Aug. 7, 2009 (United Press International) -- The president of Pinnacle Airlines (NASDAQ:PNCL) said the pilot of a plane that crashed near Buffalo, N.Y., and killed 50 people should not have been in the cockpit.

A Senate subcommittee hearing Thursday was the scene of the admission by Philip Trenary, president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Airlines, which owns Colgan Air, operator of the plane that crashed in February, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported Friday.

"Had we known what we know now, he would not have been in that seat," said Philip H. Trenary, president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle, owner of Colgan Air, which operated the doomed plane.

Trenary's admission came during a hearing about several issues that arose in a federal investigation into the Continental Connection Flight 3407 crash. The plane's pilot, Capt. Marvin Renslow, failed three federal "check rides" before Colgan hired him -- but his job application with Colgan showed only one failed check ride, the News said.

Trenary called Renslow "a fine man, by all accounts," but indicated his failed check rides would have been an issue if Colgan had known about them.

Renslow's performance as Flight 3407 approached Buffalo from Newark, N.J., arose as a key issue in the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation of the crash, the News said. Investigators said they found Renslow reacted inappropriately to a stall warning.