Small Regional Prop Favored by Airlines

Feb. 13, 2009— -- The kind of Continental aircraft that crashed outside Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday night has a generally good safety record, although a series of crashes in 2007 led one major airline to abandon it for other kinds of aircraft.

The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 is a small twin-engine turboprop used by regional airlines for flights of 500 miles or less. The Canadian plane is popular for its low operating costs. The props fly almost as fast as jets -- its cruising speed is 414 miles per hour -- but it uses significantly less fuel.

Scandinavian Airlines abandoned its fleet of 27 Dash 8 Q400s in October 2007 after three such planes that it operated crashed that year because of faulty landing gear.

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Mats Jansson, Scandinavian's chief executive, said at the time that confidence in the plane had diminished considerably "and our customers are becoming increasingly doubtful about flying in this type of aircraft."

John Dueholm, Scandinavian's deputy chief executive, also said then: "There is a risk that use of the Dash 8 Q400 could eventually damage the SAS [Scandinavian] brand."

Despite the issues in Scandinavia, airlines have been shifting toward the 74-seat Q400 because of its significant fuel savings; the plane uses roughly 30 percent less fuel than a jet of similar size.

Continental Airlines and its regional partner Colgan Air, which operated the downed aircraft, announced in March that they would start flying 15 of these turboprops for short flights out of Newark airport.

Montreal-based Bombardier is the world's third largest maker of civil aircraft and biggest maker of rail equipment, including New York City subway cars. The company's stock fell about 3.5 percent in the first few minutes of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"Until such time as the investigators release any information or findings, Bombardier cannot comment further or speculate on the cause of this accident," the company said in a statement this morning.

Colgan Air was founded in 1965 and is is a regional airline that flies under the flags of Continental Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways, serving more than 65 cities in 15 states.

It operates Continental Connection flights from Newark and Continental's other major hub in Houston. As US Airways Express, Colgan Air serves more than 35 cities in the eastern US from hubs in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. In Washington, it also operates flights as United Express.

Members of the founding Colgan family sold the carrier to Pinnacle Airlines Corp. for $20 million in 2007, according to Hoovers. Pinnacle's stock is down more than 20 percent today.