Safety
Colgan Air Flight 3407: How a Single Crash Sparked Unprecedented Reform
Multiple laws came into place after the crash
Continental Connection Bombarder Q400
A Continental Connection Bombarder Q400 operated by Colgan Air similar to this one was involved in the fatal 2009 crash. © Rudi Riet, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

On Feb. 12, 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprop aircraft, crashed about 5 nm from the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport in Buffalo, New York. Impact forces and a post-crash fire destroyed the aircraft, killing all 45 passengers, two pilots, two flight attendants, and one person on the ground.

The crash sequence began as the flight crew was slowing and configuring the aircraft for the approach before landing. Both pilots overlooked low airspeed cues and indications on the primary flight displays. As the airspeed continued to decay, the captain improperly responded to an impending aerodynamic stall by overriding the stick shaker, pulling aft on the control column, which led to a complete loss of control of the aircraft.