The turboprop plane that crashed in New York state, killing all 48 people on board and one on the ground, was one of the safest and most sophisticated aircraft of its type, according to an aviation industry expert. The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was less than one year old and had flown for only about 1,500 hours, said Kieran Daly, of the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence. The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was operated by Colgan Air between Newark Liberty International Airport and Buffalo.