Continental Flight #3407
The crash occurred at 10:10 PM EST [
see UPDATE ON TIME BELOW] on 12 Feb 2009. This flight took off from Newark, and; was coming in for a landing at Buffalo-Niagra International Airport; then, just 5 miles from the Buffalo airport ... crashed in Clarence Center ... a suburb of Buffalo.
The pilot had just spoken to the Buffalo Control Tower ... all seemed fine ...nothing reported wrong in that transmission. The plane was asked to fly at 2300 feet. The propeller plane may never have reached that height.
45 passengers, 4 crew and one victim on the ground ..... all dead ... no survivors.
This plane crashed into a home at 6038 Long Road. The victim on the ground lived in this home (husband). Two people (mother & daughter) from that home managed to survive. The husband took the direct hit and was in the middle of the house. The Mother & Daughter were in the home, but managed to get out!
The home had been reduced to flame & rubble amid a wall of fire 100 feet high. The plane was still carrying about 5000 pounds of fuel when it went down.
The plane's engines were seen to be on fire as the plane came down... and witnesses reported the plane has "sounded funny". Witnesses say one wing was pointing downward somewhat; the landing gear did not appear to be deployed and the plane was coming in at a "wrong angle". When it hit, it literally "fell straight down" ... "dropped" onto 6038 Long Street, like a dropped bowling ball.
However, Crew members aboard the flight from the earlier leg of this plane's journey to Newark Airport had reported mechanical problems as they approached Newark. This has not been confirmed.
- UPDATE 02-16-2009: There was icing on the plane. The De-Icer switch was "ON". The plane was on "Auto-Pilot" .... then was apparently taken OFF auto-pilot and at that point the plane went "out of control". 30 seconds later it dropped flat down ... horizontally (like a pancake) onto #6038 Long Road.
- UPDATE 02-18-2009 : Investigators are indicating that the plane slowed down to unsafe levels as it approached the Buffalo Airport which triggered an automatic "stall warning". Then the plane's controls were pulled back "sharply" ... adding power... instead of pushing forward, to lower the plane's nose to regain speed. The controls were then held in the "pulled back" position which locked the plane into a "deadly stall".
NEW TIMES FROM COCKPIT RECORDER
- UPDATE 05-29-2009 : The cockpit recorder timeline gives the possible critical turning point:
10:16:34 PM: Icing was evident causing more weight and less lift. Captain Marvin Renslow "remarks" on this.
10:16:37 PM (3 seconds later) Rebecca Shaw states: "I put the flaps up" (not a good move as evidenced by Captain Renslow making showing his displeasure with an expletive and other "sound".)
