( CNN ) -- The turboprop plane that crashed in New York state , killing all 49 people on board and one on the ground , was one of the safest and most sophisticated aircraft of its type , according to an aviation industry expert . Scandinavian Airlines grounded its fleet of Dash 8 Q400 planes after three crash landings in 2007 . The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was less than one year old and had flown for only about 1,500 hours , said Kieran Daly , of the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence . The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was operated by Colgan Air between Newark Liberty International Airport and Buffalo . Daly said propeller-driven aircraft such as the Canadian-built Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 and its European rival , the ATR series , had sold well to airlines in the last three years because they were almost as fast as jets , cruising at about 480 kilometers/hour ( 300 mph ) , but used much less fuel . Listen to audio of plane 's last moments » . However , despite an excellent safety record , some passengers were still wary of traveling on propeller planes , he said . Daly said that for most of the time turboprops were as safe as similar-sized , 50-seater jets , but in icy conditions turboprops were at a disadvantage . Stressing that the cause of Thursday 's crash in near Buffalo was still unclear and could be caused by mechanical failure for example , he said the potential for ice was there because it was short and the plane would have been flying at a relatively low level . Watch what iReporter captured on film . Daly said the pilot appeared not to have reported problems with icing , but this was not unusual because planes were designed to cope with these conditions . `` All aircraft have de-icing system : a big jet like a 747 can cope with ice almost indefinitely , but smaller planes , especially propeller planes can experience problems , '' he said . `` Pilots cope by increasing altitude -- icing mainly occurs at lower levels -- but because propeller-driven planes are slower , they take longer to reach high altitude and spend longer in the icy conditions . '' According to the National Weather Service weather observation for Buffalo , there was light snow , fog and mist shortly before 10 p.m. Watch more on the plane crash » . CNN has listened to a tape of communications between air traffic control and the flight crew . The first officer had no sign of stress in her voice initially . The plane was cleared for approach . About two minutes later , the air traffic controller came back , with stress in his voice . Radar contact was lost . Watch report from witness : `` All I saw was flames '' » . The question went out : Can other planes see anything ? No one responds . The controller says they might have a plane down . The pilot 's last comment was `` Colgan Flight 3407 . '' There were no sounds of distress . Watch video from CNN affiliate WGRZ » . Scandinavian Airlines ( SAS ) permanently grounded its fleet of Dash 8s after three crash landings during a two-month period in 2007 that were blamed on the aircraft 's landing gear . `` Confidence in the Q400 has diminished considerably and our customers are becoming increasingly doubtful about flying in this type of aircraft , '' Mats Jansson , president and CEO of SAS , said at the time . `` I have decided to immediately remove Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from service . '' Air expert Daly said though that in Thursday 's crash the landing gear of the Continental plane was unlikely to be down because it was far from the airport . The National Transportation Safety Board said early Friday it was preparing to send a team to Buffalo to investigate the crash . Thursday 's plane crash is the deadliest on U.S. soil since August 2006 when Comair Flight 5191 crashed when it attempted to take off from the wrong runway .
Air expert : Turboprop plane that crashed in New York one of safest of its type Officials say all 49 aboard the plane died ; one confirmed death on ground . Canadian-built Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 under year old , had flown 1,500 hours .