By Mark Scott
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-837326.mp3
Washington, DC – Day two of hearings into the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 were held in Washington Wednesday.
Two executives of Colgan Air, which operated the doomed flight, testified before members of the National Transportation Safety Board. They said Colgan has revised its pilot hiring standards so that from now on a pilot as inexperienced as Captain Marvin Renslow would not be hired. Vice President of Administration Mary Finnigan says Colgan is now requiring a minimum of one thousand flight hours at the time of hiring. According to the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder, Renslow admitted he had 625 hours when he was hired.
Finnigan also acknowledged Colgan would not have hired Renslow if they had known he had failed three federal "flight checks." NTSB Acting Chair Mark Rosenker questioned Finnigan about what steps they're taking to make sure that doesn't happen again.
The Colgan executives were also questioned about the pay scale of their pilots. NTSB member Roger Cox says his research showed that First Officer Rebecca Shaw was paid just over $16,000 a year.
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