In my opinion, this accident has nothing to do with icing or the ILS glide slope. The aircraft crashed well outside the outer marker. It stalled while in level flight at 2300' ASL. It was below the glideslope, or just about to intercept the glideslope. That is the normal time to lower the gear and landing flaps.
NTSB sources have said the pilot applied nose up elevator in response to the stall warning and stick pusher. Despite the application of power, the aircraft still stalled. It looks to me like either a very bad stall recovery, or a very bad attempt a go-around.
3407 Pilot Error Suspected: WSJ Report
February 18, 2009
3407 Pilot Error Suspected: Wall Street Journal Report
By Mary Grady, Contributing Editor
Investigators studying last week's fatal crash of a Continental Connection
Dash 8 Q400 in Buffalo, N.Y., now have found evidence that pilot inputs to the controls may have contributed to the airplane's stall, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the investigation. The flight data recorders show that the flight was routine until roughly a minute before impact, when the crew lowered the landing gear and extended the flaps, according to the WSJ sources. Almost immediately, the airspeed bled off and the stick-shaker activated, followed by a stick-pusher that automatically lowered the nose. It appears the captain pulled back on the stick with enough force to overpower the pusher and added power, causing a 31-degree pitch-up. The wings immediately stalled, and the airplane whipped to the left, then entered a steep right turn. The pilots continued to fight with the controls, and they were starting to recover when they "ran out of altitude," according to the WSJ source. NTSB member Steven Chealander, speaking to The New York Times earlier this week, urged "caution about jumping to conclusions that it might be an icing incident."
