Reactions to the Buffalo crash
Our condolences go out to the families of the 50 victims of the Q400 crash near Buffalo on Thursday night.
Naturally, people who live near the Island Airport are concerned. Porter Airlines flies the Q400. CommunityAIR has often pointed out the safety problems with this airport. The runways and safety zones at the end of the runways are very short, there are a number of safety hazards close by, a high density community is in close proximity and the Q400 is a very large aircraft.
The Buffalo crash had nothing to do with safety problems at the airport. According to news accounts early indications point to ice build up on the aircraft as the cause. Apparently even a small amount of ice build up changes the configuration of the wings and makes the aircraft difficult to control. There are ways to counteract this problem, but we will have to wait for the results of the investigation to see if the cause of the crash was pilot error, the inexperience of the pilot or faults with the aircraft.
It is vital is to find out what happened in the Buffalo crash and make sure that it does not happen again, but in the meantime people living close to the Island Airport are going to feel especially nervous. This is one reaction that we received.
Bill Freeman
I live near the island airport and read the front page of the Globe today.
Oh,oh, a plane crashes into a house near Buffalo.. Was it the heavy fog on the lake this week?
Maybe it was a private plane, with a cowboy pilot. No, a commercial flight, and 48 are feared dead. Prayers are with the families. Oh, no.
Probably it was an old Dash 7. Check page 2. No. It was a Q- 400. They are new and really big, what Porter flies, across from me.
Witnesses said it was boom, like thunder. It was like a movie. The house looked leveled, with flames 50 -100 feet in the air.
Think of that. It scares me.
B. Roman
Naturally, people who live near the Island Airport are concerned. Porter Airlines flies the Q400. CommunityAIR has often pointed out the safety problems with this airport. The runways and safety zones at the end of the runways are very short, there are a number of safety hazards close by, a high density community is in close proximity and the Q400 is a very large aircraft.
The Buffalo crash had nothing to do with safety problems at the airport. According to news accounts early indications point to ice build up on the aircraft as the cause. Apparently even a small amount of ice build up changes the configuration of the wings and makes the aircraft difficult to control. There are ways to counteract this problem, but we will have to wait for the results of the investigation to see if the cause of the crash was pilot error, the inexperience of the pilot or faults with the aircraft.
It is vital is to find out what happened in the Buffalo crash and make sure that it does not happen again, but in the meantime people living close to the Island Airport are going to feel especially nervous. This is one reaction that we received.
Bill Freeman
I live near the island airport and read the front page of the Globe today.
Oh,oh, a plane crashes into a house near Buffalo.. Was it the heavy fog on the lake this week?
Maybe it was a private plane, with a cowboy pilot. No, a commercial flight, and 48 are feared dead. Prayers are with the families. Oh, no.
Probably it was an old Dash 7. Check page 2. No. It was a Q- 400. They are new and really big, what Porter flies, across from me.
Witnesses said it was boom, like thunder. It was like a movie. The house looked leveled, with flames 50 -100 feet in the air.
Think of that. It scares me.
B. Roman
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