Plane Crashes in Lexington

WTVQ 36 Lexington ^ | August 27, 2006 | Jon Sasser

[Pukin Dog]

I called friends at Delta early this morning and got the scoop. They know what happened. The media is no help today at all.

[BigBlueJon]

Comair Flight 5191 LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Comair flight carrying 50 people crashed a mile from Lexington's airport Sunday morning shortly after takeoff, the Federal Aviation Administration said. At least one person survived. Comair Flight 5191, a CRJ-200 regional jet with 47 passengers and three crew members, crashed at 6:07 a.m. after taking off for Atlanta, said Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman. There was no immediate word on what caused the crash in a field about a mile from Blue Grass Airport. Light rain was falling at the time. The plane was largely intact afterward, but there was a fire following the impact, police said. The University of Kentucky hospital is treating one survivor, who is in critical condition, spokesman Jay Blanton said. No other survivors have been brought to the hospital, he said. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the passengers and crew appeared to still be on the plane and the deaths were caused either by the impact or the "hot fire" on board. "We are going to say a mass prayer before we begin the work of removing the bodies," Ginn said, referring to the chaplains who serve the airport. A temporary morgue is being set up at the scene and the bodies will be brought to the state medical examiner's office in Frankfort, Ginn said. He said both flight recorders have been found. Investigators from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were en route to the scene, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The airport closed for three hours after the crash, but reopened by 9 a.m. Comair is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines based in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Ky. The Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100 is a twin-engine aircraft that can carry up to 50 passengers, according to Delta's Web site. The crash marks the end of what has been called the "safest period in aviation history" in the United States. There has not been a major crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 plunged into a residential neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., killing 265 people, including five on the ground. On Jan. 8, 2003, an Air Midwest commuter plane crashed on takeoff at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, killing all 21 aboard. Last December, a seaplane operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways crashed off Miami Beach when its right wing separated from the fuselage shortly after takeoff, killing the 18 passengers and two crew members. That plane, a Grumman G-73 Turbo Mallard, was built in 1947 and modified significantly in 1979. The NTSB's last record of a CRJ crash was on November 21, 2004, when a China Eastern-Yunnan Airlines Bombardier crashed shortly after takeoff. The 6 crew members and 47 passengers on the CRJ-200 were killed, and there were two fatalities on the ground. Life Story • Guest Book Today's Lexington Herald-Leader obituaries -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions about obituaries or Guest Books? Contact Legacy.com

[COEXERJ145]

The aircraft lost was most likely N431CA which was a Bombardier CRJ-100ER.

[BigBlueJon]

Sorry...I wasn't watching.....bad post.

[USNBandit]

I don't know why we even had NATOPS checks in the Tomcat. We pretty much hit the cycle on a monthly basis during nomral operations. My squadron even had a guy divert into Sheikh Issa with a the left engine shutdown, stuck flaps, and a right generator failure. He was running the emergency generator off the BIDI, and of course the emergency generator kept kicking into the low mode whenever he made any control inputs.

[freedumb2003]

Thanks for the ping -- a larger version of the runway map is here: http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0607/00697AD.PDF

Wow -- 3500 vs 7000. Huge mistake.

Do they say "two-two" or "twenty-two"? If the latter I can see how the pilot MIGHT have heard wrong. But aren't they supposed to repeat back the info?

Pilots out there?

[Sting 11]

"two-two", not "twenty-two".

[dalereed]

"Isn't there ANYBODY in these news orgs that knows a damn thing about flying??"

They are getting better, at lesst they didn't call it a Cessna!

[USNBandit]

I wasn't trying to bust on you. I was making fun of the condition of some of our aging military aircraft.

[Pukin Dog]

Dont be dissin NATOPS, buddy. I know you slept with yours. LOL. And I hope you took your turn as NATOPS officer in your squadron like the rest of us.

[Paleo Conservative]

Thanks for the ping -- a larger version of the runway map is here: http://www.naco.faa.gov/d-tpp/0607/00697AD.PDF

That PDF is also available on the page to which I linked.

[Pukin Dog]

I remember at the start of the war in Iraq, Fox News had an image of an F-14 on their screen periodically for more than 4 hours, and the whole time called it an F-15. It was horrible.

[OBXWanderer]

Nothing wrong with a commuter airplane. Cant say the same for a commercial commuter airplane pilot. Most are fine, but morons do get through the system occasionally.

Did you ever hear about Boudreax and Thibadiux trying to find Lik Charles in da fog and rain on Cajun Air. Finally traffic control gets em on da ground after Boudreax has to STAND on the brakes, and full reverse thrust. Boudreax says, "Thib, that be the shortest runway I ever did see. " Thib say, "But Boudreax, look how wide it is.

[freedumb2003]

Yes -- I just wanted to help lazy people like me ;)

[El Gato]

It's the University of North Dakota

Indeed, we have a nephew in the program there. FReeper Brad's Gramma has a son there.

[freedumb2003]

Fox News had an image of an F-14 on their screen periodically for more than 4 hours, and the whole time called it an F-15.

You must have thrown your TV out the window! ;)

[Pukin Dog]

Oh no, Pukin loves his TVs. Were they women, I would buy them flowers for the joy they bring me......

Now, as for the remotes,........

[Pukin Dog]

LOL!

[jcs1744]

I'd like to see the V numbers on this guy and the weight and balance numbers. I don't know if he could've even made it much past his V2. A forced takeoff is always risky, but usually turns out okay, you've got to use good judgement as to whether you think you can get a decent rate of climb.

[Chuck54]

If you can understand that guys drivel, you must be one of those characters that can find the visage of the Virgin Mary on a slice of mushroom pizza.

Nah, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.