Flight 3407 that killed four jamaicans was on autopilot just before it crashed near Buffalo in icy weather, National Transportation Safety Board officials said yesterday, a decision the crew made even as two federal agencies have sent conflicting signals to pilots about whether to use the autopilot in such conditions.

Photos from the scene

Just 26 seconds before crashing, the autopilot was disengaged and the plane began to pitch wildly, at one point dropping from 1,800 feet to 1,000 feet in five seconds. The pilots engaged the Bombardier Q400 turboprop's full power "to try to get some flying airspeed back," said Steven Chealander, the NTSB member overseeing the investigation, in a briefing.