Family Life

02.23.09 | FL News Team

Flags across the state of New York are at half staff today to honor the victims of Continental Flight 3407. Governor David Paterson issued the order to have the flags flown at half staff, saying quote, "We are all connected and we find out just how connected we are when tragedy such as this strikes our communities."

All 49 people onboard and one person on the ground were killed when the commuter jet en route from Newark, New Jersey to Buffalo slammed into a Clarence home and exploded on February 12th.

Clarence Neighbors Delayed Returning To Homes

Neighbors of the tragic crash of Flight 3407 were supposed to return to their homes this weekend.  That move has been delayed until tomorrow. Officials say the cleanup was slowed because of weather conditions. Emergency management officials say more soil needs to be removed because of possible contamination from the plane's fuel.

Flight Experts Angry About Icing Rules After Flight 3407 Crash

A gap in federal regulations that allows turboprop planes to be flown without ever being certified as safe in the most dangerous icy conditions is getting a fresh look in the wake of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407. Pilots and aviation experts are angry about what they call the FAA's "industry-influenced" inattention to a major danger for turboprops like the one that crashed in Clarence.

Over the last 12 years, the FAA has left the issue of cold weather flying in the hands of a 55-member committee consisting largely of men and women in the aviation industry. The panel started issuing recommendations just three years ago, and the FAA has been studying them since.

Flight 3407 Protestors Run Out Of Town

Three members of a Kansas church didn't get much of a chance to protest the funeral of a flight 3407 victim. The protestors only lasted a few minutes outside the memorial service for human rights advocate Allison Des Forges, near the University of Buffalo's South campus. Dozens of counter demonstrators, holding white flags and banners surrounded the trio, in an effort to shield mourners from the protestors.

Earlier Sunday, the three protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas attempted to spread their anti-homosexual message in Clarence Center. Again, they were met with counter demonstrators. Police kept the two factions apart.