I know that this crash tragically happened about a year ago, so this is not news to anyone, but I just thought that I would copy & paste some of the findings from the investigation. It's the answers you get from investigations like this one that make me anixous to fly....everytime. In case you don't know, Renslow was the Capt. and was actually flying the plane at the time of the crash. Shaw was the co-pilot. God rest their souls.
"On March 25, 2009, NTSB investigators said that icing probably did not contribute greatly to the accident. [48] On May 11, 2009, new information came out that Renslow had failed numerous tests during his career, and it was suggested that he may not have been adequately trained to respond to the emergency that led to the airplane's fatal descent. [49] Crew fatigue was also suspected, as both pilots appear to have been at Newark airport overnight and all day prior to the 9:18 pm departure.[50] In response to questioning from National Transportation Safety Board members, Colgan Air officials acknowledged that both pilots apparently were not paying close attention to the aircraft's instruments and failed to follow the airline's procedures for handling an impending stall in the final minutes of the flight. 'I believe Capt. Renslow did have intentions of landing safely at Buffalo, as well as first officer Shaw, but obviously in those last few moments ... the flight instruments were not being monitored, and that's an indication of a lack of situational awareness,' said John Barrett, Colgan's director of flight standards. The official transcript of the crew's communication, obtained from the cockpit voice recorder, as well as an animated depiction of the crash, constructed using data from the flight data recorder were made available to the public on May 12, 2009, the first day of the public hearing. Some of the crew's communication violated federal rules banning nonessential conversation. [51]"
