NTSB

NTSB

NTSB: Pilots spoke of fears moments before icy crash.



Cockpit voice recorders reveal the pilot and first officer of a doomed commuter flight were making small talk against regulations as they tried to land. It happened in February outside Buffalo, New York, before a crash that killed all aboard. Today, the National Transportation Safety Board released details of its investigation.

When Colgan Air Flight 3407 slammed into a house outside of Buffalo in February, the man at the helm had previously failed five flying competency tests and it seems he may have made the wrong decision when the plane stalled.

All 49 people aboard and one person on the ground were killed when the plane crashed during an ice storm.

Captain Marvin Renslow was flying the plane low, then, a stall warning sounded, and an airplane computer pushed the nose of the plane down to gain speed. Renslow apparently pulled the plane's nose back up -- the wrong thing to do in that situation. Renslow, sources tell ABC News, had never been trained to handle that situation.

Moments before the plane went down, the captain and first officer could also be heard chatting about their careers and their fear of flying in icy weather.

Colgan defends the Captain, saying they did not know about three of Renslow's failed tests when he was hired.and they say he had passed six safety checks in the months prior to the accident.

Relatives of the victims met with New York Senator Chuck Schumer about the investigation.

Original Source : http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/2009/05/12/NTSB-Pilots-spoke-of-fears/1242148666.html