The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will hold a three-day public hearing next week on the February crash of the Colgan Air Dash-8 near Buffalo, New York. The hearing will begin on May 12, 2009 in Washington, D.C. There will be a live webcast of the hearing (details below).Readers will recall that the accident occurred on the night of February 12, 2009, when a Colgan Air Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 (registration N200WQ), operating as Continental Connection flight 3407, crashed during an instrument approach to the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport (BUF), Buffalo, New York. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and post-crash fire. The accident killed all 49 people on board, and one person on the ground.
The NTSB has announced that a public docket will be opened at the start of the hearing. The public may view and download the docket contents on the web under the "FOIA Reading Room" at http://www.ntsb.gov/Info/foia_fri-dockets.htm at that time.
From the NTSB Advisory announcing the hearing:
The information being released is factual in nature and does not provide analysis or the probable cause of the accident.An agenda is posted on the Board's website, http://www.ntsb.gov/events/2009/Buffalo-NY/Default.html.
The docket will include investigative group factual reports, interview transcripts, Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts, Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data and other documents from the investigation.
In addition, docket items that will be used as exhibits during the public hearing will be available on the website under "Public Hearings".
The hearing, which is part of the Safety Board's efforts to develop all appropriate facts for the investigation, will cover a wide range of safety issues including:
- Icing effect on the airplane's performance
- Cold weather operations
- Sterile cockpit rules
- Crew experience, fatigue management
- Stall recovery training
The hearing will convene at 9:00 a.m. on May 12, 2009 at the NTSB's Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.
A live webcast of the proceedings will be available on the Board's website at www.ntsb.gov.
For directions to the Conference Center location, or for more information about the webcast, see the NTSB Advisory about the hearing.
RELATED: Click here to view all posts about Colgan Air Flt 3407 on Aircrew Buzz.
