Hochul, Higgins, & Slaughter Demand Answers On Colgan Emails

Press Release

Today, Representatives Kathy Hochul (NY-26), Brian Higgins (NY-27), and Louise Slaughter (NY-28) sent letters to both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Colgan Airlines demanding to know why emails sent by Colgan Air, related to the qualifications of the pilot who crashed Continental Flight 3407, were not presented during the initial crash investigation.

The Members of the Western New York delegation wrote to Colgan Air and its parent company, Pinnacle Airlines, asking why their emails were never disclosed to the NTSB and are seeking further information on what criteria the airline used to determine what to disclose. In a separate letter to NTSB, Hochul, Higgins, and Slaughter asked the board to explain the "party" process generally used to investigate crashes, how the Colgan investigation could have benefitted from these emails, and whether they would have led to NTSB providing additional recommendations.

"I have no doubt that this investigation must be reopened," said Congresswoman Hochul. "We've heard one thing in hearings, but these newly released emails, in my judgment, point to a cover-up. We need to get to the bottom of this. My constituents, the Flight 3407 families, and the flying public deserve no less."

"There is no question that these are emails should have been disclosed to the NTSB," said Congressman Higgins. "We'd like to know why they weren't, and how failure to do so may be impacting flight training and safety policy recommendations stemming from the Flight 3407 investigation."

"These newly released emails raise a haunting question: what else haven't we seen?" said Congresswoman Slaughter. "We must make sure that for future investigations, the NTSB has every tool they need to ensure all relevant information is shared."

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