Buffalo Plane Crash

[ShockerFever]

49 dead, including 1 inside a house it hit.

Continental flight was from Newark to Buffalo.


Kinda scary considering I'm flying Continental out of Newark next month to Wichita. By my count, that's 6 major airplane crashes in NY since 2001.. :(

Prayers go out to the victims/families.

[BenWSU]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Dash_8_landing_gear_incidents

I`m going to guess this plane crash is exactly the same as June 1995 incident.

[ShockBand]

I've read in the news blurbs reports of other planes in the area at that time reporting icing, so that may have been a factor. From the details, it sounds like a very sudden loss of control of the plan.

[kcshocker11]

I heard a young man interviewed who was at the airport to pick up his 24 yr old sister who was on the plane . Heartbreaking

[dregn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Dash_8_landing_gear_incidents

I`m going to guess this plane crash is exactly the same as June 1995 incident.

More like this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Eagle_Flight_4184

[1979Shocker]

9/11 widow among victims of crash near Buffalo

WASHINGTON - One of the victims of Continental Flight 3407, Beverly Eckert, was a Sept. 11 widow who put her never-ending grief to good use to make the country safer.

"We know she was on that plane and now she's with him," Eckert’s sister, Sue Borque, told The Buffalo News.

Just last week, Eckert was at the White House with Barack Obama, part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the new administration would handle terror suspects.

[pogo]

That would be the most logical scenario however I believe they said fog was present. Sometimes when going from instruments to visual you can encounter spatial disorientation and can make unnecessary corrections which results in bad things happening especially if you are low and slow. Very sad.

[ShockerFever]

9/11 widow among victims of crash near Buffalo

WASHINGTON - One of the victims of Continental Flight 3407, Beverly Eckert, was a Sept. 11 widow who put her never-ending grief to good use to make the country safer.

"We know she was on that plane and now she's with him," Eckert’s sister, Sue Borque, told The Buffalo News.

Just last week, Eckert was at the White House with Barack Obama, part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the new administration would handle terror suspects.

What did that couple do to deserve that? Wow..

[KC Shox]

Very, very sad. Dying in a plane crash has to be one of the worst ways to go out. You know there's not a snowballs chance in hell you are going to survive, all the passengers screaming, and having the time to think while the plane is going down the last moments of your life. Ugh!

I fly quite a bit, and all this time I have never gotten used to it and it freaks me out. Too bad for that poor fella in the house too. Talk about bad luck.

I will pray for them, their families and friends.

[ShockBand]

The landing gear may had an influence on the crash, per information I've read this morning:

Preliminary information recovered from the flight's cockpit voice and data recorders indicated that the plane underwent "severe" pitching and rolling motions after the landing gear was lowered and wing flaps were set for the approach, Steve Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday afternoon.

"The crew discussed significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and leading edge of the wings," Chealander said.

"The crew attempted to raise the gear and [reset] flaps shortly before the recordings ended," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/13/plane.crash.new.york/index.html

[1979Shocker]

Official: Plane in N.Y. crash was on autopilot

CLARENCE, N.Y. - The plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down, a violation of airline policy, a federal aviation official said Sunday.

[ShockerGorilla]

Official: Plane in N.Y. crash was on autopilot

CLARENCE, N.Y. - The plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down, a violation of airline policy, a federal aviation official said Sunday.

That's like putting on your cruise control when driving on ice. Not a good move.

[pogo]

Similar, if the auto pilot is not on you can actually feel the loads to the control surfaces as they build up and affect maneuverability. If he disengaged it immediately prior to loss of control it seems the plane was so far out of the envelope that no human could have controlled the aircraft hence the sudden nose up attitude which would have caused the plane to stall and violently lose altitude. Not good if you are already low.