It was the evening of February 12, 2009: Flight 3407 took off late from Newark airport, around 9:20 p.m. The turboprop, piloted by Marvin Renslow, 47, and co-piloted by Rebecca Shaw, 24, was carrying two flight attendants and 45 passengers. Nearly a year ago, western New York was hit by tragedy with the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence near Buffalo. This week, YNN will revisit the events of that February day, and what has happened to that small community since the crash.
It was the evening of February 12, 2009: Flight 3407 took off late from Newark airport, around 9:20 p.m.
The turboprop, piloted by Marvin Renslow, 47, and co-piloted by Rebecca Shaw, 24, was carrying two flight attendants and 45 passengers.
After being cleared to descend to 11,000 feet, the crew discussed significant ice buildup, and the de-icing systems were activated. At 10:15 p.m., the air traffic controller in Buffalo told co-pilot Shaw to begin her final approach.
According to the transcripts, the pilots deployed landing gear and put the flaps up, but an alarm in the cockpit, called the stick shaker, signified the speed was too slow and there was a risk of stall.
Captain Renslow raised the nose, instead of lowering it, and First Officer Shaw should have kept the flaps down. The plane immediately began to pitch and roll as the aircraft’s stall-protection system activated.
In less than a minute from the time the plane began its final approach, Captain Renslow’s final words on transcript of the cockpit voice recorder told the tragic story: “We’re down.”
Air traffic controller: "… This is ground communication. I need to talk to someone at least five miles northeast, possibly Clarence, that area right there, Akron area, either state police or sheriff's department. I need to find if anything's on the ground. This aircraft was five miles out and all of a sudden we have no response from that aircraft."
At 10:17 p.m., Flight 3407 crashed into a home at 6038 Long Street in Clarence Center, directly under its approach path, five miles from the end of the runway, and with its nose pointed away from the airport.
Air traffic controller: "For all aircraft, this frequency: We have a Dash 8 over the marker that didn't make the airport. He appears about five miles away from the airport."
Witnesses in Clarence reported hearing an explosion and seeing flames as high as 50 feet in the air. All 49 people on-board the plane were killed, as well as Doug Wielinski, 61, who was inside his home at the time the plane crashed into it.
His wife Karen and daughter Jill were able to escape the burning house – the only two survivors of the horrible wreckage.
In the days that followed, the neighborhood around Long Street was closed, even to residents, as investigators begin to search for answers as to why the plane went down.
Early theories ranged from the aircraft’s autopilot system, to ice on the plane’s wings, to pilot error, but it would take nearly a year before investigators would determine conclusively the cause of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on Flight 3407 last Tuesday in Washington, D.C.