It was the worst commercial aviation crash in Western New York history.

Continental Airlines Flight 3407 was on its way from Newark, N.J., to Buffalo on the night of Feb. 12. It was piloted by a crew with questionable training and experience for the conditions they were facing. It was cold, with a mix of ice and snow, and cockpit conversation recordings would later show that pilot Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw appeared unaware that their Bombardier Q 400 turbo-prop aircraft was approaching stall speed.

As the plane prepared for its final approach into Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, it banked at a Clarence Center turn locator and moments later stalled. In the seconds that followed, Renslow and Shaw would do almost everything needed to save the fight wrong.

Renslow yanked back on the plane’s yoke, pulling the aircraft’s nose up, further exacerbating the stall and reducing speed instead of gaining it. Shaw fiddled with the flaps and landing gear.

The plane bucked and rolled, almost onto its back, before plunging to the ground, pancaking a home with three people inside, killing one of them.

The death spiral took less than 30 seconds. The 45 passengers and four crew members died in the impact and fireball that followed.

Among the passengers were three local men, John G. Roberts III, David Borner and John J. Fiore. Borner was a resident of Pendleton, Fiore was returning to his home on Grand Island while Roberts, who worked in Mumbai, India, was returning home to Lewiston for a visit.

Family and friends described Borner as a devoted soccer dad, whose daughter, Nicole, graduated from Starpoint High School in June. Nicole earned a scholarship to play Division I soccer at Binghamton University, while son Michael is a current soccer player at Starpoint.

In David Borner’s memory, a lasting memorial was constructed along Starpoint’s varsity soccer field. The “Borner’s Benches” are two brick structures with gutters, shingle roofs, siding and benches for Starpoint and visiting soccer players.

Fiore, 60, was a Falls native who had recently retired from the U.S. Air Force after more than 30 years of service. He was returning home from a vacation.

Friends remembered the father of two as a dedicated military man who donated much of his time and energy to charitable causes.

“He was the best,” said Duane Frost, a longtime friend of Fiore’s. “There’s not a bad word you could say about him.”

Fiore had also worked as a plant manager at Washington Mills on Buffalo Avenue in the Falls. Frost said Fiore served in the U.S. Marine Corps for two years before joining the U.S. Air Force.

She said Fiore retired in 2008 as a member of the Air Force reserves, having reached the rank of senior master sergeant, one of the most difficult promotions to earn in that branch of the armed services. Fiore had a career of service that included tours of duty during the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm and two separate tours during the Iraq War.

He was on Flight 3407 returning from a two-week vacation in China.

Frost said Fiore was active in several local veterans groups, including the American Legion John J. Welch Post 381, the Veterans of Foreign Wars LaSalle Griffon Post 917 and the Lt. John Paul Bobo Detachment of the Marine Corps League. Frost said Fiore’s contributions to those organizations will be sorely missed.

“There’s not a better friend,” Frost said. “There’s not a better man. He did so much work for the legion and the veterans organizations. He was just a stand-up guy.”

Roberts III, 48, was the son of Apple Granny’s restaurant owner John Roberts. He was born in the Falls and graduated from Lewiston-Porter High School.

After graduating from Niagara University, Roberts III served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1985 to 1993. He received a Master's Degree in English from the University of Buffalo and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Rochester and then spent 10 years as a professor of English at St. John Fisher College and at the University of Rochester.

At the time of the crash, Roberts III was working as a vice president of Communication Excellence in the Mumbai office of accounting and consulting firm Deloitte, LLP.

The crash has triggered an extensive review by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board into the areas of pilot training and workloads. It also sparked demands from Congress that tougher regulations be imposed on regional airlines that operate flights for major carriers.

Flight 3407 was actually flown by the regional carrier Colgan Air.

In its final report on the crash to federal regulators Colgan blamed the air disaster on pilot inattention and failure to follow safety rules. Colgan also complained the Bombardier aircraft lacked an adequate system to warn the pilots when the plane was flying too slowly.

“The probable cause of the accident was the flight crew’s loss of situational awareness and failure to follow Colgan Air training and procedures, which led to a loss of control of the aircraft,” the company said in its report to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Colgan, the plane’s manufacturer and others are now the targets of a number of lawsuits filed by the families of the victims.

The NTSB’s report on the crash is expected to be released by early February. Its investigation has spotlighted the long hours, low pay and long-distance commutes of regional airline pilots.

Families of those killed in the crash met in Washington, D.C., for a Senate hearing on airline safety earlier this month. The Federal Aviation Administration said it won’t increase the number of training hours needed for pilots, but would encourage more targeted training, instead. The National Transportation Safety Board’s report on the crash is expected to be released in February.

The families also met in Clarence Center to start discussion on a memorial for the 50 victims of the crash. Relatives want to keep alive the memories of their lost loved ones, as did Nicole Borner at Starpoint High School’s graduation ceremony in June.

Nicole, the class’ valedictorian, gave a speech using a sign with the numbers 3,4,0 and 7 written upside down. Certain parts of the number were highlighted, spelling out the word “love.” She referenced lyrics from “Three Wooden Crosses,” a song recorded by Randy Travis. Nicole and her father used to sing it together in the car on occasion.

“It isn’t what you take when you leave this world behind you, it’s what you leave behind you when you go,” Nicole said. “My father left a family and the meaning of love in my heart.”