Posted on 09/02/2006 3:03:33 PM PDT by Pharmboy
LEXINGTON, Ky. - What is known is that a string of mistakes preceded the deadly crash of Comair Flight 5191, but what is less clear is which one was the crucial turning point.
Was the problem the airport itself? The captain had to follow an unfamiliar taxi route that had been changed by a repaving project just a week earlier.
Or, was it a decision by the tower manager to break the federal rule that two controllers should be working there at all times? Or even earlier, when the airport built intersecting runways rather than parallel ones?
"It just breaks your heart if you‘re an investigator because you know if the chain is broken at any step of the way, lives are not going to be lost," said Peter Goelz, a former managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board .
Instead, the answer may lie in a web of small mistakes, nearly all of them preventable.
During briefings, there was little mention of technical problems with the aircraft or poor weather, but potential human errors were identified daily.
Technological advancements keep making airports and airplanes safer, but technology can‘t eliminate all human error, said Bill Waldock, aviation safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Prescott, Ariz.
Even before the NTSB‘s final report, the crash could have an effect on the aviation industry.
Some control tower operators have complained about declining staffing levels at airports. Federal rules require eight hours off between shifts, but they say that‘s not enough for controllers to be well rested.
Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey said that the Blue Grass controller had the required time off between shifts, and that it was his responsibility to know whether he‘d had enough sleep.
"We expect that when our staff report for work that they determine that they are fit for duty," Blakey said.
As for the airplane crew, John Nance, a pilot and aviation safety consultant, noted that it‘s standard for pilots to cross-check runway headings on their compass before taking off. Nance said he can‘t imagine how the crew members turned onto the wrong runway, headed in the wrong direction, if they had done that.
"Probably the words ‘wrong runway‘ never popped into their heads," Nance said.
"I just can‘t imagine as a pilot how you could blast off in the darkness like that," Waldock said. "Even if you‘ve been up for three days with no sleep, I can‘t imagine doing something like that."
Which one of these should be considered 'small'?
Its always the simple mistakes that get ya complacency
if your on24 right look at your compass should be close to 240
All runways are marked very well.
This is PILOT error or pilot ignorance.
From what I hear these are the least trained commercial pilots.
Comair is going to try to shift the blame to limit liability but ultimately it is pilot error for failure to be comppletely familiar with the airport.
EXCELLENT point. I feel a bit dumb for not figuring that out myself...
And they made the wrong mistakes.
RIP, all who perished. So sad and such a waste...
Absolutely heartbreaking. That newlywed couple, for example...
> ... it‘s standard for pilots to cross-check runway
> headings on their compass before taking off. Nance
> said he can‘t imagine how the crew members turned
> onto the wrong runway, headed in the wrong direction,
> if they had done that.
As I pointed out in an early thread on the RWY 22 aspect:
"... but with runways only 36 to 44 degrees apart,
combined with local magnetic anomalies, compass error,
and perhaps not being precisely aligned on the
centerline, the needle might be closer to 220 than 260."
And the children, P.
Sue everyone. Let the lawyers sort it out.
Any word on the first officer?
Yesterday, upgraded to "Serious Condition".
I was not aware of the kids on the flight, although I read an in-depth piece on the newlyweds. Awful...the death of the little ones cannot be worse.
As with most FAA investigations, this will be declared to be pilot error. Pilot error with contributing factors, but pilot error nonetheless.
Was there ever a passanger list posted? I never saw nor heard of one in this instance.
That comment is just plane (pun unintentional) silly: so many airports have intersecting runways that the map icon for an airport shows it that way!
I never saw one...but they did run human interest stories on individual passengers. Good point...
Please define "least trained"
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