Crash probe to review crew's training, actions

CLARENCE, N.Y. - The man at the helm of a turboprop plane that pitched like a kite before crashing into a house last week had spent only 110 hours flying that model, and investigators said yesterday that they would look into the quality and quantity of his training.

So far, investigators say, it appears that the pilot of Continental Connection Flight 3407 did nothing wrong before Thursday night's violent plunge to the ground in icy weather. Experts pointed out yesterday that the pilot, Capt. Marvin Renslow, 47, from a suburb of Tampa, Fla., had flown thousands of hours in a similar plane, which would have prepared him for such conditions.

The actions and even the lives of Renslow and the first officer, Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, of Seattle, are under close scrutiny as the National Transportation Safety Board tries to piece together how a routine flight went fatally wrong in its last 26 seconds.

The NTSB will look into the training they received, how they performed, how many hours they had flown in the seven days before the crash, how much rest they had, and what they did in the 72 hours before the accident, including any possible intake of alcohol or drugs, board member Steve Chealander said.

Another NTSB investigator will focus on any role the wintry weather had. Other investigators stayed in Buffalo to interview pilots who had recently flown with Renslow and Shaw; many fly regularly into the area.

The NTSB was preparing for a yearlong study of everything related to the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 and its cockpit crew.

The plane was about six miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport and on autopilot when it lost its ability to fly, pitching sharply up and down and side to side before smashing into a home and bursting into flames, killing all 49 people aboard and a man in the house.

All but 20 percent of the plane had been removed from the site by yesterday, NTSB chief investigator Lorenda Ward said. Crews finished gathering human remains yesterday afternoon, said Dr. Scott Zimmerman of the Erie County Health Department.

No evidence of a malfunction of the plane has emerged, Ward said.

The Colgan Air crew took a cautious approach to the flight, engaging deicing equipment 11 minutes after the flight left Newark, N.J., and leaving it on until the plane crashed, Chealeander said.

Renslow had begun flying the Dash 8 in December, accumulating 110 hours since then; Shaw had 774 hours in the plane model. Pilots must train rigorously every time they switch plane types, Chealander stressed, and the relative lack of hours would not be considered significant.

Colgan Air, based in Manassas, Va., did not return a call yesterday seeking comment on training procedures.