Flight 3407 Memorial

 memorial, crash site, aircraft crash site

At 10:16PM on February 12th, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed at this location after suffering a crew-induced loss of control following a progressive stall of the aircraft. All 49 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft at the time of the accident were killed in the crash, as was an occupant of the home into which the plane crashed. Two other occupants of the home received burn injuries and two responding firefighters were injured while fighting the large fire which resulted from the crash.

Operating under a codeshare agreement with Continental Airlines, the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 operated by Colgan Air departed Newark Liberty International Airport at 9:20PM and made routine flight across New York State. As the aircraft entered its final approach to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport shortly after 10:00PM and was cleared for its ILS (Instrument Landing System) landing on runway 23, the aircraft began to slow as it neared the KLUMP IFR intersection and lined up for landing. With ten degrees of flaps and its landing gear down, the aircraft continued to fly on autopilot and slow past 135 knots, which activated the stick-shaker device warning the crew that the Q400 was in danger of stalling. Disengaging the autopilot with the aircraft moving at a dangerous 130knots, the Captain elected to pull the nose of the aircraft up rather than down, which further exacerbated the aircraft’s loss of speed and worsened its stall. Countermanding the automatic stick pusher, the Captain continued to pull the aircraft’s nose up until the Q400 entered a full stall and began to roll to the left at a 46-degree angle. Finally pushing the nose down to a 45-degree angle, the flight crew attempted to regain control of the aircraft, but as airflow increased over the wings the Q400 made a snap roll of 105-degrees to the right and plummeted nose-first into the private home located at 6038 Long Street.

The NTSB investigation of the Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash concluded that the fault for the disaster laid primarily with the flight crew, who responded improperly and against standard training practices when the aircraft began to enter its fatal stall. The NTSB also found that flight crew fatigue and improper certification processes at Colgan Air played significant parts in the disaster as well.

Today, the crash site has been cleared of the two damaged houses and is now the site of the Flight 3407 Memorial.

www.3407memorial.com


www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPoqhEHKNQk

NTSB Report:
www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2010/aar1001.pdf

Google Streetview of crash site:
g.co/maps/r83wq

NY Times Articles:
www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/02/13/nyregion/0213cras...
www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/02/13/nyregion/20090213-...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/02/13/nyregion/Buffalo...