Colgan Air Questioned About Pilot Commuting and Pay

Washington, DCIn the second day of the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) hearing into the Buffalo plane crash, Colgan Air, the company that operated the plane involved in the crash, faced questions about pilot fatigue, pay and commuting.

According to The Washington Post, testimony from Mary Finnigan, Colgan's vice president for administration, indicated that Rebecca Shaw, the co-pilot involved in the plane crash, was paid an annual salary of around $16,200 a year—approximately $21 an hour. The NTSB said that while Shaw was working for Colgan Air in Virginia, she held a second job in a coffee shop. Her salary was low enough that, at the time of the plane crash, Shaw was reportedly living with her parents in Seattle—across the country from where she was based.

The night before the airplane crash, Shaw flew from Seattle to Newark, arriving in Newark at 6:30 am the day of the crash. Furthermore, the NTSB says it has no evidence that Shaw had accommodations in Newark, indicating she may have slept in the crew room at Newark—a practice prohibited by Colgan policy. The commute, combined with a lack of rest and the possibility that Shaw was unwell—she reportedly complained about congestion—indicate that fatigue may have played a role in the crash.

Meanwhile, the captain of Continental Connections Flight 3407 also commuted to work. Captain Marvin Renslow lived in Florida but commuted to Newark a few days before the flight. However, the NTSB says it has no record of him having a place to stay while in Newark, either, suggesting that he may have spent up to 3 days sleeping in the crew lounge. The captain likely had a salary of between $50,000 and $53,000 per year, which is typical of captains at Colgan Air, but well below the $125,000 per year captains working for major carriers typically make.

Testimony from Colgan officials acknowledged that the flight crew were not paying close attention to the plane's instruments and failed to follow the Colgan's procedures for responding to the stall. However, further testimony showed that the pilot did not have any hands-on training with the plane's stick pusher.

Details from the hearings indicate that pilot error and fundamental mistakes may have caused the Colgan Air crash. NTSB member Kitty Higgins said during testimony that the pilots' low pay, fatigue and long commutes were "a recipe for an accident."