Sad, and then sadder still: the Continental 3407 crash
After the euphoria of the Hudson River landing, in which all on board were safe when it made an emergency splashdown, the news of last night’s crash fatal for all aboard comes as a special shock.
And this is especially sad: a 9/11 widow who had been active in governmental reforms to try to prevent a repeat has died in the fiery wreckage. Beverly Eckerdt, still grief-striken over the loss of her husband and childhood sweetheart in the WTC attacks, was on the plane.
For those who believe that we are reunited with loved ones after death, it is comforting to think that she is now in a happier place, together with the love of her life. For all of us, the crash is a sad reminder of the unpredictability of life and death.
As for the person who died on the ground, when the plane fell on his/her suburban Buffalo home at 10:20 PM on a Thursday night, he/she probably knew nothing of what fate had in store. The plane seems to have dive-bombed straight down to hit the house as though it were a target—although, miraculously, two other people in the home escaped with only minor injuries. One can only imagine the horror and stunned surprise of the terrible event for them, seemingly safe in their home on a cold winter evening.
Ice on the wings seems to be implicated in the crash. It’s a problem that more often happens on takeoff, and has caused other crashes. In this case, however, the plane was landing, and if ice was involved we can conclude it probably built up some time during the flight. Certain cloud formations and weather conditions are known to present such a hazard, and those who work in the field of airline safety have been on the case for some time, trying to steer pilots around such situations:
When ice builds up on the wings of an aircraft, it can simultaneously slow velocity and decrease lift, potentially sending a plane into a catastrophic dive…
The challenge for the forecasters is to locate what one might call the “Goldilocks” region, where conditions are just right. A few degrees too warm, and the water drops won’t freeze on the wings of an aircraft; a few degrees too cold, and the water drops will turn into ice crystals or snow instead…
Over the years, the team [investigating the phenomenon] has found that one perfect setup for ice is a large, relatively uniform area of deep stratus or stratocumulus clouds whose tops are a few degrees below freezing (-12 to -5° C or 11 to 23°F)…The Current Icing Potential (CIP) provides pilots with an online display of high-precision maps that identifies areas of potential aircraft icing produced by cloud drops, freezing rain, and drizzle. It draws on surface observations, numerical models, satellite and radar data, lightning observations, and pilot reports.
American aviation has gotten very good at this sort of thing. But it’s not perfect, as last night’s crash amply demonstrated.
Please say a prayer for all the victims and their families.
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Amen.
It sounds like they picked up severe mixed icingupon descent through the clouds. The crew Was confronted with a catastrophic build up while in descent before effective anti-icing procedures could be executed. I understand they were setting up for their arrival as well, an extremely busy cockpit under normal circumstance. A telling bit of information was the crew was unable to cycle the landing gear .. That probably told the pros flying the aircraft how dire the situation had become. Take it to the bank ,they died as heroes, trying to fly their charges to a safe landing . Godspeed, Flt 3407
In the wake of the crash, CNN International’s weather reporter actually had a very useful portion on the FAA weather charts that pilots use to determine icing (two types–rime and carburetor), cloud cover, and turbulence. According to the chart that she showed, conditions were perfect for rime ice (the kind that forms on the flight surfaces) at the plane’s altitude, and the air also appeared to be quite bumpy on the way in, with low clouds. Sounds like lousy conditions all around.
Don’t know what the investigation will show yet, but it’s happened before when pilots are dealing with one situation (night landing in marginal visibility conditions in turbulent air), something else sneaks in and catches them before they can react (wing icing, wind shear). My prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.
The NTSB is one of the few governmental agencies that does it job amazingly well. I have my guesses as to the various factors that caused this but will leave it up to them to do their job before spouting off.