WORLD> America
Plane that crashed dropped 800 feet in 5 seconds
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-16 07:25

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A federal aviation official says the commuter flight that crashed and killed 50 people near Buffalo dropped 800 feet in five seconds shortly before impact.


Two people hold flowers at a road block near the crash site of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Clarence Center, N.Y., Sunday, February 15, 2009. [Agencies] 

Steve Chealander (CHEE-lan-duhr), a National Transportation Safety Board member, says information from the plane's flight data recorder indicates the aircraft pitched upward at an angle of 31 degrees then downward 45 degrees in the final moments of Flight 3407.

He says the plane rolled to the left at 46 degrees then snapped back to the right at 105 degrees.

At a Sunday briefing, Chealander says radar data shows Flight 3407 fell from 1,800 feet above sea level to 1,000 feet in five seconds.

The plan crashed flat on top of a house, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.