Almost exactly one year after the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 on approach to Buffalo International Airport, PBS will televise a documentary film that investigates the accident and what it might reflect about the current state of the airline industry.
The documentary, titled “Flying Cheap,” will be aired nationally at 9 p.m., Feb. 9. In Buffalo, the PBS affiliate is WNED-TV, Channel 17.
Fifty people died when a turboprop airliner fell to earth in Clarence Center during icy winter weather on the night of Feb. 12, 2009. The flight, marketed as a Continental Airlines connection, was bound from Newark.
“One year after the deadliest domestic airline accident in seven years, Frontline investigates the crash of (Flight 3407) in Buffalo, NY, and discovers a dramatically changed airline industry, where regional carriers now account for half the nation’s daily departures,” a news release from PBS said.
“The rise of the regionals and arrival of low-cost carriers have been a huge boon to consumers, and the industry insists that the skies are safe,” the release said. “But many insiders are worried that now, 30 years after airline deregulation, the aviation system is being stretched beyond its capacity to deliver service that is both cheap and safe.”
(emphasis mine.)
Behold the free-market calculation of safety levels. Beautiful, ain't it.