Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air Flight 3407 (marketed as Continental Connection Flight 3407) was a scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey, US to Buffalo, New York, US on February 12, 2009. Colgan Air staffed and maintained the aircraft used on the flight that was scheduled, marketed and sold by Continental Airlines under its Continental Connection brand. The aircraft, a Bombardier Q400, entered an aerodynamic stall from which it did not recover and crashed into a house at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, New York at 10:17 pm EST (03:17 UTC), killing all 49 passengers and crew on board, as well as one person inside the house.
A Bombardier Q400 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 12, 2009 |
| Summary | Stalled during landing approach |
| Site | Clarence Center, New York 43.0116°N 78.6391°W |
| Total fatalities | 50 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Bombardier Q400 |
| Operator | Colgan Air (operating as Continental Connection) |
| IATA flight No. | 9L3407 |
| ICAO flight No. | CJC3407 |
| Call sign | COLGAN 3407 |
| Registration | N200WQ |
| Flight origin | Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, New Jersey |
| Destination | Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, New York |
| Occupants | 49 |
| Passengers | 45 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 49 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 1 |
| Ground injuries | 4 |
The National Transportation Safety Board conducted the accident investigation and published a final report on February 2, 2010 that identified the probable cause as the pilots' inappropriate response to stall warnings.
Captain Marvin Renslow, 47, of Lutz, Florida was the pilot in command, and Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, of Maple Valley, Washington served as the first officer.
Families of the accident victims lobbied the U.S. Congress to enact more stringent regulations for regional carriers and to improve the scrutiny of safe operating procedures and the working conditions of pilots. The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administrative Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–216) required some of these regulation changes.
At that time of the crash, it was the deadliest aviation disaster involving the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 until the crash of US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 in 2018.