Continental Connection Flight CJC3407 (operated by Colgan Air) bound from Newark-Liberty International Airport, NJ (KEWR) to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, NY (KBUF) crashed in a residential area of Buffalo, NY (US) while on approach to runway 23. The de Havilland Canada DHC-8-402 Q400 (N200WQ) struck a house, starting a huge fire. All 49 people on board and 1 person on the ground have been killed.
Weather at time of the crash was “Wind 240 degrees at 15 kts, gusting to 22kts; light snow, mist with a visibility of 3 miles; few clouds 1,100 ft.; broken clouds 2,100 ft.; overcast 2,700 ft. Temperature 0.6°C, Dewpoint -0.6°C”
Other pilots reported ice-formation during approach.
* Full ATC radio at LiveATC.net: [ Download MP3 ] *
Video by AP
The night of the crash I drove from Buffalo, NY to Utica, NY. The weather was horrible around the airport through Batavia and all the way to Rochester, NY — heavy wet snow and rain. The roads were not frozen.
I think Bombardier has a problem. The de icing system combined with aero design flaws might reveal that the Q400 needs an overhaul. BBD is a sick company. Mark my words.
What impact would what appears to be a very short wing cord and tail plane cord have on tail plane stall in icing conditions? Does wing design for the absolute best aerodynamic effeciency and fuel economy increase the resk of tail plane stall in icing conditions? Food for thought.
Manufacturer of the Dash 400 de-icing systems:
http://www.aerosafety.zodiac.com/?p=elastomer_division_deicing
Interesting publication about icing:
http://www.dgac.fr/html/actu_gd/secu3/givrage/pdf/DGAC_Icing_flight_manual.pdf
A DHC-8-100 has had serious icing problems in 2005, but de-icing was not engaged:
http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/aviation/2005/a05a0059/a05a0059.pdf
Icing event-130 km north-west Brisbane, Qld 10 February 2005 VH-SBI de Havilland Canada DHC-8-315:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2005/AAIR/pdf/aair200500860_001.pdf
DHC-8-311, G-JEDD, engines fail after snow ingestion:
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/dft_avsafety_pdf_500970.pdf
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/DHC-8-311, G-JEDD Corrigendum 2-02.pdf
This airline traveler will never, ever fly on a Q400 or a “Q400/Q400 NextGen”, ever. I concur with Swissair above. I add, in my own knowledge thus far, Bombardier aircraft are not only unsafe, but it has demonstrated a degree of wrecklessness this writer finds unconscionable!
The profits from these Q-400 and regional aircraft are so enormous and these turboprops have been bought and deployed to so many airlines because they save airlines money (i.e. US Airways), air travel for most of us whether to a close destination or to Florida from Philly has become impossibly unsafe.
There have recently bee expressed major safety concerns associated with software debugging of the Q400 and other aircraft. Cost cutting from decades of mergers/acquisitions, the emergence of hedge funds and private equity wealth accumulation have squeezed and scoured the last possible worth of what was once the safest and best airline system in the world and the subject of great envy. This previously well run and safe form of transporation, just like our food supply, etc.are rotting…we have today arrived at the day of reckoning. All of the unnecessary lives lost and ruined in the name of profits for the few… Disgusting, n’es pas?
I bid a final farewell to what had been the finest and best aviation system in the world when it was truly a privilege to fly. The ‘spectacle of corruption’ has destroyed all that was once good.
God help us all.