Pilots Shared Fear Of Icy Weather In Last Moments

JOAN LOWY

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just seconds before the worst U.S. air crash in more than seven years, the pilot exclaimed "Jesus Christ" and moments later his first officer screamed as Continental Connection Flight 3407 plunged to the ground.

A cockpit voice recorder transcript released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board shows that only minutes before the Feb. 12 crash on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Captain Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Shaw chatted about her career and shared their fear of flying in icy weather.

Moments later the Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier, a twin-engine turboprop, experienced an aerodynamic stall and plunged into a house, killing all 49 people aboard and one man on the ground.

The transcript was released as the safety board opened a three-day public hearing Tuesday into the accident. The board was expected to focus heavily on pilot training and fatigue.

As the Dash-8 approached Buffalo on a wintry night, Shaw and Renslow first remarked to each other — less than seven minutes before the crash — about how much ice had formed on their wings. At the time they were descending from 6,000 to 4.000 feet.