Airline: Pilot in Buffalo crash failed tests, kept scores secret
WASHINGTON -- The captain of the flight that crashed near Buffalo in February would have been fired if the airline knew he failed three pilot tests before applying for his job, a senior airline official testified Wednesday.
Capt. Marvin Renslow disclosed only one of the flunked tests before being hired by Colgan Air in 2005, according to documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Renslow was at the controls of Continental Connection Flight 3407 when the turboprop went out of control Feb. 12.
"If we had known when Capt. Renslow was in training that he had falsified his application and left off two failed check rides, he would have immediately been terminated," Colgan Vice President Mary Finnigan testified at an NTSB hearing. Like a driver's test, a check ride measures basic proficiency, such as whether a pilot can fly in certain conditions.
Colgan heaped criticism of Renslow, 47, and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, 24, during the second day of a hearing into the crash that killed 50 people.
Colgan said in a statement that Renslow and Shaw had been well-trained but did not perform as they were taught when the Bombardier Q400 went violently out of control.
Investigators also turned the spotlight onto Colgan Air, which operated under contract with Continental Airlines. Low pay scales, red-eye commutes and a lack of places for pilots to sleep created the risk of dangerous fatigue at the regional airline, according to testimony.
Shaw had flown overnight from Seattle to Newark before reporting to work, according to the NTSB, which estimated that Shaw made as little as $16,000 a year at Colgan. Some NTSB members doubted whether she could afford to live at her base of operations in Newark.
Renslow lived in Florida and spent the night before the crash in Newark even though he had no apartment there. He may have tried to sleep in a bustling crew rest area at the airport, but the NTSB could not confirm that. Records showed he logged into a computer system at 3 a.m.
