Since the September 11 hijacked plane attacks there have been four notable fatal air crashes involving US airlines in the United States. All but one were commuter carriers.

* Nov. 2001 - American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300, crashed in the New York borough of Queens shortly after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. All 260 people aboard and five on the ground were killed. Investigators said the co-pilot made inappropriate rudder movements that snapped off the plane's tail fin.

* Jan. 8, 2003 - Air Midwest flight 5481, operating as a US Airways Express flight, crashed into a US Airways hangar and burst into flames shortly after leaving Charlotte/Douglas Airport in North Carolina. All 19 passengers and two pilots were killed. The crash of the Beechcraft 1900 was blamed on a maintenance error combined with too much weight in the back of the aircraft.

* Aug. 27, 2006 - A Comair commuter flight crashed shortly after taking off in Lexington, Kentucky, on a runway that was too short for the plane, killing all but one of the 50 people aboard.

* Feb 12, 2009 - Continental Connection Flight 3407, operated by Colgan Air, was flying to Buffalo, New York from Newark, New Jersey when it crashed into a house near Buffalo Airport and burst into flames, killing 49 people on board and one on the ground. Colgan, a unit of Pinnacle Airlines, said the plane was a Dash 8 Q400 made by Canada's Bombardier. The 74-seat commuter plane went down in snowy weather.