Communities
FLIGHT 3407: Victims' families plan memorial walk for Friday
Families of the victims of the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 will mark the one-year anniversary of the tragedy by holding a memorial walk Friday to finish the journey their loved ones couldn’t.
Relatives and friends will walk together to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga from a number of starting points. The walk will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday, from at least three different spots, including Long Street in Clarence Center, Main and Transit in Williamsville and at Holiday Inn on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga. There are also a number of stopovers along the way. The route will start on Long and continue to Clarence Center Road, then south on Goodrich Road. The walkers will then turn west on Main Street in Williamsville, followed by a turn south on Transit and then finally a turn west on Genesee Street in Cheektowaga.
Pendleton resident Cheryl Borner, whose husband David Borner was one of the 50 people killed in the crash, said her family would be joining the walk. Throughout the planning of the walk, as well as the past year, the relatives have gotten closer.
“There’s a family bond developing,” Borner said.
People can still register online at the 3407 families’ Web site, www.3407memorial.com. When they sign up, people can choose if they want to participate in either the full 10-mile walk, the 4.2-mile walk from Transit or the 1-mile walk from Genesee Street. The walk was organized by John Kausner of Clarence, whose daughter, Elly, was on Flight 3407.
The 50 victims died when the flight from Newark, N.J., crashed into a house in Clarence Center on Feb. 12 last year. The crash has raised questions about airline safety and pilot training, even more so when the National Transportation Safety Board released its report on the crash last week. The report cited errors by pilot Capt. Marvin Renslow as the main, and a preventable, reason for the crash.
Cheryl Borner was one the attendees last week at a gathering in the Millennium Hotel on Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga when the NTSB report was released. She credited the NTSB, especially Deborah Hersman, the NTSB chairwoman.
“It wasn’t anything we didn’t know, but now we’re ready to go forward and try to get some things changed to make travel safer,” Borner said.
The 3407 families’ mission is to get the federal government to improve the safety of airline travel. The group’s Web site lists some of its accomplishments, including meeting with a number of congressional representatives. Three Senate hearings and two hearings in the House of Representatives have been held on the topic of airline safety, also a House bill was passed on airline safety and pilot training improvement. The group is still looking for legislation to implement safety standards such as requiring pilots to have 1,500 hours of experience, up from 250 currently. The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act and the NTSB’s recommendations from the report also call for airline safety improvements and better oversight.
Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.
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