Accident Background
The crash near Buffalo is one of the biggest crashes to have occurred in the United States. The airliner, coming in for a landing, crashed on the outskirts of its destination. More than 50 people are known to have been victims, the vast majority of whom died on the spot. The mechanics of the crash were that the plane abruptly began to lift the nose and then shifted to the left wing. Because of this, the airliner had time to drop enough altitude to render the pilots’ actions useless.
The collision with the ground occurred after the aircraft entered a dive, but the crew did not have enough time to level out or gain altitude. The materials show that the pilots did not complain about problematic situations during the flight. The recorders’ transcripts showed moderate icing during the flight, necessitating switching to manual control mode. Nevertheless, the pilots were operating the plane in auto mode, which is highly unreliable.
However, later investigations showed that icing played a minor role in the crash. The main reason was that the crew had misinterpreted information about the risk of the nose turning upwards. Moreover, it was found that both pilots were inexperienced and performed close to unsatisfactorily on the simulators. Since the only point of view on which most investigators and journalists agreed was the crew’s unprofessional behavior, changes were made at the legislative level to regulate pilot clearances.
Assistance in Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board Committee and the Air Line Pilots Association recommended that crewmembers be examined before each flight for well-being, sleep, and recent simulator performance. Additional documents were also issued indicating how the Federal Aviation Administration should organize policies to prevent errors in personnel certification. The pilot’s deviation from standard operating instructions and the co-pilot’s inability to challenge the action were inconsistent with accepted Crew Resource Management training procedures and guidelines.
Fatigue may have affected pilot performance, but it is impossible to determine the extent of this influence and how it contributed to the poor performance noted during the flight. All pilots, including those who arrived at base, have a personal responsibility to use their rest time properly, use available rest periods, and arrive at work ready to perform their duties. The pilot failed to meet that responsibility by using inappropriate equipment during the last rest before the emergency flight.
Moreover, problems were identified in the performance of alert systems by operators, requiring immediate correction. It is important to note that no further significant legislative action was taken at the federal level to regulate airlines. Thus, the cause of this disaster was a chain of errors by the aircraft’s captain.
Miscalculations in decision-making belong to the group of serious mistakes that could not have arisen by accident and were the consequence of insufficient preparation. That is why it was necessary to draw such extensive conclusions about how the system of pilots’ certification and admittance to current flights should be corrected. The company’s organizational processes have been analyzed and corrected since the incident.