A fiery airplane crash near Lexington, Ky., early yesterday killed all but one of 50 passengers and crew aboard the twin-engine aircraft within seconds after Comair Flight 5191 departed Blue Grass Airport for Atlanta.
Airline officials during two press conferences refused to speculate on the cause of the crash or reports that it took off from a 3,500-foot unlit secondary runway — restricted for daylight hours only — or the main runway, which stretches 7,000 feet.
Debbie Hersman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), told a press conference last night “ground scars” show the Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100 aircraft was “lined up and took off” on the airport’s smaller “26” runway.
“We’ve seen information it came off 26,” she said. “There were only references to 22,” the airport’s main runway.
The CRJ-100 can carry up to 50 passengers, and requires at least 4,500 feet for takeoff.
Nick Bentley, horse breeder and owner of the farm where the plane crashed within sight of the regional airport’s shorter runway, told The Washington Times in a telephone interview that the pilot took the wrong runway and crashed through several low-standing trees and the upper part of an eight-foot security fence that surrounds the airport.
“He just barely missed getting over that fence,” Mr. Bentley. “I can’t imagine what went through his mind when he realized what was going on, and that he had made a mistake.”
“There’s just no other way that could have happened,” Mr. Bentley said of the crash site. “He just made a mistake and went up the wrong runway.”
Miss Hersman confirmed his report, and said “it is my understanding it did go throughthe perimeter fence.”
The airport was shut down earlier this month to completely resurface and expand the main runway as part of the airport’s $35 million runway safety renovation program. The airport reopened the new 7,000-foot runway Aug. 20, however the shorter runway is reportedly in disrepair.
Comair President Don Bornhorst said the airline is focused on assisting in the investigation by the NTSB, which has requested help from the FBI.
“One of the most damaging things that can happen to an investigation of this magnitude is for speculation or for us to guess at what may be happening,” Mr. Bornhorst said.
The crash comes at a bad time for the financially strapped airline, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September along with Delta, its parent company.
Witnesses said the plane erupted into flames after crash-landing on Mr. Bentley’s farm near the historic Keenland Racetrack.
First responders were able to pull the lone survivor, co-pilot James M. Polehinke, from the nose of plane.
Mr. Polehinke was taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition.
Lexington Police Officer Bryan Jared was treated for injuries he sustained during the rescue and later returned to the scene to help emergency workers.
“It’s not a good sight, whatsoever,” said Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn, one of the first to arrive on the site.
A temporary morgue was established in nearby Frankfort, and Mr. Ginn said it could take three days to recover all of the crash victims.
“We will treat each individual with dignity,” said Mr. Ginn who added that rescue workers held a moment of silence and prayed with the Lexington Police chaplain at the site.
The coroner said he expects the cause of death of most victims to be fire, rather than smoke or the crash itself. The plane was mostly intact, and all of the victims were inside the aircraft.
“This is one of the largest tragedies we’ve seen in Kentucky in terms of the number of lives lost,” Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher said via a cell phone at a press conference.
Mr. Fletcher, a Republican, is in Germany for the World Equestrian Games and will return to Kentucky today. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this terrible tragedy,” Mr. Fletcher said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush was being briefed on the crash.
“The president was deeply saddened by the news of the plane crash in Kentucky today,” Mrs. Perino said. “His sympathies are with the many families of the victims of this tragedy.”
This was the first major airline crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 struck a neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., killing 265 persons.
Homeland Security officials are monitoring the crash and said the accident does not appear to be a terrorist attack.
Mr. Bentley said the crash is devastating to the bluegrass community in the heart of horse country, where everyone knows everybody.
“Every time I fly out of Blue Grass, I always see friends of mine who are in the horse business — I probably lost five or six friends on that flight,” Mr. Bentley said.
Although the passenger manifest had not been released yesterday, Thoroughbred Times reported that breeder and consignor Dan Mallory was aboard the flight en route to the Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale.
It was also reported that John Hooker, a former University of Kentucky baseball player and his new wife, Scarlett, who were married Saturday night, had left for their honeymoon yesterday aboard Flight 5191.
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