Continental Connection Flgt 3407

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/577959.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,492366,00.html

Just heart wrenching. And not that the other souls onboard were any less important, but one of the passengers was a widow of someone killed 9/11 going to Buffalo to celebrate her dead husbands birthday. Yikes.

Early supposition is ice buildup as the aircraft descended towards the airport. Eyewitnesses also reported the engines making sputtering sounds.

The aircraft was about 5 miles out and 2300' which puts it over the outer marker. They would have been fully configured by that point. I suppose a stall if their angle of attack was increased due to ice accumulation is also a possibility.

Regardless of reasons, my heart goes out to those effected by this.

Having landed there several times, I know that flight path well. The flight crashed in a nice suburban neighborhood amazingly only striking one house.

I have been monitoring the names of those who died and although I have yet to recognize one, my heart has been heavy all day with thought for my former hometown.

As this is a board comprised of mostly sports fan, here is a sports link to the crash. Many of the Buffalo Sabres live near the crash sight.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/578662.html

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Updated: 02/13/09 03:52 PM
Sabres players, Ruff shaken by tragedy
By Mike Harrington


Among the eyewitnesses to the crash of Continental Flight 3407 were several members of the Buffalo Sabres, who reported for their morning skate today in HSBC Arena still shaken by what they saw and heard Thursday night in their suburban neighborhood.

The Sabres meet the San Jose Sharks, the top team in the National Hockey League, tonight at 7:30 and the game will be played as scheduled. Several members of the team live in Clarence Center and the nearby Spaulding Lake subdivision in Clarence.

"I heard the plane coming," defenseman Teppo Numminen said. "I was in my bed and I heard it and thought it sounded really weird, really close to us. Then I heard a little poof afterwards and I was thinking, "That doesn't sound good, doesn't sound right.' So I looked out of my window and I saw the red sky and I knew something was wrong."

"I heard the fire trucks and amublances coming and I remembered that it was pretty bad weather when I was driving home for dinner," added defenseman Jaroslav Spacek. "I thought maybe it was some car accident or something happened but I turned the news on and I saw the plane crash and I was like, "Wow.' I looked at the window and saw the flames. It was scary.

"You saw the smoke and they were talking about a small plane and then you hear 50-80 people might be on it and you're thinking, "Wow, that's not a small plane at all.'‚" Spacek and defenseman Toni Lydman both said they got frantic text messages from relatives in the Czech Republic and Finland to make sure they were OK.

"My wife's sister was texting us," Lydman said. "She's been to our place, so she knows how small Clarence Center actually is. They were worried. It was really too close, you know."

"We talked to each other in the neighborhood to make sure everybody was OK," Spacek said. "It's a big tragedy for everybody. You think about how big the country is and something happens like that 800 yards from your home. You've got to think about it. Everything stops. It's not about hockey. It's about the lives and about the people here in Buffalo first."

Backup goaltender Patrick Lalime said his brother-in-law was visiting his home less than a mile from the scene and saw the plane on its descent.

"He just ran inside and he was scared because it was coming down," Lalime said. "We thought something would happen and a couple seconds later we saw a big ball of fire not even a mile down the road. .‚.‚. As we went back outside we saw fire everywhere and we called 911 to make sure. They already knew what happened."

Speaking in a voice choked with emotion, a red-eyed coach Lindy Ruff said he addressed the team before its morning workout about keeping the game in perspective.

"It's an incredibly sad day for our city and we've talked about it that this is going to reach and touch a lot of people," said Ruff, who lives a couple of miles from the site in Clarence. "You've got to get through it. It's an area where a lot of us live. Everybody is going to know somebody that's touched by this. It's a tough day for Buffalo. First and foremost, it's all about the families of the people that were lost and all our feelings go out to them first. When it comes to something like this, it's a tremendous tragedy."

Ruff did not hear the plane but said he heard the sirens of first responders racing to the scene.

"I heard the sirens and watched [TV] till 1:30 in the morning," Ruff said. "It was incredible, surreal at times. You think maybe it's just something small [and then] ending up as big as it was. This is bigger than sports, it's a lot bigger. [Tonight's game] is way on the back burner right now. I know we have to play a game but something this big touches way too many people."

Several players said they had to address the situation with their children because all of the schools in the Clarence area were closed today.

"You're thinking about a lot of the guys. They live in that area where it happened and they were very, very close to it," said captain Craig Rivet, who lives in Clarence but was not aware of the incident until he awoke this morning. "You just don't know what to say or think. It's just very tragic. There's a lot of people right now that are shaken up. It's something you never really think will happen to you or to your community."

"It's like a bad dream," Lalime said. "You see all the cops still there. The street is still shut down. You just have a lot of thoughts for the families."

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And for any of you smooth jazz fans, apparently a couple members of Chuck Mangione's band were on that flight as well. He was scheduled to give a concert in Buffalo.

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Originally Posted by OldRightHander

And for any of you smooth jazz fans, apparently a couple members of Chuck Mangione's band were on that flight as well. He was scheduled to give a concert in Buffalo.

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Yep. From the Buffalo News:

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Rochester native Gerry Niewood, 64, and jazz guitarist Coleman Mellett, 34, of East Brunswick, N.J., both musicians with the Chuck Mangione Band, were scheduled to perform tonight at Kleinhans Music Hall. Niewood played saxophone and flute. He played frequently at the original Tralfamador Cafe in the 1970s, and returned frequently to play Buffalo venues.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123450692271581811.html

Things went sideways when they dropped the flaps and gear. Perhaps the buildup of ice combined with the increased drag caused them to stall as they were slowing for the outer-marker. At that height and speed recovery would be difficult.

It's very sobering that life is so fragile.

The family whose house was hit by the plane lived in Loveland for years. I used to teach their chidren. Great family! I am sorry for the loss of the their husband and father.

Jeez, I had played with Gerry Niewood - personalizing it makes it more real. I hope to hear more about who was onboard.

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Originally Posted by Ltlabner

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/577959.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,492366,00.html

Just heart wrenching. And not that the other souls onboard were any less important, but one of the passengers was a widow of someone killed 9/11 going to Buffalo to celebrate her dead husbands birthday. Yikes.

Early supposition is ice buildup as the aircraft descended towards the airport. Eyewitnesses also reported the engines making sputtering sounds.

The aircraft was about 5 miles out and 2300' which puts it over the outer marker. They would have been fully configured by that point. I suppose a stall if their angle of attack was increased due to ice accumulation is also a possibility.

Regardless of reasons, my heart goes out to those effected by this.

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I am absolutely terrified of flying. I'm going to Florida for spring training in 3 weeks, and I'm making the 16 hour or so drive. I've flown twice in my life, and both times I absolutely hated it. You look at what happened in NYC with a flock of geese nearly killing 150 people, and then this plane goes down apparently because of the weather, or at least weather was a factor. I know it was over 2 years between fatalities for the US airways, but I still would rather hit the road any day of the week than fly.

I have your reaction as well, cincrazy, but driving reminds me that it is more scary. I think people with flying issues have trouble with allowing someone else to have their hand on YOUR steering wheel. It's a control issue. I have no problem with that - so long as the pilot looks snappy and attentive. If I didn't fly, I would lose more than half of my work.

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Originally Posted by wally post

I have your reaction as well, cincrazy, but driving reminds me that it is more scary. I think people with flying issues have trouble with allowing someone else to have their hand on YOUR steering wheel. It's a control issue. I have no problem with that - so long as the pilot looks snappy and attentive. If I didn't fly, I would lose more than half of my work.

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You are correct. I prefer to be in control of my own destiny :). If I'm going down in a crash, I'd prefer to be the one steering.