An aerial view of the crash site shows the wreckage of the plane and what little is left of a home on Long Street in the hamlet of Clarence Center, northeast of Buffalo, N.Y. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News/Associated Press)

The investigation into the last week's crash of a turboprop plane near Buffalo will focus on the crew's training and the weather, officials said Tuesday.

Capt. Marvin Renslow had logged only 110 hours flying the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 model that plunged into a home in Clarence Centre, N.Y., last Thursday, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.

NTSB investigators said Tuesday they will be examining the actions of Renslow, 47, of Tampa, Fla., and the flight's first officer, Rebecca Lynne Shaw, 24, of Seattle, Wash.

'It comes down to, we're all human.'—Lorenda Ward, NTSB chief investigator

Information already collected from the flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders on Continental Connection Flight 3407 indicate the pilots discussed "significant" ice buildup on the wings and cockpit windscreen prior to the crash.

But the plane was reportedly flying on autopilot, contravening federal recommendations that the function not be used in icy conditions.

Investigators, however, have said Renslow did not violate any regulations by not flying manually in the conditions. Shutting off the autopilot is required only in severe icing conditions.

Though Renslow had only logged 110 hours in the model of aircraft involved in the crash, beginning in December, officials said he had flown thousand of hours in a similar plane that should have prepared him for dealing with icing on the Dash 8. Shaw had 774 hours in the similar plane.

Officials said the lack of hours is not considered significant because pilots undergo significant training and evaluation when they switch from one type of aircraft to another.

The NTSB said it will be examining the training that Renslow and Shaw received, how they performed and how many hours they had flown in the seven days prior to the crash, said board spokesman Steve Chealander.

Chealander said the amount of rest the pilot and his first officer received prior to the crash and what they did in the last 72 hours before the incident will also be reviewed — including whether they consumed any alcohol or drugs.

Extensive interviews planned

Interviews will include other pilots who flew with Renslow and Shaw, their supervisors and trainers, and pilots with regular experience flying into the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, officials said.

Renslow had 3,000 hours of flying experience with Colgan Air, which operated the aircraft, over 3½ years. That is nearly the maximum number of hours a pilot can fly over that period of time under government regulations.

Officials said there is still no obvious explanation for what caused the crash that killed 49 people onboard and one person on the ground. There is no evidence of plane malfunction, said chief investigator Lorenda Ward.

"In most investigations, people describe the flight crew as being very good," she said.

Investigators know, though, that the challenges in a sky emergency might be beyond anyone's capabilities.

"It comes down to, we're all human," Ward said.

Probing the crash will likely take up to a year, officials said.

Flight 3407 was about 10 kilometres from landing at the Buffalo airport from Newark, N.J. when it suddenly lost its ability to fly, pitched sharply and smashed into a house where it burst into flames.

About 20 per cent of the plane was still at the crash site on Tuesday. Crews had completed gathering the human remains, officials said.

On Sunday, Colgan Air released a partial list of those onboard with the permission of their next of kin.

The victims included Don McDonald, a Canadian returning home to Fort Erie, Ont., from a business trip; Alison Des Forges, who documented the 1994 genocide in Rwanda; Beverly Eckert, whose husband was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center; and two members of jazz musician Chuck Mangione's band, Gerry Niewood and Coleman Mellett.

With files from the Associated Press