Commuter Plane Crash Claims 50 Victims

By Danielle Briones

Published on February 16, 2009

A commuter plane crashed into a home in the suburbs of Buffalo Thursday night, killing all 49 passengers and crew members on-board, as well as one person on the ground.

Continental Flight 3407 was approaching the Buffalo airport when the aircraft began experiencing problems. According to black box recordings, the pilots had 26 seconds from the time they realized there were problems and the time the plane went down.

Flight data shows that the plane began to rock violently, then fell from 1,800 feet to 1,000 feet in just five seconds, before crashing on its belly into a home in Clarence Center, New York.

Federal investigators are looking into how ice on the wings of the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 might have affected the pilots' ability to control the plane.

Investigators are also examining the actions of the pilots. The plane was operating on auto pilot until just before it went down, indicating the pilots may have violated National Transportation Safety Board recommendations, as well as the Continental's own policy for flying in such conditions.

Comment on this article →