FAA reviews flying hours of N.Y. crash airline crew

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into whether crew members of the airline whose flight crashed into a home in upstate New York in February recently flew more hours than allowed by federal limits.

The agency and the Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air confirmed the inquiry Wednesday, a few days before the start of a federal hearing into the fatal crash near Buffalo of a Continental Connection flight operated by Colgan.

Colgan Air spokesman Joe Williams said the FAA examination has nothing to do with the upcoming hearing by the National Transportation Safety Board into the Feb. 13 crash of Flight 3407, which killed 50 people.

Williams says the FAA is examining instances when pilots reported legally flying beyond flight time limitations because of things like weather delays.