Posted on 08/27/2006 4:38:10 AM PDT by BigBlueJon
Edited on 08/27/2006 5:02:21 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Possible plane crash in Lexington, KY. My brother works security for Lexington UK Hospital and was just called in. No news locally or on major news outlets yet. I didn't want to post anything for fear of being wrong, but he's still waiting for an official call while on stand-by.
Update from WTVQ 36 Lexington:
A plane has crashed near the Blue Grass Airport this morning. No word on details at this time. We are told it was a commercial aircraft. Versailles Road is blocked as emergency vehicles circle around the site. We have live coverage beginning at 7:20am. Stay with Action News 36 for more details.
The only built-in "gotcha" at Bluegrass is the intersection of 22/26... almost co-lcated -- dark early morning... gotta watch those signs and double check the DG when lined up!!
If they crashed at the fire training center then they didn't crash Versailles road. The center is on the same side as the airport.
Airline press conference is about to begin. Airline hot line is 1-800-801-0088.
The Air France crash in Toronto (A340) was caused by a lightning strike on landing.
Modern aircraft have to reset if struck by lighting.
Approx. 5 years ago a far east airline (JAL,Air Singapore, etc., not sure) ... a 747 I believe, took off on the wrong runway on Taiwan. It was during a heavy, low visibility, rain ... the runway was under repair at the time, thus closed. The aircraft crashed with heavy fatalities.
UPDATE:
This may already be known...
Last Updated 27/08/2006, 22:38
A passenger plane with around 50 people on board has crashed in the US state of Kentucky.
Local television says the accident occurred at Bluegrass Airport in Lexington.
It says emergency crews are on the scene trying to figure out what caused the incident.
The plane, belonged to Comair, a Delta-affiliated carrier.
Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1725315.htm
It would be surprising if they did take off from the wrong runway. Someone, whether in the tower or in the cockpit should've seen the error. 8/26 is only actually used during daylight and VFR conditions.
Considering where the wreckage is located though, it certainly sounds like the pilots took-off from 8/26. For the pilots to have taken off from the correct runway (4/22), it would've had to veer hard right shortly after takeoff to end up in that area.
I heard the local reporter say "Ver-sails"
Thanks for the update.
More...
This is excerpted per FR policy. Go to link at bottom for full story.
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.
Article Tools
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.
--snip--
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.
-snip-
Investigators will look at the airplane's trajectory, Waldock said. "Typically, if the airplane went almost straight down with a small impact area, that would argue loss of control," he said. "If it came in straight, and the fuselage were intact, something might have put the plane down." ------
Source (full story): http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/08/27/comair_flight_crashes_near_ky_airport/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News
It was SQ006; Singapore flight from Taiwan to LAX on 10/31.
It was a take off on the wrong runway and that runway was closed due to construction. And like you said there were definite weather issues.
And yes, many fatalities, but there were survivors. One jokes about having been injured in a construction accident. Figures she gets far less shocked responses with that than being a survivor of a plane crash.
7 years ago. February 1999
Airport official on MSNBC confirms only 1 survivor taken to hospital. He understands that all survivors have been recovered.
Pictures from MSNBC and coordinated with Google Earth indicate the plane did takeoff from runway 26, the incorrect runway.
Thanks for that info. Amazing how fast we get the news these days.
Seems like a case of "get-there-itis".
ie: rushing to takeoff and making a fatal mistake.
"But I've never heard of a plane taking off on the wrong runway."
As long as traffic is light there is not much to worry about. As long as there is not another aircraft landing at the same time. Small aircraft have/supposed to take off and land into the wind. Not so with larger aircraft due to their size and power. Just My Humble Opinion.
That would be really hard- it's an unlit runway and at 6am there wouldn't have been much light. I sincerely hope that the report I relayed was wrong and he did not take off on the wrong runway.
From the live video on www.lex18.com the plane did NOT cross Versailles road, but crashed on a farm at the southern end of the airport.
Sorry if this is a repost:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KLEX
I stand corrected - after looking at further aerial views it does appear to be the wrong runway. And per MSNBC that runway is not lit (daytime use only), so this is kind of inexplicable.
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