Flight Data: Plane On Wrong Runway

(CBS/AP)  A commuter jet mistakenly trying to take off on a runway that was too short crashed into a field Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor — a co-pilot — in critical condition, federal investigators said.

Preliminary flight data from Comair Flight 5191's black box recorders and the damage at the scene indicate the plane, a CRJ-100 regional jet, took off from the shortest runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said.

Earlier Sunday, U.S. officials told CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr that the pilots inexplicably used a runway that was too short to accommodate the takeoff of the jet. The officials said the pilots had made "a critical and fatal mistake."

The 3,500-foot-long strip, unlit and barely half the length of the airport's main runway, is not intended for commercial flights. The twin-engine CRJ-100 would have needed 5,000 feet to fully get off the ground, aviation experts said.

The smaller, un-lighted airstrip is primarily used for lightweight business jets, Orr reports.

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.

The Atlanta-bound plane plowed through a perimeter fence and crashed in a field less than mile from the end of that runway at about 6:07 a.m. Aerial images of the crash site in the rolling hills of Kentucky's horse country showed trees damaged at the end of the short runway and the nose of the plane almost parallel to the small strip.

Among the dead were a newlywed couple starting their honeymoon and a man who took an early flight to get home to his children. Jon Hooker had just married Scarlett Parlsey the night before the crash in a ceremony with 300 friends and relatives at Lexington's Headley-Whitley Museum.

Pilot Jeffrey Clay was killed in the crash and fire, but resuce workers did pull co-pilot Jim Polehinke from the wreckage, but he had critical injuries and burns, Orr reports.

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Watch: Bob Orr's report on the runway mistake

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Watch: Airport officials news conference

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When rescuers reached it, the plane was largely intact but in flames. A police officer burned his arms dragging the only survivor from the cracked cockpit.

The flames kept rescuers from reaching anyone else aboard — a newlywed couple starting their honeymoon, a Florida man who had caught an early flight home to be with his children and a University of Kentucky official among them.

"They were taking off, so I'm sure they had a lot of fuel on board," Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said. "Most of the injuries are going to be due to fire-related deaths."

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency had no indication that terrorism was involved in any way in what was the country's worst domestic plane crash in five years.

It's rare for a plane to get on the wrong runway, but "sometimes with the intersecting runways, pilots go down the wrong one," said Saint Louis University aerospace professor emeritus Paul Czysz.

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[mattybingo]

Article mentions last CRJ crash being 2004, but barely a year ago Northwest had a CRJ crash. It was being shuttled on a dead-head run, only two pilots and a flight attendant on board, but a fatal crash nonetheless. Cause never completely revealed, maybe because no passengers involved.

[phlashgordon]

Again, that was sarcasm. None of us think that this plane crash will have anything to do with political talking points.


"a more likely casualty count is 40-50k"

umm. okay. so in other words..you were just being a typical liberal blowhard. You JUST SAID that "bush murdered hundreds of thousands".

[robinseattle]

First, my condolences to the families and loved ones of those aboard Delta Connection 5191.

It is my understanding that there was recently some repaving done at the airport.

It appears that the pilots took off from runway 26 which is located before runway 22 which they were cleared on. Since the airport had recently been resurfacing the runways, I have two questions here. First, was runway 26 the runway which was resurfaced and if it was, was it clearly marked for the pilots who may have not been familar with this airport? Could this be the reason for the accident?

[overlybored]

Unless you are writing from a prison cell, convicted for tax evasion, aren't you as much to blame as Bush?

"I'm sure the Democrats will find some way to pin this on the Bush administration."

No one is trying to do that, not that it matters. He has soooooo much blood on his hands from the murder of hundreds of thousands, does it really matter if we add 50 or so more?

[spraycar]

I just love how libs can go from "hundreds of thousands" to "40K to 45K" and feel they've proved themselves.

Libs don't "get" facts nor logic, they just spout platitudes...

Tell me, 123, how is a suicide bombing between Sunni's and Shiites the fault of W? Help me understand how George is responsible for this hate... or yours, for that matter.

[coolhatch]

%u201COrr adds that two flights took off from the correct runway (22) just prior to the Comair flight's departure.%u201D

The above mentioned sentence should be corrected as follows:

Orr adds that two [other] flights took off from the correct runway (22) just prior to the Comair flight's departure.

[kirker123]

"source?"

Here ya go:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7967-2004Oct28.html (note that this article is dated October 2004)

A more likely casualty count is 40K-45K, but the 100K figure has at least been reported in the MSM.

[backhurts]

An accident like this the result of human error. Was weather a factor? I don't see it being a result of only pilot error unless there was no control tower. If this airport has a control tower and it was manned, then somebody wasn't watching the runways. It was very early in the morning. There are runway signs clearly marking the runway. This is an unnecessary loss of life. The NTSB will do their job. It will be interesting to hear all the facts.

[phlashgordon]

"go get a job"

I work 50 hours a week sir. In case you didn't notice...today is Sunday.

[bvineyard]

Although many contributing factors will be considered during the next year, the video evidence shows three obvious factors in the Comair accident.
1. As seen in the newscast, the identification numbers for runway 26 are painted on the very beginning of the runway. This is normal under current guidelines for a non-instrument runway.
2. The taxiway intersection for runway 26 allows the aircraft to enter the runway at a point beyond the identification numbers.
3. The identification numbers for runway 26 are faded, possibly beyond established safety standards.

Recommendation:

1. Place the non-instrument runway identificaton numbers well beyond the beginning of the runway at all airports.
2. Require more frequent inspection to meet minimum visibility standards for runway identification markings.
3. Require flight crews to add a final checklist item verifying assigned runway alignment with their compass. This checklist procedure alone may have prevented this accident.