rooney's 58th birthday.


:: Local resident Keith Burtis has started an appeal on his blog to raise money for the victims and their families.

US Plane Accidents
November 12, 2001: A plane flying from New York to the Dominican Republic crashes onto a residential area minutes after take-off. In addition to all 260 people aboard, five people are killed on the ground.
January 8, 2003: All 21 people aboard a commuter plane flying between Charlotte in North Carolina and Greenville in South Carolina die when the craft comes down shortly after take-off.
October 19, 2004: A plane flying from Saint Louis and Kirksville in the state of Missouri crashes shortly before landing, in bad visibility. Eleven of the 13 passengers, and both pilots, are killed.
December 19, 2005: A seaplane ferrying passengers from Miami to the island state of The Bahamas crashes shortly after take-off, killing all 20 people aboard.
August 27, 2006: A plane taking off from Lexington in Kentucky, bound for Atlanta, Georgia, crashes at the end of the runway. All 47 passengers and three of the four crew members die; a co-pilot survives with serious injuries.
January 15, 2009: An aircraft taking off from New York City for Charlotte, South Carolina comes down on the Hudson river after both its engines fail, apparently due to a collision with birds. Thanks to the skill of the pilot, all 150 people on board survive.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World- ... 2983?f=rss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[flying_kiwi]

The NTSB reported at their press conference last night that they have already been able to make an initial review of the CVR and DFDR.
From that, the crew discussed ice buildup during the decent. Gear was selected down approximately one minute prior to the crash, and shortly after flaps 15 were selected. Within seconds of selecting the flaps the aircraft began what was described as severe pitch and roll movements, and that just before impact both gear and flaps were selected up.

Regards,
Yorden

[flying_kiwi]

The NTSB has released the CVR transcript of the accident, and also an animation of the moments before impact.
As for a report, there isn't any yet, just various documents released by the NTSB.

CVR Transcript
Animation

Regards,
Yorden