Investigators say the pilot pulled back on the plane’s controls after the safety system tried to push the nose downward to gain speed and increase lift.
Lorenda Ward, the National Transportation Safety Board’s chief investigator, said one of many possibilities is the pilot pulled back too hard, bringing the plane’s nose too high up in an attempt to prevent the stall and dooming the aircraft.
Colgan Air, the Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary that was operating the flight, said in a statement Wednesday that its “crew training programs meet or exceed the regulatory requirements for all major airlines.” “Colgan has instilled a systemic culture of safety throughout our organization that is rooted in significant investment in crew training, systems, leadership and equipment,” the Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary said in the statement.
The NTSB also will look into how many hours the crew flew in the seven days before the crash, how much rest they had and what they did in the 72 hours before the accident.
Source: http://www.whec.com/article/stories/S787259.shtml?cat=10036