Four Suits Charge Deficiencies In Stall Recovery Training

In the latest scattershot series of lawsuits, FlightSafety International has been named in four cases connected with the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407. The suits allege deficiencies in stall recovery training for both the pilot and copilot of the aircraft.

The suits allege that Capt. Marvin D. Renslow and First Officer Rebecca Lynn Shaw were trained in flight simulators under contract with Colgan Air, Renslow in St. Louis and Shaw in Toronto. But the suits allege that neither pilot received training using the stick pusher in Colgan aircraft.

The Buffalo News reports that an NTSB re-construction of the accident shows that Renslow pulled back on the controls of the aircraft when the stick pusher was activated, causing the aircraft to stall and enter a spin from which he was unable to recover. The NTSB has not determined the actual cause of the accident, but preliminary reports have cited factors such as icing, pilot fatigue, and "idle cockpit chatter" (violation of the sterile cockpit doctrine) as possible contributors to the accident.

Dozens of suits have previously been filed in relation to the crash, but these are the first to name highly-respected FlightSafety International as a defendant. “We felt that training was part of this,” said attorney James T. Scime of Lipsitz Green, who filed suit for Justine Krasuski on behalf of Jerome Krasuski of Cheektowaga.

FlightSafety did not have an immediate response to the charges.

FMI: www.flightsafety.com, www.ntsb.gov