.: 2Timothy42.org : Andy Borgmann's Blog : Blog :.

Photo Credit: Mark Kryst - YXUphoto

I was just about to head to bed and I checked Airliners.net and heard about a airplane crash outside of Buffalo. Buffalo's airport is one of the airports at LiveATC.net - a website I listen to often to "train" myself for the fast paced conversation of Air Traffic Control Transmission. So I took a listen and it was a bit eyrie to be honest.

I condensed the whole thing from about 12 minutes to 3 minutes given that most of you a.) probably can't really understand what is being said, and b.) don't really want to listen to 12 minutes of ATC transmission.

The female voice right at the beginning was the pilot of the aircraft that went down. It was her last transmission - which I think is eyrie how calm and unsuspecting it is.

Colgan (Continental Express) 3407 ATC Transmission

Non-Aviation Cheat Sheet

Colgan 3407 = Flight that went down
Delta 1998 = Flight behind Colgan 3407
Dash 8 = Colgan 3407's Type of Aircraft
TCAS = System used by pilots to "see" planes/surroundings when flying through clouds or other visually limiting situations
IMC = Weather conditions where pilots can't see around them and must rely on instruments (very common - you've probably flown a lot of flights like this)
KLUMP / "The Marker" = A point about 5 miles from the end of the runway where the plane should be lined up with runway and about 1,500 feet above the runway
Localizer = Instrument used to line up aircraft with runway when the pilot can't actually see the runway
PIREP = Pilot Report (Weather/Conditions)

Colgon 3047 - BUF Approach Chart Runway 23

A couple of things really stuck out to me.

The first is how unsuspecting the pilots voice was. It didn't appear there was anything wrong. All reports say that there was no attempt to communicate anything was wrong with the aircraft. In a matter of couple of minutes you think everything is fine - a few minutes from touchdown - and then it isn't. Initial reports (although they could be wrong) say the plane essentially flew nose-first, right into the ground (it did not "glide" down).

The other thing I noticed is how professional the surrounding pilots and air traffic control had to be.

Delta 1998 probably flew incredibly close to - if not right on top - of the plane that had crashed. There is a camaraderie in the airline industry - even amongst competitors. I imagine it has to take a true professional to be able to know what essentially happened right in front of him and keep his concentration to a.) get his passengers down safely amidst unknown conditions, and b.) communicate to ATC while doing it in order to make it a safer situation for planes behind him.

To all the family members of those on board 3407 my prayers are with you. And to the pilot on Delta 1998 - great job keeping it all together.