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Pilots' Last Words Revealed Before Crash

JOAN LOWY
,
AP
posted: 8 HOURS 30 MINUTES AGO
comments: 705
filed under: National News, Plane Accidents
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WASHINGTON (May 12) — Just seconds before the worst U.S. air crash in more than seven years, the pilot exclaimed "Jesus Christ" and moments later his first officer screamed as Flight 3407 plunged to the ground.
A cockpit voice recorder transcript released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board shows that only minutes before the Feb. 12 crash on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Captain Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw chatted about her career and shared their fear of flying in icy weather.
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Moments later the Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier, a twin-engine turboprop, experienced an aerodynamic stall and plunged into a house, killing all 49 people aboard and one man on the ground.
The transcript was released as the safety board opened a three-day public hearing Tuesday into the accident. The board was expected to focus heavily on pilot training and fatigue.
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As the Dash-8 approached Buffalo on a wintry night, Shaw and Renslow first remarked to each other — less than seven minutes before the crash — about how much ice had formed on their wings. At the time they were descending from 6,000 to 4,000 feet.
"It's lots of ice," Shaw said.
"Oh yeah that's the most I've seen, most ice I've seen on the leading edges in a long time, in a while anyway I should say," Renslow replied.
Renslow then remarked that he'd flown about 625 hours in the region before he was hired for this job by Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air.
Shaw replied, "I really wouldn't mind going through a a winter in the Northeast before I have to upgrade to captain. ... I've never seen icing conditions. I've never deiced. I've never seen any. I've never experienced any of that. I don't want to have to experience that and make those kinds of calls. You know I'd have freaked out. I'd have like seen this much ice and thought, 'Oh my gosh, we were going to crash.' "
"I would've been fine," Renslow replied. "I would have survived it. There wasn't, we never had to make decisions that I wouldn't have been able to make but ... now I'm more comfortable."
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The crew then lowers the landing gear and adjusts the flaps, but at 10:16.26 p.m. there's a sound similar to movement of the flap handle and Shaw says, "Uhhh."
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Less than a second later, there are sounds similar to the stick shaker — a warning transmitted through the control stick that the aircraft is nearing a stall. These last for 6.7 seconds. Less than a second later, a horn sounds signaling the autopilot disconnecting and that horn continues until the end of the recording.
Three seconds later, there's a click followed by the sound of increased engine power.
At 10:16.34.8, Renslow says, "Jesus Christ."
Shaw says she put the flaps up and asks if she should put the landing gear up. Renslow replies: "Gear up, oh (expletive)."
As noise in the cockpit increases, Renslow adds: "We're down."
There's a thump.
Shaw: "We (sound of scream)."
With that entry at 10:16.52, the transcript ends.
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The board also released documents showing that safety investigators were told by one training instructor that Renslow "was slow learning" the Dash 8 at the start but his abilities "picked up at the end." The training instructor said Renslow struggled to learn the Dash 8's flight management system, a critical computer, and had difficulty learning switch positions which were opposite from the throws he had been used to on another aircraft. This instructor described the captain's decision-making abilities as very good.
A check airman who flew with the captain in December said he flew very well and had good skills, and while he was still learning the flight management system, it was a normal progression.
Colgan Air acknowledged Monday that Renslow's training for the Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier didn't include a demonstration or simulation of the stick-pusher system. It noted that the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't require a simulator demonstration of the stick-pusher and added that Renslow "had all the training and experience required to safely operate the Q400."
A stick-pusher automatically kicks in when a plane is going into a stall, pointing the aircraft's nose down so it can pick up enough speed to allow the pilot to guide it to a recovery.
However, Renslow pulled back on the plane's control column, apparently trying to bring the aircraft out of the dive by raising the nose up. Pushing forward to gain speed is the proper procedure if the aircraft is in a stall caused by a disruption of airflow over the wings. But in a less common tail stall, pulling back would be the appropriate response.
The activation of a stick pusher can be a jarring experience for any pilot, especially if the pilot has never experienced it before, said William Waldock, an aviation science professor at Embry-Riddle University in Prescott, Ariz. The natural response is to pull back unless you've been trained through repetition to push forward, he said.
Flight 3407 experienced an aerodynamic stall after the control column was pulled back. The plane repeatedly rolled left, and then right and then plunged from the sky, landing on a house about five miles from the airport.
The NTSB recommended two years ago that the FAA study whether pilot training on stick-pushers should be improved. It appears the agency didn't change its guidance on stick-pusher training when it revised its training manual last fall on how to recover from a stall, sources said. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the agency places its emphasis on teaching pilots on how to avoid getting into a situation where a stall occurs, rather than how to recover from one.
Associated Press Writers Michael J. Sniffen in Washington, Ben Dobbin in Rochester and Rik Stevens in Albany contributed to this story.
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-05-12 09:06:43
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Black2Deep

10:16 PMMay 13 2009

CAT9WA 10:02 PMMay 13 2009 Black2Deep 09:57 PMMay 13 2009 CAT9WA 09:48 PMMay 13 2009 Black2Deep ....I went and had a nice dinner, came back and you are here..? ---------------------------So it appears its a devided attention between this and NCIS.****** Dude, Pilots must be able to spell to get a license.The word is divided.? -----------------------It also helps if you have reading comprehension skills. I am not a pilot. I was a Flight Mechanic and later I was a Flight Engineer. I flew T-43's. C-141A and Bs. C-9A's. So now that we have all checked each others skills, what do you think of the accident?

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CAT9WA

10:15 PMMay 13 2009

Black2Deep 10:10 PMMay 13 2009 CAT9WA paymyownway 09:53 PMMay 13 2009 CAT 9 W A............................I didn't go out, but we had a very nice homeade dinner here. I wish black2deep would change his screen name to say flyer guy or something. The screename insinuates black,. sex, ....******* Yeah. I am not sure if he has ever soloed, much less a pilot. I make my living 3 feet off of the ground..?=================No I never soloed. As I have said, (Numerous times now) I am not a pilot. I spent 22 years in the airforce as a flight mechanic then as a flight engineer. And yes I have had more than a few "Oh Shit!" Moments. From Hung gears, to flying into a hail storms.********Hence, You are not a pilot so leave the forum azz wipe!!!!

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Black2Deep

10:10 PMMay 13 2009

CAT9WA paymyownway 09:53 PMMay 13 2009 CAT 9 W A............................I didn't go out, but we had a very nice homeade dinner here. I wish black2deep would change his screen name to say flyer guy or something. The screename insinuates black,. sex, ....******* Yeah. I am not sure if he has ever soloed, much less a pilot. I make my living 3 feet off of the ground..?=================No I never soloed. As I have said, (Numerous times now) I am not a pilot. I spent 22 years in the airforce as a flight mechanic then as a flight engineer. And yes I have had more than a few "Oh Shit!" Moments. From Hung gears, to flying into a hail storms.

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CAT9WA

10:08 PMMay 13 2009

Black2Deep ***** Be honest, you are nothing boy..! You couldn't fly a freakin kite...!

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Sithette1

10:05 PMMay 13 2009

Hmmm... I thought of a black hole (as in astronomy) when I read the userid BLACK2DEEP...

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Black2Deep

10:04 PMMay 13 2009

paymyownway 09:53 PMMay 13 2009 CAT 9 W A............................I didn't go out, but we had a very nice homeade dinner here. I wish black2deep would change his screen name to say flyer guy or something. The screename insinuates black,. sex, ========== Some people see checkers others see chess.

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(1)

CAT9WA

10:02 PMMay 13 2009

Black2Deep 09:57 PMMay 13 2009 CAT9WA 09:48 PMMay 13 2009 Black2Deep ....I went and had a nice dinner, came back and you are here..? ---------------------------So it appears its a devided attention between this and NCIS.****** Dude, Pilots must be able to spell to get a license.The word is divided...?

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(3)

CAT9WA

09:58 PMMay 13 2009

paymyownway 09:53 PMMay 13 2009 CAT 9 W A............................I didn't go out, but we had a very nice homeade dinner here. I wish black2deep would change his screen name to say flyer guy or something. The screename insinuates black,. sex, ....******* Yeah. I am not sure if he has ever soloed, much less a pilot. I make my living 3 feet off of the ground..?

AVG RATING:
(1)

Black2Deep

09:57 PMMay 13 2009

CAT9WA 09:48 PMMay 13 2009 Black2Deep ....I went and had a nice dinner, came back and you are here..? ---------------------------So it appears its a devided attention between this and NCIS.

AVG RATING:
(0)

Millhilgert

09:56 PMMay 13 2009

I am appalled that the media has chosen to publish these transcripts. Yes, I do know they are public, but as a pilots wife I am truly mortified. This was a tragic accident, publishing this is insensitive to the families and loved ones.

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