One of our country’s leading aviation accident lawyers told me he has a simple private rule for his family: No flying in propeller commuter planes in bad winter weather.
That rule may seem rather extreme, considering all the thousands of turboprop commuter flights that safely complete their journeys each day, but listening to the National Transportation Safety Board hearing about last year’s crash in Buffalo, New York, one can understand why. The investigators sketched a tragic scenario of pilot inattention, distraction, confusion, miscommunication and deadly mistakes that led to their tragic deaths and that of their passengers.
The crash of Continental Connection flight 3407, actually operated by the commuter line Colgan Air, has already, critics say, exposed the underbelly of our nation’s regional airline industry: pilots sleeping on couches in airport ready rooms, being paid by the hour (the co-pilot of the ill-fated flight, 24 year-old Rebecca Shaw, earned about $23 an hour and at one time had to work in a coffee shop as a second job,) commuting cross country to their jobs, flying while feeling ill, having conversations that violate the “sterile” cockpit rule, and most importantly in this case, not even noticing the plane was flying too slowly for 18 seconds before it went out of control.
Investigators said that as the plane started to stall during the approach to the Buffalo airport, the pilot, 47 year-old Marvin Renslow, pulled back on the controls to pull the nose up, when he should have pushed the nose down. They also concluded that he did not add enough power to prevent the plane from careening into the ground. In addition, investigators said Renslow lacked proper training on what is known as the “stick shaker,” which alerts pilots that the plane is in trouble. And it turns out that Renslow had “flunked” several pilot training tests, said officials.
“What this investigation reveals is a picture of complacency that resulted in catastrophe,” declared the N.T.S.B. Chairwoman, Deborah Hersman about the two pilots. “Neither of them called “stall,” neither of them appeared to be communicating, recognizing what was going on at the time.”
They did not recognize what was going on at the time.
“I’m wondering,” Hersman asked, “why the first officer (Ms. Shaw,) didn’t recognize what was going on, perhaps overrule the Captain if he was in a situation where he couldn’t identify what was going on?”
“We can’t say for sure,” answered Captain Roger Cox, the N.T.S.B. Operations Group Chairman. “There was an need to intervene, ” he said, “what it takes to intervene with another crew member…is a product of experience, it is a product of maturity, a product of being able to recognize a really bad situation and take decisive action.”
N.T.S.B. Vice-Chair Christopher Hart observed that “this accident was really an eye opener,” for the industry, lamenting that “we no longer have the world class training of military pilots” that once filled America’s commercial airliner cockpits. Officials said there are different training procedures between civilian and military pilots. “What makes a good pilot is discipline, attitude, and approach to professionalism,” noted one official, defending the civilian training.
The accident also has focused attention on code-sharing, the practice of major airlines relying on commuter lines to actually operate the flights, the training and standards of regional carriers, as well as issues pilot fatigue, hours, and experience.
Buffalo area Republican Congressman Chris Lee has introduced legislation that passed the House addressing some of the issues, such as pilot fatigue and training. But his spokesman, Matthew Harakal, says the bill remains stuck in the Senate Finance Committee because of the continuing health care debate.
The N.T.S.B. will issue more than 20 recommendations as a result of this crash. But the sad legacy of flight 3407, is the proper questions that have been raised about all those upon whom we trust our lives when we fly.
“What we have seen in this accident are things we have seen before,” says Chairman Hersman. “We have concerns…that have not been addressed. History is repeating itself. These are issues we have seen time and time again and unfortunately it has taken 50 more lives.”
That is why the aviation lawyer I know will continue to bar his wife and children from boarding such planes in bad winter weather, despite the regional airline industry’s assurances and record of safety.