Airline defends training of pilot involved in fatal crash

The regional airline involved in a fatal February plane crash outside Buffalo, New York, contested a report Monday alleging the pilot did not have the training to handle the emergency that brought the plane down, and that he might have been fatigued on the night of the crash. Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by regional carrier Colgan Air, plunged into a house in Clarence Center, New York, on the night of February 12, killing all 49 on board as well as one man in the house. In a story Monday, The Wall Street Journal cited investigators as saying the crash resulted from pilot Marvin Renslow’s incorrect response to the plane’s precarious drop in speed: He overrode an emergency system known as a “stick pusher,” which sends the plane into a dive so it can regain speed and avoid a stall.

Share