Denies Withholding Information From NTSB In Continental Flight 3407 Accident

Pinnacle Airlines Corp, the parent company of Colgan Air which operated Continental Flight 3407, has sent a letter to three members of Congress in which it strongly denies withholding information from the NTSB in an investigation stemming from the crash of that flight in 2009.

The captain of that flight, Marvin Renslow, had been the subject of several e-mails six months before the accident. But Pinnacle says it did not try to hide additional training Renslow had undergone. Pinnacle Vice President and COO John Spanjers wrote to the members of Congress that "his full training record was part of the NTSB evidence." The airline says he was "fully qualified" to fly the Dash-8 Q400 aircraft.

The PBS series Frontline reports on its website that e-mails from the company that could been interpreted as contradicting that assertion were not handed over to the NTSB as part of the investigation, but Pinnacle says all of the information in the e-mails was disclosed.

Some members of the New York Congressional delegation are asking the Justice Department to look into the matter. In a letter sent last weekend, they said they want to know if there was an intentional withholding of information, and if any federal laws were violated as a result.

FMI: www.flypinnacle.com