Posted on 08/27/2006 4:38:10 AM PDT by BigBlueJon
Edited on 08/27/2006 5:02:21 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Possible plane crash in Lexington, KY. My brother works security for Lexington UK Hospital and was just called in. No news locally or on major news outlets yet. I didn't want to post anything for fear of being wrong, but he's still waiting for an official call while on stand-by.
Update from WTVQ 36 Lexington:
A plane has crashed near the Blue Grass Airport this morning. No word on details at this time. We are told it was a commercial aircraft. Versailles Road is blocked as emergency vehicles circle around the site. We have live coverage beginning at 7:20am. Stay with Action News 36 for more details.
I thought there had to be a clear voice transmission of "Your clear to take of on runway ##", and a confirmation before they could take off?
Sun, if up, would have been to their right as they taxied up to the runway. As they turned on to it, the sun would have been to their left rear, mostly rear.
So, I'd say no, the sun was not in their eyes.
Why would a pilot take off from an unlit runway? That shorter runway was for daylight use only. Was it dark at 6AM in Lexington, anyone know?
God help us. (just kidding)
I'm West Lafayette class of '02, Aviation Tech major.
Since the airport is tower controled 24/7 this is another classic San Diego PSA.
Taking off on the wrong runway it had to be a screw up by the pilot, ground control, and the tower.
Any one of the three could/should have stopped the takeoff.
I am in upper East Tennessee. Six a.m. dawn is about breaking. Sky is getting white - not black.
Working yet????
I'm a little late to this, but if he took off on the wrong runway, was it his mistake or was he directed to the wrong runway?
Either way, this is soon to be the busiest airport in the world, what with flying in all the lawyers it's gonna take to sue everybody.
I'm ATC at Toledo Express Airport, since spring '03. :-)
Spent a LOT of time in that building over the years, with Britt, and Jetstream...
A close friend ran the Great Lakes, and later the Corporate Air stations...
No, you are trained that if you can get it up, you get it up. Air gets out of your way, while the ground doesn't. Getting airborne past V2 gives you time and options if any exist. Running into something takes your options away.
yes, first officer is the same as co-pilot. Some airlines call the pilot, the pilot in command or something like that. Calling the co-pilot the "first officer" is the norm.
Best story from LAF was the woman from Nigeria that got off of a flight, walked outside, then came back to the counter asking, "Does it often snow in Louisiana?"
It is true that there are very many poor flight schools around that will let anyone through as long as they pass their FAA check-rides and tests. However, there are also a ton of great schools out there. There also aren't even close to enough military pilots out there to keep the airlines flying. I went to a four-year university with a very respected commercial flight program. Although I did not major in professional flight, I had to go through a lot of a flight training. Safety was our foremost concern.
KEEP THIS IN MIND ALSO: The captain may not have been pilot-in-command. The FO might have been at the controls and the pilot may have been operating the radios. I don't know how Comair works, but on many airlines, the captain and FO alternate PIC duties.
I hope Ernie isn't syaing some of his staff or other political figures were on the plane, because then it's an even bet that I knew them.
Not, of course, that knowing anyone on the plane makes this more or less tragic, just more personal.
MSNBC just said there was only one controller in the tower. This is very common at airports the size of LEX. At 6:00am, LEX was likely "TRACAB'd", which means a single controller was working approach/departure, tower, and ground control combined. This is perfectly normal and not a contributing factor. There is almost no air traffic at 6:00am on a Sunday.
"Not to minimize this at all, but pilots are humans, too.."
Of course, but pilots are supposed to overcome some of those human limitations and not be so careless as to take off from a short runway.
Fox just had an Aerial photo..
it's OBVIOUS now that they took off on the wrong runway...
Good point made on WXIA. To get to the short runway you have to stop at the long runway and get clearance to cross.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.