New York, NY–The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) www.ntsb.gov will hold public hearings about the cause of Continental Airlines commuter plane crash in upstate New York on February 12, 2009. Aviation accident experts suggest the professionalism of the pilots will be questioned at the NTSB hearings scheduled for next week as reported by USA Today. Many questions surrounding the Buffalo plane crash, which killed all 49 people on board and one person on the ground, have surfaced. Information about the cockpit voice recorders expect to reveal the pilot and copilot were having lengthy, non-flying related, conversations. This is a violation of federal aviation safety guidelines and standards under the “sterile cockpit” rule.
The NTSB will also examine the pilots training history with flying a Bombardier Q400 turboprop. The aircraft has a stall warning and protection system, which requires pilots to have specific education about these types of emergency features. The Continental Airlines plane took off from Newark en route to Buffalo when it crashed in a residential neighborhood. Colgan Air, based in Manassas, operated the flight which links to Continental. Federal aviation accident investigators claim the plane crash is the deadliest transportation accident in the United States in the past seven years.
News by New York personal injury attorney Jonathan C. Reiter an aviation accident lawyer. Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2811, New York, NY 10118. Telephone (212) 736-0979. www.jcreiterlaw.com
