1500-hour rule

ATIS Oct 19, 2026

Colgan Air Flight Three Four Zero Seven, the Iced-Over Dash Eight Descending into Buffalo, and the Stick Shaker That Rewrote Airline Pilot Training for a Generation

The 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 near Buffalo killed 50 people and triggered the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. airline training and hiring standards in a generation.

Tower

ATIS Oct 11, 2026

The Fifteen Hundred Hour Rule, the Colgan Air Three Four Zero Seven Crash, and the Regional Pilot Pipeline That Congress Built Into a Bottleneck

The 1,500-hour rule born from the 2009 Colgan Air crash reshaped regional airline hiring and sparked a workforce debate that continues today.

Tower

ATIS Sep 14, 2026

FAR Sixty-One Point One Sixty, the Fifteen Hundred Hour Rule, and the Colgan Air Crash That Rewrote Who Sits in the Right Seat of Every Regional Airliner

FAR 61.160 raised the first officer flight hour minimum from 250 to 1,500 hours after the 2009 Colgan Air crash - here's what that means for pilot careers and the airline network.

Tower