New information in crash of Flight 3407

CLARENCE CENTER, N.Y. (WIVB) - No one investigates like News 4. We have new information about what may have caused the crash of Flight 3407.

You saw the story first on WIVB.com.

The National Transportation Safety Board now says a preliminary examination of the commuter plane that crashed last month shows no indication of pre-impact system failures or anomalies.

Second, investigators say at this point icing had a minimal impact on the stall speed of the plane.

Among other things, that leaves questions about the actions of the Colgan Air flight crew.

Watch Luke Moretti's report.

Daniel Rose is an aviation accident attorney, whose law firm has been retained by six families connected to the Clarence Center crash, including four from Buffalo.

Rose said, "I think at the end of the day, you're going to find that there's going to be a piloting error at least component, if not completely a piloting error issue here."

NTSB investigators say when the plane's stick shaker activated, which is designed to warn the crew of an imminent stall, there was a 25 pound pull force on the control column.

Aviation experts say that pullback by the flight crew would pitch the nose up, instead of down.

News 4 aviation analyst Robert Miller said, "That would've worsened the problem cause the airplane to indeed go into a full stall roll left, then roll right."

"That is where the ultimate cause I believe of this terrible event occured is when he pulled back he did what we call exacerbating, worsening the stall condition."

Rose said, "I would be surprised if after our investigation we don't find that had the proper recovery techniques been used by this flight crew that this aircraft would not have stalled."

Additionally, the NTSB says post-toxicological tests of the flight crew were negative for alcohol and illicit substances.

However, the agency says the captain tested positive for a blood pressure medication that had been reported to and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

NTSB investigators say they're continuing to investigate flight crew experience and training, as well as whether a sterile cockpit was maintained.

Meanwhile, the agency will hold a public hearing may 12th through may 14th in Washington, D.C. News 4 will be there to cover it.

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There are still a lot of unanswered questions about last month's crash in Clarence Center that took 50 lives.

One major law firm has launched it's own investigation, as it seeks justice for the families of six passengers.

Flight 3407 came crashing down on top of a house February 12th. The wreckage is gone, but the horrific memories are etched in Clarence Center history forever.

Aviation attorney Daniel Rose asked, "What went wrong? What could've been done to prevent it?"

The official answers to those questions won't be known for several months as National Transportation Safety Board investigators work to connect the pieces of the puzzle.

But the law firm of Kreindler and Kreindler , which specializes in aviation accidents, has some strong suspicions.

Rose said, "I think at the end of the day, you're going to find that there's going to be a piloting error at least component, if not completely a piloting error issue here."

Daniel Rose, a partner in the Kreindler law firm, which has been retained by six families, including four from the Buffalo area, questions the experience level of the Colgan Air flight crew.

At the controls of the Bombardier Q 400 that night: Captain Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw. According to Colgan Air , which operated the commuter for Continental, Renslow had 109 hours flying the Q 400 as the pilot in command, and an additional 172 hours of formal training that included classroom, full motion simulator and time in the seat with an instructor.

News 4's Luke Moretti asked, "Is that enough experience?"

Rose said, "No. It's not. It's going to be a big issue in this litigation."

First Officer Shaw had 772 hours flying the Q 400.

Colgan Air maintains that both Renslow and Shaw were fully qualified under Federal Aviation guidelines.

But Daniel Rose says there's an informal rule in commercial aviation known as the '2000 hour rule.'

Rose said, "The flight crew, between them, the pilot and the co-pilot or the first officer, should have at least 2000 hours worth of experience in that type of plane."

"Certainly in a major airline you would never see the pairing of experience that we see here."

Using a specially modified Learjet, pilots are given in-flight training that can simulate airborne failures and upsets like icing and stalls.

Brian Ernisse, a test pilot for Calspan's Flight Research Group in Niagara Falls and also a former military pilot, believes there needs to be a balance of experience in the cockpit.

Ernisse said, "I think there's a balance there that a little but of uncomfort is good because you're paying attention the best you can. And certainly a limited number of hours is always the highest probability of an incident. And so that's why we have experienced folks always flying with inexperienced folks."

The crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 last month is eerily similar to at least two previous air disasters. American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed near Roselawn, Indiana on October 31st 1994.

>> Read NTSB's Report on Roseland Crash

Factual Report

Probable Cause

The turboprop suffered a loss of control after a ridge of ice had built up on the wings. All 68 people aboard died.

On January 9th 1997, Comair Flight 3272 crashed on approach to a Detroit Airport killing 29 people aboard.   Again, the turboprop plane suffered a loss of control after picking up a layer of ice.

>> NTSB on Icing Recommendations

Both crashes were litigated by Daniel Rose's law firm.

Daniel Rose said, "American Eagle in Roselawn and Comair in Michigan decided to do away with turboprop aircraft and replace them with jet aircraft thereby increasing the margin of safety."

In both cases, the National Transportation Safety Board faulted, among other things, the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to establish adequate aircraft certification standards for flight in icing conditions.  The turboprop, which crashed in Clarence Center last month, was manufactured by Bombardier in Toronto. News 4 asked the company whether the aircraft is vulnerable in icing conditions.

John Arnone, Bombardier spokesman said, "There has never been a serious incident on the Q 400 related to icing that we're aware of. There is no reasonable climatic condition in which this aircraft does not fly."

At this point, federal investigators say there's no evidence to suggest that the aircraft malfunctioned.

>> NTSB on Flight 34-07

By all accounts, the Continental Connection flight from Newark, New Jersey was uneventful for most of the flight. We know the flight crew reported "significant" icing on the windshield and wings.

Investigators have said the de-ice boots were activated 11 minutes after takeoff. We also know the plane's autopilot was on, which in and of itself is a subject of much debate.

The FAA requires that it be turned off during "severe" icing. But the NTSB recommends that it be turned off in any icing condition. The disagreement over a hard, fast rule is very public. The NTSB website has it prominently featured as a most wanted transportation safety improvement.

There's even a red icon labeled unacceptable response, along with the words "action needed by the FAA."

>> NTSB on complaints of FAA non response

Recently the National Air Disaster Alliance Foundation filed a lawsuit in an attempt to compel the federal government to act on the icing issue.

Mary Schiavo, former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and a member of that Foundation, explained, "The real bottom-line is always money. They're afraid it will cost manufacturers or the airlines money. And they really don't like to do that. And they will say we cannot do it until we do a cost benefit analysis."

As the FAA balances itself between aviation promotion and safety there's still no clear answer to the aircraft icing question. News 4 asked Senator Charles Schumer about the long delay on this issue.

News 4's Luke Moretti asked, "Can we afford to wait with something as important as this?"

Schumer replied, "You know, my view, and I will defer to the experts is that the FAA should've adapted what the NTSB asked for a long time ago."

Not long after that interview, Schumer called on the Government Accountability Office -- the investigative arm of Congress -- to examine aircraft icing standards and regulations.

The Senator said, "We don't want any more time to pass before there is one tough standard for de-icing so god forbid what happened on 3407 doesn't happen again."

Most pilots, like Cal Span's Brian Ernisse, would recommend switching to manual for better feel and control, "Automation, it's a great tool. And it should be used. But it also can be a problem during some failure modes."

Things went very bad for the Colgan flight approaching Buffalo.

Steve Chealander of the NTSB said, "The landing gear was placed down one minute before the end of the recording. 20 seconds later the flaps were selected to 15. As the Captain prepared to land, the plane began to lose lift. That triggered the autopilot to turn off automatically, and the control column to shake, warning of an imminent stall. Flight director shows a series of severe pitch and roll excursions within seconds of the 15 flaps command)) Preliminary information suggests the Captain pulled back, which caused the nose to pitch up violently."

Daniel Rose, Aviation Attorney, "The way to prevent an aircraft from stalling is not to bring the nose up to put it down so that airspeed can be generated and then you can fly away."

At one point the plane almost flipped, leading to a steep drop from 1800 feet to 1000 feet in five seconds, before landing on a home in Clarence Center.

>> More about wing stalls

Chealander, "The crew attempted to raise the gear and flaps just before the end of the recording, " said NTSB's Chealander.

It's a tragedy that took 49 lives aboard, and one on the ground.

Rose continues, "I would be surprised if after our investigation we don't find that had the proper recovery techniques been used by this flight crew that this aircraft would not have stalled."

Colgan Air says its training program meets the same requirements as every major carrier, and that includes emergency situations such as icing and stalls. But Daniel Rose believes pilots employed by commuter airlines like Colgan are not getting the same training as the major carriers.

Rose explained, "I know that from talking with friends who fly for the airlines including Continental."

But not all training is created equal. At Calspan in Niagara Falls, in-flight training is nothing like ground based simulators.

>> Calspan Airborne Simulation

These Learjets are specially modified to feel and act like any type of aircraft. The aero dynamics are modified artificially for things like stalls and icing. Why isn't this required for every commercial pilot? For one, it's expensive.

Brian Ernisse, Calspan test pilot said, "You'd be amazed at how many commercial pilots have never gone beyond 90 degrees of bank or have gone past 2 or 3 Gs. We'll find in the simulator pilots have no problem at all, rolling and pulling Gs beyond the aircraft capability. Maybe even stalling the aircraft in the simulator. But when you put that same person in an environment in the air and you'll find a completely different recovery technique."

As federal investigators dig for answers in the Clarence Center crash, so are lawyers like Daniel Rose.

One key piece of evidence will be the cockpit voice recorder.

Cockpit activities not related to safe flight operation during critical phases, like landing, are prohibited. Commonly known as the Sterile Cockpit rule, it also applies to non-essential conversation.

>> FAA on Sterile Cockpit Rule

Rose said, "I haven't seen anything officially released by the NTSB but there has been information out there that suggests that a sterile cockpit was not maintained, that non-pertinent conversation was conducted during the approach phase.  And in this case, that's very well likely what might have happened."

If that's true, the National Transportation Safety Board hasn't said so.

In fact, the agency hasn't released a transcript of the cockpit voice recordings, since the matter is still under investigation.

Additional Information - NASA video on Icing for Regional and Corporate Pilots