Final Day of Testimony on Plane Crash

Washington, DCOn the final day of testimony in the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing regarding the plane crash near Buffalo that took the lives of 50 people, experts testified that fatigue, combined with an unfamiliar situation, likely led to the flight crew choosing the wrong solution—a solution that ultimately resulted in tragedy.

According to R. Key Dismukes, a researcher with NASA, the key was for the flight crew to monitor several factors at once. However, they apparently did not notice that the plane was slowing to an unsafe speed. When the warning system alerted flight crew to the trouble, the pilot reacted by pulling the nose up when it should have gone down.

"I don't see any evidence that he ever understood the situation he was in," said Dr. Dismukes about the pilot, Captain Marvin D. Renslow. "He knew something was wrong, but I don't see that he ever said, 'wait a minute, I've got to get the nose down.' "

Part of the problem is that it is difficult to tell whether a plane is experiencing a tail stall or a wing stall, which require opposite reactions. However, according to investigators, a better awareness of the airplane's situation might have helped Captain Renslow determine an appropriate course of action.

Fatigue was again discussed as a factor in the accident. Although it was previously reported that Renslow was in Newark days before his flight, it is now being reported that he made it to Newark the night before his flight. Investigators still say they have no evidence he had accommodations and believe he may have stayed at the crew lounge at the airport.

Meanwhile, NTSB Board Member Deborah Hersman said because there was no earlier warning system on the plane, the pilots did not know that they were going too slow—losing a quarter of their airspeed in 21 seconds. "I think this crew went from complacency to catastrophe in 30 seconds. They didn't see it coming," Hersman said, noting that the flight crew seemed "discombobulated."

Following the NTSB hearing into the Colgan Air crash a report will likely be released outlining the factors that caused the plane crash. However, that report could still be months away. Meanwhile, although the testimony given over the past 3 days likely answers some of the questions the victims' families have, it opens up new questions—about pilot training, working and commuting conditions—that still need to be answered to ensure that this sort of tragedy does not happen again.