Co-pilot of crashed plane from Washington state
MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - The first officer on the Continental Connection Flight that crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., was 24-year-old Rebecca Lynne Shaw of Maple Valley.
The commuter plane she was co-piloting dropped out of the sky without warning and nose-dived into a suburban Buffalo house in a fiery crash that killed all 49 people aboard and one person in the home on Thursday night. Excessive wing icing may have been a factor.
Representatives of Colgan Air said Shaw joined the airline on Jan. 16, 2008, and had flown 2,244 hours with the carrier.
"She absolutely loved to fly," said her mother, Lynn Morris, who spoke outside Shaw's home in this King County town where family and friends gathered to mourn.
Her father described her as an "eternal optimist."
Lynn Morris says the family saw news reports about the crash last night but weren't sure whether Rebecca was on the plane. Family members got the tragic news at 4:30 a.m. that she was indeed on the flight.
"Our heads knew earlier, but our hearts couldn't accept it," a tearful Morris said.
She said Shaw's husband, Troy, was on his way to Buffalo to meet with airline officials.
Morris says her daughter, who went by the name "Becky," was the youngest of four children in the close-knit family. She decided in her senior year in high school she wanted to fly.
Morris says Shaw loved to fly and was an awesome pilot, adding, "We love her and miss her terribly."
Shaw's sister, Kari Angeline, was grief-stricken over the loss.
"She was the best little sister you could have," she said through her tears. "We miss her."
Shaw graduated from Tahoma High School in Covington, east of Seattle, in 2002, where she was active in volleyball, softball and student leadership, district spokesman Kevin Patterson said. She also volunteered as a camp counselor for younger students, he said.
She attended Big Bend Community College and graduated from Central Washington University in 2007 with a major in flight technology and a minor in philosophy, university spokeswoman Teri Olin said.
"She was so full of life," said Amy Hoover, chair of the university's aviation department. "She was energetic, out there, making things happen.
She then worked as a flight instructor in Arizona before taking a job with Colgan Air.
She married her husband two years ago, and they moved from Virginia back to Maple Valley two weeks ago.
Thursday's crash of the Colgan Air commuter plane in New York was the nation's first deadly crash of a commercial airliner in 2½ years.
The cause of the disaster was under investigation, but other pilots were overheard around the same time complaining of ice building up on their wings - a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.
The twin turboprop aircraft - Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J. - was coming in for a landing when it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Witnesses heard the plane sputtering before it plunged squarely through the roof of the house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.
"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."
Two others in the house escaped with minor injuries. The plane was carrying a four-member crew and an off-duty pilot. Among the 44 passengers killed was a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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Continental said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who want to give or receive information about those on board can call a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.
The commuter plane she was co-piloting dropped out of the sky without warning and nose-dived into a suburban Buffalo house in a fiery crash that killed all 49 people aboard and one person in the home on Thursday night. Excessive wing icing may have been a factor.
Representatives of Colgan Air said Shaw joined the airline on Jan. 16, 2008, and had flown 2,244 hours with the carrier.
"She absolutely loved to fly," said her mother, Lynn Morris, who spoke outside Shaw's home in this King County town where family and friends gathered to mourn.
Her father described her as an "eternal optimist."
Lynn Morris says the family saw news reports about the crash last night but weren't sure whether Rebecca was on the plane. Family members got the tragic news at 4:30 a.m. that she was indeed on the flight.
"Our heads knew earlier, but our hearts couldn't accept it," a tearful Morris said.
She said Shaw's husband, Troy, was on his way to Buffalo to meet with airline officials.
Morris says her daughter, who went by the name "Becky," was the youngest of four children in the close-knit family. She decided in her senior year in high school she wanted to fly.
Morris says Shaw loved to fly and was an awesome pilot, adding, "We love her and miss her terribly."
Shaw's sister, Kari Angeline, was grief-stricken over the loss.
"She was the best little sister you could have," she said through her tears. "We miss her."
Shaw graduated from Tahoma High School in Covington, east of Seattle, in 2002, where she was active in volleyball, softball and student leadership, district spokesman Kevin Patterson said. She also volunteered as a camp counselor for younger students, he said.
She attended Big Bend Community College and graduated from Central Washington University in 2007 with a major in flight technology and a minor in philosophy, university spokeswoman Teri Olin said.
"She was so full of life," said Amy Hoover, chair of the university's aviation department. "She was energetic, out there, making things happen.
She then worked as a flight instructor in Arizona before taking a job with Colgan Air.
She married her husband two years ago, and they moved from Virginia back to Maple Valley two weeks ago.
Thursday's crash of the Colgan Air commuter plane in New York was the nation's first deadly crash of a commercial airliner in 2½ years.
The cause of the disaster was under investigation, but other pilots were overheard around the same time complaining of ice building up on their wings - a hazard that has caused major crashes in the past.
The twin turboprop aircraft - Continental Connection Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J. - was coming in for a landing when it went down in light snow and fog around 10:20 p.m. Thursday about five miles short of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Witnesses heard the plane sputtering before it plunged squarely through the roof of the house, its tail section visible through flames shooting at least 50 feet high.
"The whole sky was lit up orange," said Bob Dworak, who lives less than a mile away. "All the sudden, there was a big bang, and the house shook."
Two others in the house escaped with minor injuries. The plane was carrying a four-member crew and an off-duty pilot. Among the 44 passengers killed was a woman whose husband died in the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
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Continental said relatives and friends of those on Flight 3407 who want to give or receive information about those on board can call a special family assistance number, 1-800-621-3263.