Colgan Air

Result

Background Infor

On August 1, 2010, President Obama signed PL 111-216, The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, into law. The passage of this law marked the culmination of over 15 months of tireless effort by the Families of Continental Flight 3407 and it includes many safety provisions that we are in support of.

Emplyee treatment at Colgan Air

Colgan, a unit of Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines, is a regional carrier operating as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. The Manassas, Va., company carries passengers for major airlines such as Continental, United Airlines and US Airways.

The hearings concentrate on issues such as Capt. Renslow's lack of stall-recovery training, First Officer Shaw's commute and low pay, Colgan's pilot hiring and training practices, and pilot fatigue. A transcript of the cockpit voice record is released; it notes sounds similar to yawns from both pilots and frequent sniffles from First Officer Shaw. "If I call in sick now," she says, "I've got to put myself in a hotel until I feel better." She also talks about having made $15,800 in her first year at Colgan.

Relationship between Continental and Colgan

Regional carriers such as Colgan have become important feeder companies that allow major airlines to serve out-of-the-way destinations. Their relationship has grown increasingly important over the past several years as big airlines sold the seats and little airlines hauled the passengers to their destinations.

History of Colgan Air

Safety Problems began to show

1998 A warning sign about safety problems at Colgan

2003 Colgan flight crashes off Cape Cod

2005 FAA inspector raises safety concerns about Colgan

More safety questions about Colgan

Colgan continues to rapidly grow

2007 Another troublesome safety audit

2008 Problems with the Q400

Whistleblower reports safety infractions

1965 Colgan Airways Corp. founded

1970 Colgan starts flying for IBM

1980s Federal subsidies spur regionals' growth

1989 Presidential Airways files for bankruptcy

protection

1997 Colgan starts flying for Continental Airlines

Continental Flight 3407 crashes outside Buffalo, NY

Feb. 12, 2009

Flight 3407 is scheduled to depart from Newark, N.J., at 7:45 p.m., but is delayed, and ultimately takes off at 9:18 p.m. At 10:16 p.m., the flight crashes in Clarence Center, N.Y., five miles away from the Buffalo Niagara Airport. Fifty people are killed (49 on board, one fatality on ground due to the crash). Conditions on the ground in Buffalo were variable, with mist and light snow, and visibility of less than three miles.

Conclusions on crash

The NTSB finds that pilot errors and insufficient training were key factors contributing to the crash. Specifically, it faults the captain's inappropriate response to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover.

Other contributing factors were the flight crew's failure to monitor airspeed, the flight crew's failure to adhere to sterile cockpit procedures, the captain's failure to effectively manage the flight, and Colgan Air's inadequate procedures for airspeed selection and management during approaches in icing conditions.

Work cited page

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/flyingcheap/etc/croncolgan.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/colgan_airs_parntership_with_c.html

http://www.3407memorial.com/

Colgan Air Assignment

Sherry Cao