CNN just said that when the two pilots got to the airport that morning, they got in the WRONG plane and turned on the power!
This morning's Lexington newspaper also has that story:
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/15394392.htm
Also, there has been discussion of markings on runway 26. I could not see them from the aerials previously posted. But a photo this morning shows "26" at the far right end of the runway. It could be missed in the dark as the photo shows because the pilots were looking straight ahead and to the left for takeoff.
http://www.heraldleaderphoto.com/featuredgalleries/featuredgalleriesindex.html
The photo is #1 in the "Plane Crash Site" gallery (the photos are in Flash Player and I don't know how to extract to post here).
"CNN just said that when the two pilots got to the airport that morning, they got in the WRONG plane and turned on the power!"
That can't be good.
Man, it sounds like those guys were sleep-walking, just going through the motions, not focused on the job at hand. Their schedule, rest time, etc. will probably get a real hard going over.
Isn't Delta in bankruptcy? Are they pushing their crews too hard? From the article CedarDave just posted, the pilots apparently had plenty of time before the flight, but that doesn't tell us about how hard they were worked in the previous 30 days or if they had ever flown together. The FO had been called in to replace another, so they may have been unfamiliar with each other's tendencies.
So many questions - such a tragedy. I hope NTSB uncovers all the necessary facts to put together 'lessons learned' so this scenario doesn't happen again.
Here's an interesting article. Don't stop reading till the end!