‘49 lives that mattered.’ Lexington remembers 20th anniversary of Comair 5191 crash
They were accountants, philanthropists and executives.
They were parents, siblings, grandparents and spouses.
They were ambitious, kind and generous.
Each of the 49 passengers killed on Comair Flight 5191 shortly after 6 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2006, had a story, a life and people who loved them.
“They were someone’s whole world,” said Sue Byrd, mother of Brian Byrd, who along with his fiancee, Judy Rains, was killed that morning at Blue Grass Airport. It is one of the largest aviation disasters in Fayette County history.
Byrd told a large group who gathered at the University of Kentucky Arboretum for the 20th anniversary memorial service for Flight 5191 she did not want her son and the other passengers on Comair 5191 to be remembered as victims of an airplane crash.
“I want them to be remembered as 49 human stories,” Byrd said. “They were 49 lives that mattered.”
The Comair Flight 5191 airplane bound for Atlanta crashed shortly after taking off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport. Forty-nine people, many from Lexington and the surrounding area, died. Only one person, co-pilot James Polehinke, survived.
Gerry van der Meer, co-chair of the 5191 Memorial Committee, was general manager of the Campbell House at the time of the early Sunday morning tragedy. He opened the Campbell House to the victim’s families for more than a week, becoming a hub for the families and first responders.
The entire community responded, van der Meer said. Lexington-area businesses and restaurants brought food and other supplies to the hotel. Then-Mayor Teresa Isaac called every morning to ask if he needed anything. Other people and community groups stepped up to provide translation services to family members of two Japanese travelers on the flight. An elementary school teacher delivered cards made by her students to the victims’ families.
“In my lifetime, I have never before or since experienced such a genuine demonstration of concern and spontaneous care and giving,” van der Meer said.
He went on to co-chair the 5191 Memorial Committee, which helped pick and construct the memorial of 49 doves in flight, which is placed at the arboretum. Byrd and other family members of Comair Flight 5191 victims also helped serve on the committee. During Thursday’s ceremony, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers and Lexington Fire Chief Jason Wells read the names of the 49 victims.
Mayor Linda Gorton said many people in Lexington knew people on that flight that day. But the tragedy also reshaped Lexington, she said.
“While our community, our commonwealth and our nation lost the unknown potential and future impact of the 49 souls we remember today, the families lost so much more,” Gorton said.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman knew one of the victims, a college classmate.
“May we all commit and recommit ourselves to holding our loved ones a little closer, speaking words of love a little bit more often, and ensuring that the 49 people that we remember here today are never, ever forgotten,” Coleman said.
Matthew Snoddy said his father Timothy Snoddy, who was killed in the crash, was on his way to Florida, where he had an office.
Born Dec. 24, 1954, in Greenup County, the elder Snoddy eventually attended the University of Kentucky, got a degree in accounting and later became a forensic accountant. He raised a family in Lexington and had offices in Lexington, North Carolina and Florida.
The night before boarding Comair Flight 5191, Snoddy had attended a Picnic with the Pops concert with friends. When Matthew Snoddy cleaned out his father’s office after his death, the younger Snoddy found a ticket for a Rolling Stones concert his father would never attend.
But his Dad’s story is just one story — a thread — in the tapestry of the lives of the people on that flight that morning, Snoddy said. And they were connected to the wider Lexington community.
“They were friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues and coworkers,” Snoddy said. “They were real people doing real things in the real world, making real changes. They were part of the fabric of our lives and integral parts of our communities.”
Snoddy said 20 years later, he prefers not to think about how his father died but how he lived, the stories he told him and the love he had for his grandchildren.
Still, Matthew Snoddy passed a sad milestone recently.
Tim Snoddy died when he was 51; the same age Matthew Snoddy is today.
“I’m actually 16 days older than he was when he passed away,” Matthew Snoddy said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2026 at 4:22 PM with the headline "‘49 lives that mattered.’ Lexington remembers 20th anniversary of Comair 5191 crash."
