Expert: Pilots in N.Y. crash responded improperly to alert

WASHINGTON -- The pilots on the commuter plane that crashed last February near Buffalo were oblivious to the emergency that triggered the crash, an expert in human behavior told investigators Thursday.

Key Dismukes, a NASA researcher, said the pilots not only failed to recognize that they were rapidly losing speed, but they did not respond correctly when a warning device attempted to alert them to the problem.

"In this case, I don't see any evidence that (the flight's captain) ever recognized the situation he was in," Dismukes told the National Transportation Safety Board during a hearing into the crash.

The Feb. 12 accident on Continental Connection Flight 3407 killed 50 people. The flight was being operated by regional carrier Colgan Air.

Dismukes, who has written several books on how pilots make mistakes, offered some of the first explanations of what could have been on the minds of Capt. Marvin Renslow and copilot Rebecca Shaw in the critical moments that their plane went out of control.

He said Renslow and Shaw exhibited classic symptoms of how humans err in critical situations when they are startled, inadequately trained to handle emergencies or so tired that they cannot perform routine tasks.

Their conversation shortly before the accident about the icy conditions they were flying in — a violation of federal rules prohibiting extraneous conversation below 10,000 feet — was a distraction that may have led them to lose focus, he said.

Another possible factor, he said, is that the airline industry's training for how to recognize "aerodynamic stalls" — when a plane gets too slow and the wings can no longer keep a plane aloft — are inadequate.

Pilots are trained repeatedly on stalls in simulators, but they know that the stall is about to occur. What's missing is training for the element of surprise, Dismukes said.

Being startled by an emergency such as a stall, particularly when visibility is poor and when pilots are fatigued, often prompts the wrong response, he said. Both pilots did not get a full night's sleep before the crash, according to NTSB records.

"You're surprised, you're under stress, you're flailing around," he said.

NTSB records show that Renslow lifted the plane's nose after receiving a "stick shaker" warning that he had gotten too slow. Pilots are trained to do the opposite.

A second safety device, known as a "stick pusher," attempted to automatically lower the nose a few seconds later. Renslow tugged back on the column so hard that he overrode it.

At the same time, Shaw also did not recognize the emergency. Part of the responsibility of the pilot who is not flying is to monitor speeds. In addition, as the plane went out of control she withdrew the plane's flaps. Not only did that make it more difficult to recover, but airline rules required that she get Renslow's approval before moving the flaps.

"This crew went from complacency to catastrophe in 20 seconds," said NTSB board member Debbie Hersman.

Dismukes said that more research needs to be done on how to better train crews in how to handle emergencies that startle them because everyone is likely to make mistakes unless they can practice such unusual situations.

"We have to acknowledge that the best pilot, the best Olympic athlete, will make mistakes," he said.