The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: News

This image from television shows an aerial view of the tail section of Continental Connection Flight 3407 as it sits amidst still smoking wreckage Friday Feb. 13, 2009 in Clarence Center, N.Y. The firewas burning so hot it took until around nightfall Friday for workers to begin removing the bodies. The crew of the commuter plane that fell on a house, killing all 49 people aboard and one person on the ground, noticed significant ice buildup on the wings and windshield just before the aircraft began pitching and rolling violently, investigators said Friday. (AP Photo/CTV via APTN)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Investigators began gathering pieces of the incinerated wreckage of a commuter airliner early Saturday in search of clues to the cause of the fiery crash that killed 50 people.

Workers also had begun the somber task of removing the remains of the victims from the crash site - a suburban house.

Recovery could take several days, said Steve Chealander, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. "We're very sensitive to the families," he said.

Investigators have been examining instrument data and have listened to the last words of the pilot and co-pilot of Flight 3407 in an effort to determine whether ice on the plane's wings caused the crash.

Officials say the crew of the Continental Connection flight remarked upon significant ice buildup on the wings and windshield shortly before the aircraft pitched violently and slammed into the house Thursday night.

Ice on the wings can interfere catastrophically with an aircraft's handling and has been blamed for a number of major air disasters over the years, but officials said they had drawn no conclusions as to the cause of this crash.

Chealander said early Saturday that the icing noted by the pilot of Flight 3407 is just one of several things investigators are looking at.

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