Commuter and Regional Airline Safety Found Lacking

Virginia (VA) Mass Transit Accident Injury Lawyers
Offices in VA Beach, Hampton & Elizabeth City, NC

Mass Transit (Airline, Train, Bus)

2/5/2010
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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Commuter and Regional Airline Safety Found Lacking

A week before the one-year anniversary of the Feb. 12, 2009, deadly commuter plane crash near Buffalo, New York (NY), the National Transportation Safety Board issued its conclusion that pilot error caused the Colgan Air accident that killed 50 people. The plane was flying as Continental Connection Flight 3407 and was seconds from touching down following the 45-minute trip from Newark International Airport.

Colgan Air Continental Connection plane crash

Colgan Air Continental Connection plane crash

The NTSB noted in a press release that its investigators determined the accident occurred specifically because "the captain of Colgan Air flight 3407 inappropriately responded to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover." An automatic warning mechanism that engages when a plane is about to lose engine power in midair, a shaking stick signals a pilot to push forward on the main control. The pilot pulled back.

A fuller report posted to the NTSB Web site cites Flight 3407's pilot and co-pilot's lack of attention to the plane's instrument panel, lack of experience and physical impairments as factors that contributed to the crash. Translated, the investigation turned up evidence that the pilot and co-pilot had only a few hundreds hours of combined flight time, they had gotten little sleep in the days leading up to the accident, they were chatting rather than monitoring the plane's performance, and, it appears, the co-pilot was ill and had been using her cell phone to send text messages from the cockpit.

The NTSB reconstruction of the final minutes of Flight 3407 looks like this:

Fatigued, distracted and inexperienced pilots put airline passengers at great risk. Few people walk away from commercial plane crashes, and crashes due to pilot errors account for fully half of all fatal commercial airline accidents since 1950.

To the extent that the problems identified by the NTSB are unique to Colgan, those problems are of special concern to people in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and the other cities of Hampton Roads, Virginia (VA) because Colgan Air planes and crews operate out of Norfolk International Airport--ORF in Federal Avition Administration code. Colgan flies U.S. Airways Express, United Express and Continental Connection routes to and from Newark and La Guardia.

Recognizing that all commuter and regional airlines can have issues similar to those that led to the Flight 3407 tragedy, the FAA will soon issue new regulations aimed at ensuring pilots rest adequately between in-air shifts and improving pre- and post-licensing training. Colgan Air has already reexamined and updated its pilot training programs. Both announcements are good news. I hope the changes have the intended effect of keeping commuter and regional plane travel as safe as possible.

EJL

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Viriginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have experience handling cases for victims of mass transit accidents such as airplane, train and bus crashes. In fact, our law firm published a free consumer safety guide on what to do if you are hurt in a plane wreck.

We have offices in Virginia Beach and Hampton, Virginia but we're ready to come to you anywhere in VA including Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Newport News and Norfolk, VA, if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010, an honor fewer than 5 percent of lawyers receive.

Shapiro and Lewis have also been selected for inclusion in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. In addition, ours was the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our VA mass transit injury law firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill.

While not every injury case meets our criteria, we offer free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll free at (800) 752-0042. If you cannot get through due to high call volume, please leave a voicemail so we can respond directly to you.

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Commuter and Regional Airline Safety Found Lacking

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