http://www.kentucky.com/604/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com The crash of Comair Flight 5191 60 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:23:25 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/426/story/10853.html http://www.kentucky.com/426/story/10853.html Tue, 15 May 2007 09:39 EDT
Debbie Hersman, a National Transportation Safety Board member, said yesterday that "ground scars," or marks made by the plane as it crashed, and information from the cockpit voice recorder indicated that Delta Comair Flight 5191, which crashed shortly after 6 a.m. yesterday, took off on Runway 26, which is for use by smaller aircraft.

Hersman said yesterday that information obtained by the NTSB indicated that the pilot was cleared to take off on Runway 22, which is 7,000 feet long and designed for passenger jets. Runway 26 is only 3,500 feet long

Information obtained by the NTSB so far gave "reference to 22" alone, Hersman said.

Hersman said yesterday that the investigation was still in its early stages and that the investigative teams will be breaking up into smaller groups to analyze all aspects of this accident, one of the largest aviation accidents in Kentucky history. The plane's voice and data recorders were recovered and sent to Washington, D.C., yesterday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10629.html http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10629.html Wed, 16 May 2007 09:48 EDT
WLEX president and general manager Tim Gilbert, who was home watching the telecast with his family, said he was "stunned" by the introduction; if station managers had known about the intro before the broadcast, Lexington viewers wouldn't have seen it, he said.

"It was a live telecast -- we were completely helpless," Gilbert said of the Emmys. "By the time we began to react, it was over. At the station, we were as horrified as they were at home."

He said he'll complain to NBC, but he said an apology won't make up for insensitivity.

"They could have killed the opening and it wouldn't have hurt the show at all," Gilbert said. "We wish somebody had thought this through. It's somewhere between ignorance and incompetence."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10863.html http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10863.html Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:48 EDT
NTSB member Debbie Hersman also confirmed that First Officer James Polehinke was at the controls, and that the flight crew received no communication from the control tower as they headed down Runway 26, which was not the runway they should have been using. Seconds later the plane crashed, and Polehinke was the only survivor among the 50 people on board. He remains in critical condition.

Investigators today plan to interview the still-unidentified air traffic controller who was on duty at the airport on Sunday.

And, as the investigation into the crash continued, Gov. Ernie Fletcher suggested last night that Blue Grass Airport permanently close the short runway mistakenly used by the flight when it crashed.

"I think it would be advantageous," the governor said last night, adding that he would defer the final decision to experts.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10868.html http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10868.html Mon, 14 May 2007 14:51 EDT
Within eight minutes of the Sunday morning crash that killed 49, firefighters were pouring water over the plane. Three police officers were somehow maneuvering First Officer James Polehinke out of the cockpit.

By the time Gary Ginn, the Lexington-Fayette County coroner, made it onto the private property where the plane had fallen, the fires were out but they had already destroyed much of the plane and the people in it. It looked like everyone had burned to death. He said so to the media at the time. He could hardly describe what he had seen.

Yesterday, Ginn revised his statement. With the bulk of the autopsies completed, he said the leading cause of death was blunt force trauma from the crash's initial impact. The 49 on board who died, to be sure, had varying degrees of burns on their bodies. Some were devastatingly extensive. Some were minimal, he said. But few had evidence of smoke in their lungs. They hadn't had to suffer that.

It was the sight of the bodies that was so obviously disturbing to those who responded first to the scene. Most of the bodies appeared to be belted in, said Ginn. But from the fire's searing heat, there was no way to know whether passengers had been wearing oxygen masks.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10870.html http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/10870.html Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:59 EDT
Lois Turner, a founding member of the school and currently a middle-school math teacher, has been involved there for almost three decades. Her husband, Larry Turner, was often in attendance at school activities with their three children, Molly, 25, Amy, 22, and Clay, 18, who all graduated from Lexington Christian.

So when Larry Turner died aboard Comair Flight 5191 on Sunday, students, parents and teachers visited Lois and her children in a show of solidarity and support.

"They are praying for us and have called us with words of encouragement," said Lois. "I've been overwhelmed by their support and kindness and love."

Because most of the 50 people aboard Flight 5191 were Lexington residents, about five Fayette County public schools were directly affected by the crash.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/69223.html http://www.kentucky.com/604/story/69223.html Mon, 14 May 2007 14:53 EDT
And the lone controller who was there last saw Comair Flight 5191 before it taxied onto the wrong runway, according to investigators.

After clearing the plane for takeoff on Runway 22, the controller "turned his back to perform administrative duties," said Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. "This controller did not have visual contact with the aircraft," she said.

Moments later, when he turned again, Flight 5191 had crashed, killing 49 of 50 people onboard.

Although his view of the runway was clear and unobstructed, the controller did not actually see which runway the plane lined up on, he told investigators yesterday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/425/story/10673.html http://www.kentucky.com/425/story/10673.html Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:01 EDT
Grieving relatives who looked out the bus windows saw a long line of staff members from Southland Christian Church, holding homemade signs reading "God loves you" and "You are in our prayers."

Family members were met at the crash site by saluting Lexington police officers and dozens of Red Cross workers solemnly bowing their heads.

Not far away, at a temporary memorial at Blue Grass Airport, a new husband and wife directed their florist to place a pair of leftover wedding wreaths. They dedicated them to another newlywed pair who died on the plane. Both couples were married on Saturday.

While the "Remembering 5191" banner at the airport became a center of grief, it was a day for mourning throughout Lexington.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/425/story/10687.html http://www.kentucky.com/425/story/10687.html Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:14 EDT
Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Mayor Teresa Isaac joined a number of Lexington clergymen in offering words of support and comfort for family members who have felt little but pain and loss since the plane went down at Blue Grass Airport five days ago.

Lt. Stewart Dawson, chaplain of the Lexington Fire Department, opened the program with a prayer and a few remarks. Dawson has been assisting the families since Sunday morning, and was at the airport to receive the first families to arrive after the crash.

He said he tried to offer the families a message of hope yesterday.

"I said that the lights we were lighting represented the lives of loved ones," he said. "The lights that they lived in their lives cannot be taken away ... Light remains a symbol of hope as they continue on in their lives, there will be more light and more hope in the days ahead."]]>