Posted on 08/29/2006 4:28:54 PM PDT by Clive
LEXINGTON, Kentucky - The co-pilot who was at the controls of the Comair commuter jet that crashed off the wrong runway and killed 49 people may have been confused by changes in the airport's runway lights, aviation experts said on Monday.
On Sunday's ill-fated predawn takeoff, the co-pilot, the flight's lone survivor, may not have been aware the lights on the proper runway were back on after they had been at least partially out when he landed at the airport two nights earlier.
A temporary advisory to pilots warning of the lighting outages on the longer runway used by commercial flights at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport had expired the day before the crash, the aviation sources said.
A witness to the accident, a ramp employee of another airline, told investigators the 3,500-foot (1-km) Runway 26 used by the jet was dark, while the lights were lit alongside the 7,000-foot-long (2-km) intersecting Runway 22 used by commercial air traffic at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport.
"This individual witnessed the taxi, the takeoff roll, and the accident. He told our investigators that Runway 26 was not lit and that Runway 22 and the taxiways were lit," National Transportation Safety Board investigator Debbie Hersman told a news briefing.
The lone air traffic controller on duty had cleared the airliner to take off on the longer runway and had no further communication with the pilots as they hurtled down the wrong strip, she said.
In a conversation recorded on the plane's cockpit voice recorder, the pilots noted the darkened runway. As the plane attained speed, the pilot called for the nose to come up so the front wheels would leave the pavement, Hersman said.
Tire markings showed the plane did not become airborne until striking a berm beyond the end of the runway. The plane then hit a perimeter fence, cleared a barbed-wire fence, struck some trees, and then came to rest in a field and burst into flames.
PILOT NOT INTERVIEWED
Co-pilot James Polehinke was pulled from the flaming wreckage, and remained in critical condition. Investigators have yet to interview him.
The NTSB has not been fully satisfied with efforts to reduce runway incidents. Even at heavily monitored airports, planes sometimes wind up on the wrong runway or taxiway.
"It's a major concern," said Carol Carmody, a former NTSB vice chairman.
At the airport, investigators drove stakes into the ground at the end of the runway and on the rolling hillsides beyond, where tarps protected wreckage from a steady rain. Red directional signs clearly marked the two runways.
"One of the issues that we're certainly going to be looking at is the visibility and the ability for the crew to see," Hersman said. "And also the issue of whether or not air traffic control could see."
Investigators used a borrowed plane, a 50-seat CRJ-100 made by Montreal-based Bombardier Inc., and a tall truck to simulate what the pilots might have seen.
Probably so.
For the want of a nail...
Sounds like it might be another case of "get-there-itis" - crew in a hurry to keep the airline's schedule and didn't take time to check the compass heading.
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Where was ground control?
Who was watching as "clear for takeoff" was uttered?
The tower was asleep.
How sad. I wondered what could have happened.
The pilot is always the first one on the scene of the accident. Only he would know.
From one aviator to ...: Understatment of the week!
Good thing this turkey bought the farm on this tragic fiasco. I can't even imagine having to live with the consequences of this monumental professional mistake!
There was only one person working in the control tower at the time of takeoff, from what I've read in an earlier report.
Another idiotic headline, as if these pilots were just morons or something. A mention of the conditions of the runways could have been incorporated into the headline, resulting in something like "Construction on runways may have led to confusion on takeoff".
FAA acknowledges it violated staffing policies with only one air traffic controller (KY)
-PJ
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
Your post intrigued me, so I googled it. You learn something new every day. Thank you. :)
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/for_want_of_a_nail.htm
And what a sad thing that the sole survivor is the one who will bear the agonizing guilt for the deaths of the other 49. Man, does this poor soul have some tough sledding ahead, if he survives.
One controller and should have been two, controller cleared the aircraft on to the runway then
turned his back and never saw what runway the pilot used, runway redesigned a few weeks ago and neither pilot had been there since. CLASSIC aircraft and ship accident situation....at least three people at fault and everyone
too casual....so 50 people are dead.
I did aircraft and ship accident reviews in the military for a spell. They are all like this one....
I've GOT to believe that crossing a fully LIT runway while starting to proceed down a fully dark one would be worth a reaction of some sort, even if the ATC in the tower had his feet up.....
Ping for the Aviation list.
"Ground control, to Master Tom..."
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