[stm]

A terrible tragedy

[DustyMoment]

I blame the people in the tower - NOT the flight crew!! If the people in the tower actually spent any time looking OUT of those fancy windows they have, they would have seen that he was headed toward the wrong runway and straightened him out.

Instead, they worried more about their coffee than the safety of the people on those planes.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

I saw a drawing of the Lexington runways, taxiways and terminal tarmac area on an earlier FR thread. It looks as if you have to taxi to the end of Runway 26, cross it, and then continue on a short taxi-way to Runway 22. The runways are just 4 degrees different in heading. The take-off was attempted before daylight.

It was certainly the pilot-in-command's responsibility to determine the correct runway but I know both pilots are proceeding through the pre-take-off checklist while taxiing.

The redundancy of two pilots is supposed to help avoid simple human error but does not always get the job done.

There are usually lighted signs next to each runway indicating the runway number which corresponds to the runway heading.

I can see how a simple but fatal mistake could be made in the rush to complete the take-off checklist.

Those who are not pilots have no idea how easy and fast it can be to make a mistake that can kill you and all of your passengers.

[Dr Stormfist]

I believe the news conference stated that the only survivor was the co-pilot...I just hope he survives to tell his tale. Both black boxes were recovered. Also, supposedly there was only one person in the flight tower controlling traffic??? He gave them their runway assignment and wasn't paying attention to insure it was the correct one they lined up on???

[pabianice]

What a no-brainer.

Airfield Performance: CRJ200 ER FAR required take-off field length (SL, ISA) at MTOW 5,800 feet

Mishap runway length: 3,500 feet

[pabianice]

Time to Sell...

[PushinTin]

First, let me start with I have never been to Lexington Tower. I do NOT know where it is located on the field as far as visual perspective. Number 2. There is NOT 4 degrees difference in the runways. There is approximately 40. 220 vs 240. At night it is very hard to tell position at certain distances and angles. All I am saying until I get a chance to look at it further.

[samtheman]

It wasn't immediately clear how the plane ended up on the shorter runway in the predawn darkness. There was a light rain Sunday, and the strip veers off at a V from the main runway, which had just been repaved last week.

"We will be looking into performance data, we will be looking at the weight of the aircraft, we will be looking at speeds, we will pull all that information off," Hersman said.

They ought to be looking into the possibility that the "V from the main runway" isn't marked clearly enough.