CBC News - World - Pilots only partly to blame for Buffalo crash: report
"A U.S. regional airline is critical of both aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and the cockpit crew in a report on the deadly plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y., last February.
Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J., went down in the community of Clarence Center shortly before it was due to arrive in Buffalo. All 49 people on board died, as well as a man in his house, which was destroyed when the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 plane stalled and plunged to the ground on Feb. 12.
The operator of the twin-engine turboprop detailed what it believes happened in a report submitted last week to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Colgan Air said the cockpit warning system failed to adequately advise pilots when the plane's speed was set below the calculated stall warning speed.
It also pointed to the lack of an adequate warning in the turboprop's flight and operating manual regarding the effect of setting a non-ice reference speed during approach and landing.
Two other contributing factors, according to Colgan, included pilot inattention and failure to follow safety rules.
The report said the probable cause of the crash was the pilots' "loss of situational awareness" and failure to follow training and procedures.
System 'reliable,' aircraft maker says
Montreal-based Bombardier declined to comment on Colgan's submission, but its experts appeared at a hearing last May to answer questions.
"We are precluded from any such comment until such time as the NTSB has completed its investigation of the matter," spokesman John Arnone said in an interview.
He noted that the aircraft's avionics system "as it exists, is reliable and certified."
The Air Line Pilots Association agreed that the plane didn't have, nor was required to have, systems that would have alerted the pilots that "the air speed was abnormally low."
But in its submission, also on Dec. 7, the association disagreed with the airline that the accident was caused either by pilot error or any of the many other factors cited by Colgan.
The association blamed the airline for failing to train the pilots for the conditions they faced, which included ice buildup on the wings.
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