Aircraft accidents--New York (State)--Clarence]]>
“4 The Families” included eulogies from relatives and friends and the latest details on the crash investigation.

Colgan Air Flight 3407 was on its way from Newark, New Jersey to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Colgan Air was a regional company servicing Continental Airlines.

Shortly before the crash, the crew had reported a buildup of ice on the aircraft's wings and windshield. The Bombardier Q400 two-engine turbo-prop failed to recover from a stall and crashed into a house on Long Street in Clarence Center. Three people were in the house. A mother and her daughter were able to escape. The father did not survive. The accident occurred at 10:17 pm, about five miles from the Buffalo airport.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board would later attribute the crash to pilot error. Instead of pointing the nose of the plane downward and applying full power, the proper reaction to an aerodynamic stall, Captain Marvin Renslow pulled back on the control column pointing the nose upward causing the plane to pitch and roll. It quickly lost altitude and crashed.

Among those killed in the crash were Allison Des Forges, a human rights investigator and an expert on the Rwandan genocide, Beverly Eckert, named co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee after her husband was killed in the September 11 attacks, Susan Wehle, the first American female Jewish Renewal cantor, and jazz musicians Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett, who were en route to a concert with Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.]]> WIVB-TV]]> Murphy, Kurt (Graphic Artist)]]> Jacquie Walker, Jacquie (Anchor)]]> Postles, Don (Anchor)]]> Holmes, Melissa (Reporter) ]]> Richert, George (Reporter)]]> Newberg, Rich (Reporter)]]> Vaughters, Al (Reporter)]]> Schultz, Lorey (Reporter)]]> Arena, Joe (Reporter)]]> McClintick, Michele ]]> Hairston, Mylous (Reporter)]]> Cruze, Tricia (Reporter)]]> Moretti, Luke (Reporter)]]> eng]]>