NTSB: Air Controller Had Back Turned

(CBS/AP)  The lone air traffic controller on duty the morning Comair Flight 5181 crashed cleared the jet for takeoff, then turned his back to do some "administrative duties" as the aircraft veered down the wrong runway, a federal investigator said Tuesday.

The crash killed 49 people — everyone on board except first officer James Polehinke, who was in critical condition Tuesday.

The jet stuggled to get airborne and crashed in a field after taking off Sunday from a 3,500-foot runway instead of an adjoining one that was twice as long. Experts said the plane needed at least 5,000 feet for takeoff.

The air traffic controller had an unobstructed view of the runways and had cleared the aircraft for takeoff from the longer runway, said National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman.

Then, "he turned his back to perform administrative duties," Hersman said. "At that point, he was doing a traffic count."

Earlier Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged violating its owns policies when it assigned only one controller to the airport tower that morning. The policy is outlined in a 2005 directive requiring that control tower observations and radar approach operations be handled separately.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that the cockpit voice recorder and air traffic control tapes leave no doubt the pilots were lost on the wrong runway. Flight 5191 was cleared to take off on runway 22, a lighted and long 7,000-foot strip. But for some reason, the pilots turned onto the shorter and unlighted runway 26.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the controller had to do his own job — keeping track of airplanes on the ground and in the air up to a few miles away — as well as radar duties.

The controller had been working at the Lexington airport for 17 years and was fully qualified, Hersman said.

Polehinke was flying the plane, but it was the flight's captain, Jeffrey Clay, who taxied the aircraft onto the wrong runway, Hersman said. Clay then turned over the controls to Polehinke for takeoff, the investigator said.

Polehinke was pulled from the burning plane after the crash but has not been able to tell investigators why the pilots tried to take off from the wrong runway.

Both crew members were familiar with the Lexington airport, according to Hersman. She said Clay had been there six times in the past two years, and Polehinke had been there 10 times in the past two years — but neither had been to the airport since a taxiway repaving project just a week earlier that had altered the taxiway route.

[barzali-2009]

I heard a comment that the pilots have "taxiway maps" to follow as they taxi to the runway. Did the flight crew of this flight have up-to-date taxiway maps, showing the new taxi route?

[flyboy221]

The pilot in command always has ultimate responsibility and it appears this accident is probably a case of pilot error. There appears to have been a failure of cockpit resource management. Had there been the required tower crew on duty (2) this accident may have been prevented. The reason there was not adequate tower personnel is probably due to poor management oversight at the FAA tower facility and cost cutting. The current FAA Administrator and her Directors are all politicians and have little actual aviation experience. The FAA currently lacks any leadership and the current focus is on turning regulatory oversight over to industry (Airlines), the FAA also wants to impose user fees which will ultimately drive current FAA oversight to be accomplished by designees (contractors). The current FAA Safety Inspector work force has continued to deteriorate under the leadership of the current Administrator and her political managers. The current focus of the FAA is a System Safety Approach, basically what this means is the airlines regulate them selves. Do you really want to fly on an airline that regulates them selves, what do you think would come first costs or safety? It always takes an accident to get the tombstone agency (FAA) off there duffs, what the heck are our congressmen doing about this. It is time for a complete house cleaning at the FAA, the flying public deserves better, when you buy a ticket on an airline you should expect to arrive at your destination in one piece.

[n8464w]

Just a couple of weeks ago, a maintenance crew taxied one CRJ-200 out to the run-up area at Will Rogers World Airport in OKC. The "captain" was instructed by ATC to hold short of an active runway, but he FORGOT the restriction. As the aircraft neared the intersection, without slowing down, the tower controller called out, "MESA 996, STOP!!!" As an observer, and as a new-hire, I should just keep quiet about this, along with all the other maintenance guys who were inside, still trying to re-install the interior, and who were literally thrown to the floor when maximum braking was applied, but as I then looked forward, through the windshield, I caught the blur of a Southwest 737 landing on the runway right in front of us! Because that controller was VIGILANT, because he was DOING HIS JOB, many lives were saved that day, and later on we all just went home like it had been "another day at the office". Whomever you are at Will Rogers Tower, you get a "rose" from me!
I used to be a controller myself, and I know what it's like when your ABILITY TO REMAIN VIGILANT is compromised by "administrative" demands...
All we really have to do is keep watching, and keep watching!

[bob757200]

Yes, it is unfortunate that this was pilot error. If I can't trust my ground controller though, I'm screwed. I have been cleared to turn onto a taxiway before and come head-on into another aircraft going the wrong way in bad weather. And he was MUCH BIGGER than me! Passengers wonder why you are going backwards. Even the most experienced pilots have incidents because we HAVE TO depend on others to do their jobs and they mess up.Oh well, I just have to be as safe as possible.

[alphaa10-2009]

arlvabear-- Pilots have ultimate responsibility for how the plane flies, but they obviously need accurate information to make those decisions. The FAA, in general, has been a battleground of missteps and faulty oversight through the years in not always providing that information in a timely and clear manner.

This running failure ranges from understaffing of towers (in this case, especially) to training of operators to provision of monitoring and traffic control equipment.

For example, the computer equipment by which most airport towers control traffic is mediocre, if not completely antiquated. Securitywise, more than once, it has been discovered someone with only a little expertise could cause airborne disaster by interfering with tower control systems.

The Kentucky pilots chose the wrong runway, but if you look at the aerial view, you can see the new runway is easy to miss-- it required a second dogleg to reach runway 22, but only a single turn to reach 26. As BillCatz points out, none of this was very clear-- a lethal oversight.

[atc_guy]

Your so call pilot and aviation analyst, John Nance needs to stick to pilot stuff and refrain from making ignorant comments concerning air traffic controllers responsibilities.
Do you honestly believe that controllers clear airplanes for takeoff and leave it up to the pilots to choose the runway? Try doing that in Atlanta or DFW!