Former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall says high-wing twin turboprop airliners similar to the Bombardier Q400 should be grounded until the NTSB determines whether icing caused the crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Buffalo last Thursday. However, undoubtedly to the relief of a major subset of the aviation industry, there doesn't seem to be much chance of that happening. "We don't have any data right now that would lead us to ground this aircraft," FAA spokesperson Laura Brown told The Toronto Star. "The FAA and the whole aviation industry has worked aggressively over the past 15 years to reduce accidents related to icing and those accidents have dropped significantly as a result of that work. The aircraft involved in the crash has a sophisticated ice detection and protection system that benefited from years of research and analysis about how aircraft operate and perform in icy conditions," Brown said.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/ground-turboprops-former-ntsb-chair