NTSB Team Investigating Airliner Crash Near Buffalo

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a Go Team to investigate the crash of a turboprop airliner last night near Buffalo, NY.

At about 10:15 p.m. (EST) Thursday, Feb. 12, a Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 twin-engine turboprop airplane, registration N200WQ, operated by Colgan Air Inc., as Continental Express flight 3407 from Newark, NJ, crashed into a house during an instrument approach to Buffalo International Airport. It appears all aboard the aircraft lost their lives and there is a report of at least one ground fatality.

NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Lorenda Ward will serve as Investigator-in-Charge of the team comprising approximately a dozen NTSB investigators. NTSB Member Steven Chealander is accompanying the team and will serve as principal spokesman for the on-scene investigation. Keith Holloway is the press officer joining the team. Once on scene, Holloway can be reached by cell phone at (202) 557-1350.

The Federal Aviation Administration, Colgan Air, and the Air Line Pilots Association will be parties to the NTSB's investigation. The aircraft and engines were manufactured in Canada, and the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has appointed an Accredited Representative who will arrive on scene today along with technical advisors from TSB, Bombardier Aerospace, and Pratt & Whitney Canada.

An NTSB briefing will be held at 4 p.m. (EST) at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara, 1340 Millerport Highway, Amherst, NY, in ballroom 5 on the first floor.