NTSB: Crew reported ice buildup before crash

50 people killed when plane plunges into home in upstate New York


CLARENCE, N.Y. - The crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407 discussed a "significant" buildup of ice on the windshield and wings shortly before the commuter plane plunged out of the night sky and nose-dived into a suburban Buffalo house, federal investigators said Friday.

All 49 people on board and one person on the ground were killed in the first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the U.S. in 2 1/2 years.

Stephen Chealander, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the cockpit conversations indicated the crew reported poor visibility at 16,000 feet and requested permission from air-traffic controllers to descend.

They said there was "significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and wings,” Chealander said at a news conference, citing information captured from the "black box" flight data and cockpit voice recorders that were recovered.

Shortly thereafter, the plane went into a series of severe pitches and rolls, Chealander said.

He said the cause of the disaster was under investigation. Other pilots were overheard around the same time Thursday night complaining of ice building up on their planes' wings — a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.

The twin-turboprop aircraft from Newark, N.J., was coming in for a landing when it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Witnesses heard the plane sputtering before it plunged squarely through the roof of a house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.

So near..yet so far.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29173163/?GT1=43001