Two families of the 50 people killed in the Continental Airlines Connection Flight 3407 on February 29, 2009 have reached a confidential settlement agreement in their wrongful death lawsuit. The families of John G. Roberts, III and Darren Tolsma sued Continental Airlines, Pinnacle Airline Corp., Colgan Air and Bombardier, Inc. for the plane crash that occurred near Buffalo, New York.
The Connection Flight 3407, a regional carrier Pinnacle Airline Corporation, operated through Colgan Air Unit killed 49 people on board the airplane and one person on the ground. The airplane, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q4000, is known for icing conditions. And on the night of the accident, Captain Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, radioed in at 16,000 feet of hazy weather conditions and requested to descend to 12,000 feet. The crew was later cleared to drop to 11,000 feet but noticed "significant ice buildup, on the windshield and leading edge of the wings."
According to reports the crew evidently tried to abort landing, but the plane began to experience "severe pitch and roll excursions." In other words, the wings of the plane began to wag from sided to side with the nose of the plane pointing up and down. The last recording claims the "crew attempted to raise the gear and flaps" just before landing.
The families of the victims claimed the two pilots, Renslow and Shaw, made a series of mistakes that led to the airplane crash. After the crash, The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began to investigate the actions of Renslow and Shaw and discovered Renlsow apparently failed two flight tests prior to the crash while Shaw receive a substantial raise almost two weeks prior to the accident. In February of the following year, the NTSB ended their investigation blaming Renslow for the airplane crash. According to the NTSB, Renslow incorrectly responded to a cockpit warning, and pulled back on the control column causing the stall that ultimately caused the crash.
Court filings indicate that Continental and Colgan both denied liability. However after the NTSB investigation, NTSB filings state that Colgan declared the pilots at fault.
The two families reached an agreement through mediation on August 18, 2010 and notified the Courts on August 19.
A similar wrongful death case in 2006, involving Comair Inc, a regional Delta Airlines carrier, crashed in Kentucky killing 49 people. The family of one of the passengers won a $7.1 million verdict and the 45 others settled for $264 million.
The additional plaintiffs in the Colgan suit are schedule for trial in federal court March 2012.
