Former Clarence emergency manager discusses D.C. crash

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — As the investigation into the tragedy in Washington, D.C. is just getting underway, WIVB News 4 is taking a look at how Western New York responded in the wake of Flight 3407.

Nearly 16 years ago, Dave Bissonette stood at the forefront of one of the region’s worst tragedies. He was the emergency manager for the Town of Clarence during the crash in 2009.

“We’ve been hearing the words deja vu,” said Bissonette. “I think I can speak for all the first responders in Western New York — it was really difficult to not start to relive the chain of events that we had near.”

Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence Center on February 12, 2009.

Bissonette has since retired. He said the situation in D.C. is vastly different due to the nature of the incident, but it does have some similarities to what he dealt with years ago.

“(Flight) 3407 was a 14-day incident,” said Bissonette. “I can see the D.C. crash here going on for a week or two easily.”

Bissonette said that the first 48 hours are critical in the setup of any large-scale disaster investigation. In both Clarence and Washington, D.C., he said that period of time consists of a lot of organization and structure for the response.

There are factors that will make the D.C. investigation difficult, according to Bissonette. He described Clarence Center as a compact scene, whereas in D.C., debris is scattered throughout the Potomac River.

“Having enough qualified people to do below-surface rescue and recovery will be difficult,” said Bissonette. “That’s more of a skill set that’s maybe a little shorter in supply.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a preliminary report in the next few weeks. Bissonette said that should bring more clarity as to what went wrong.

“For the 3407 incident it didn’t seem like they (NTSB) wanted to be a partner, but that really wasn’t true,” said Bissonette. “We got to learn and understand their process as time went on and it was very valuable.”

While the circumstances of the current situation are different, Bissonette can speak from experience that it will be a long road ahead for the first responders, the community, and of course the families who are impacted by loss. He said his heart goes out to all who are affected.

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Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here.

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