An expert on cockpit distractions told federal aviation regulators today that a low-speed warning system might help prevent airplane crashes like the one in February that killed two city residents and 48 others outside of Buffalo, N.Y..

Testifying at the final day of the National Transportation Safety Board's hearings in Washington, D.C., Dr. Robert Dismukes, a scientist in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said the cockpit transcript shows the captain and first officer failed to notice the plane was flying at a dangerously low speed.

The scientist testified that some aircraft already have audible warning systems, but alerts are needed in all planes.

"You'd want a distinct, a very distinct alert, but one that is not so dramatic. That's what we're looking at," said Dismukes.

Yesterday, the NTSB said that the crew of the crashed Colgan Air turboprop was set up for failure in part by the structure of the commuter airline business.

Co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, who earned just $16,000 a year, was living with her parents in Seattle, Wash. and commuting to her base in Newark, N.J.

She had made the 2,800-mile cross-country trek in the early morning of the day of the crash.

Captain Marvin Renslow was commuting to Newark from his home near Tampa, Fla.

In LaGuardia Airport in Queens this morning, many commuters told NY1 they were uncomfortable with the hearings' findings.

"It makes me think twice, definitely. They should make sure [pilots] have proper sleep and make their schedule less hectic when they fly a plane," said a traveler.

"After the news reports about smaller airlines, some of the problems they had had, I'm a little reluctant to get on one of the smaller airline flights," said another.

Others said that flying is still statistically one of the safest ways to travel.

"I don't have any concerns," said another traveler. "I just fly a lot and, you know, I feel that the airlines take care of it. The law of averages are going to have a problem once in a while."