Continental crew didn't have time to warn passengers

The crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407 that crashed near Buffalo's Niagara International Airport on Thursday didn't have time to warn passengers what was about to happen.

"It was just a sudden catastrophic event that took place, and 30 seconds later they hit the ground," said Steven Chealander, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

All 49 passengers and crew and one person on the ground were killed in the first fatal U.S. airline disaster in more than two years.

The Bombardier Inc Dash 8 Q400, operated under contract by Pinnacle Airlines Corp's Colgan Air unit for Continental Airlines Inc, went down around 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) northeast of the airport at about 10 pm local time on February 12. The flight originated in Newark, New Jersey.

The NTSB will begin a detailed examination of the "black boxes" recovered from the crash today. The cockpit-voice recorder captures noises and what the pilots said. The flight-data recorder tracks airplane movements and manipulation of flight controls.

Initial evidence shows the plane's de-icing equipment and engines were working and that the so-called stall-warning devices had activated, Chealander said. Such devices warn flight crews that they are about to lose control and crash, he said.

Investigators found the plane pointed away from the airport and in a position that rules out a nosedive, Chealander said. Investigators don't know what caused it to turn around.

Heaters had to be brought in to melt ice that was hampering efforts to recover the bodies from the scene, Chealander said.