Pilot in Buffalo crash failed exams, kept scores secret

WASHINGTON -- The captain of the flight that crashed near Buffalo last February would have been fired if the carrier had known that he didn't disclose failing piloting tests on his application, a senior airline official testified Wednesday.

Capt. Marvin Renslow, who was at the controls when the turboprop went out of control on Feb. 12, had failed three check rides prior to being hired by Colgan Air in 2005. But on his application he only disclosed one of the failures, according to documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"If we had known when Capt. Renslow was in training that he had falsified his application and left off two failed check rides, he would have immediately been terminated," said Colgan vice president Mary Finnigan.

Both pilots and the airline were criticized on the second day of a hearing Wednesday into the crash that killed 50 people in Clarence Center, N.Y. Documents released this week raise questions about airline training, pilot standards and the dangers of fatigue that result from having to commute long distances to work.

Co-pilot Rebecca Shaw had flown from Seattle to Newark on two overnight connecting flights on cargo carrier FedEx before reporting to work the day of the accident. She stayed at a crew rest area in Memphis from midnight to 4 a.m., according to the safety board.

"It sounds pretty horrible to me," said NTSB member Debbie Hersman.

"I think it violates the professionalism of a crewmember," said Colgan vice president Harry Mitchel under questioning by Hersman.

Mitchel said it is the responsibility of pilots to report to work well rested, but Hersman questioned whether airline policies contribute to the problem of fatigue.

The NTSB estimated that Shaw, 24, who had been hired a year before the crash, earned an annual salary of about $16,000. Some board members suggested it would have been difficult for her to afford to live in the Newark area, where she was based.

Out of 137 pilots based at Colgan's Newark operation, 93 of them live outside the local area, according to the NTSB.

Renslow, 47, who lived in Florida, did not have a place to stay in the Newark area, according to the safety board. He slept the night before the accident in a Colgan crew rest room, despite a company policy prohibiting sleeping overnight in the room.

At 3 a.m., he logged into a company computer system, the NTSB found.

The low pay, lengthy commutes and lack of areas where pilots could rest added up to a risk to passengers, said NTSB member Kitty Higgins.

"I think it's a recipe for an accident and that's what we have here," Higgins said.

NTSB acting Chairman Mark Rosenker said he was troubled more broadly by an airline that set high safety goals, yet repeatedly undercut those goals.

"I am concerned about the winking and nodding that I have seen in some of the policies in your company," Rosenker said. "I don't believe it is only in your company. I believe there are industry issues that we must examine here."

A formal finding of what caused the crash is not expected for months. But investigators have revealed that Renslow and Shaw did not notice as their plane got too slow while preparing to land in Buffalo.

After a warning alerted them to the speed, Renslow pulled the plane into a steep climb, further slowing the plane. The plane's wings stalled and it plunged to the ground.

All 49 people aboard the plane died along with a man on the ground.