SFGate: Crashed commuter plane was new, had good record

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This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.
The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2009/02/13/national/a=
083900S51.DTL
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Friday, February 13, 2009 (AP)
Crashed commuter plane was new, had good record
By MICHAEL HILL, Associated Press Writer


   (02-13) 09:30 PST Albany, N.Y. (AP) --
   The commuter plane that crashed into a home near Buffalo, N.Y., was new
and had a clean safety record, officials said Friday, leaving
investigators few immediate clues about why it suddenly plunged just
minutes before its planned landing, killing 50 people.
   The twin turboprop aircraft — Continental Connection Flight 3407
from Newark, N.J. — was coming in for a landing when it went crashed
Thursday night about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International
Airport.
   The flight was operated by Colgan Air, Inc., based in Manassas, Va. Colg=
an
is owned by Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
   The 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft, registered last April, was delayed
almost two hours before departing Newark, N.J.
   But Philip H. Trenary, who heads Pinnacle Airlines Corp. and operator
Colgan Air, Inc., said at a news conference Friday that he didn't know why
there was a delay.
   Trenary said the plane was a "next-generation turbo prop, very modern."
   "It's an aircraft that's had flawless service," he said. "So no, there
have been no indications of problems with the aircraft."
   Bombardier spokesman Marc Duchesne said the plane was put into service
very recently and is only a few months old.
   Though skies were foggy and winds were 17 mph, there was no indication of
anything out of the ordinary and no mayday call from the pilot, according
to a recording of air traffic control radio messages captured by the Web
site LiveATC.net.
   William Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, said the near
vertical drop of the plane suggests a sudden loss of control. One witness
said the plane "basically dove" onto house.
   Voss said possible causes include icing or a mechanical failure, such as
wing flaps deploying out of synch to different positions or the two
engines putting out uneven thrust. Similarly, Don Maciejewski, a former
military pilot and aviation attorney, said the sharp drop coupled with a
witness who reported hearing a change in engine noise could indicate
engine failure or ice buildup on the tail.
   "There are a limited number of things that can cause an aircraft to lose
control," Voss said.
   Wind gusts hit 65 mph on Thursday and the Federal Aviation Administration
said flights were delayed by nearly four hours at Newark Liberty
International Airport.
   Trenary also would not speculate on if weather played a role in the cras=
h,
which killed all 49 people on board and one on the ground.
   The Q400 is popular for intermediate flights, especially after recent
spikes in aviation fuel prices.
   The Q400 has not been involved in any fatal crashes in the United States,
though it has had problems with it's landing gear.
   Scandinavian Airlines grounded its 27 Dash 8 Q400 aircraft in 2007 after
problems with landing gear caused three crash landings in seven weeks in
Europe. No one was seriously hurt in those accidents.
   Voss said it's "extremely unlikely" landing gear played a role in the
crash five miles from the airport.
   Bombardier said it has dispatched a product safety and technical team to
the site to assist the National Transportation Safety Board with their
investigation.
   __
   Associated Press Writer Ula Ilnytzky contributed to this report from New
York City. ----------------------------------------------------------------=
------
Copyright 2009 AP

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