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Investigators never figured out precisely why the pilot abruptly sent the Colgan Air turboprop into a fatal dive 10 years ago as it neared Buffalo, N.Y.

But they did learn enough from the Feb. 12, 2009, crash, which killed 50 people, to make it one of the most important milestones in the history of aviation safety, leading to changes in everything from pilot training to managing fatigue.

The reforms have contributed to an unprecedented decade of safety: There hasn't been another accident with multiple fatalities on a U.S. passenger carrier anywhere since the Colgan disaster. In fact--outside of crashes of foreign carriers or cargo planes--there has been only one passenger death.

"Colgan Air was truly a watershed event," said Robert Sumwalt, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board who served as a board member when the accident occurred. "The safety record bears out the impact that this crash, that this tragedy, had in ultimately improving safety."

Coaxed and prodded by an unusually well-organized group of family members representing the victims, Congress passed a law in 2010 enshrining several of the safety board's recommendations from the accident into law.

After Congress passed legislation in 2010 that tightened airline safety regulations, the number of fatal accidents and associated deaths dropped dramatically.

 

The action broke a decades-old logjam that had stalled new regulations on pilot fatigue as airlines and unions sparred over proposed rules. Under orders from Congress, the government completely revamped how airlines schedule pilots. It also helped prompt dramatic improvements in how pilots are trained to handle flights that go out of control, which is by far the biggest killer in commercial aviation.

Other actions increased the use of flight data to probe for hidden risks, improved vetting of pilots before they were hired, and required major airlines to disclose to passengers when they were flying on a separate regional carrier.

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