Comair update: flight used shorter runway
Some immediate information has come to light about the Comair crash in Kentucky yesterday. While I still caution people to not draw conclusions ahead of the investigation, there are certain facts that are available and confirmed.
The investigation is concentrating on figuring out why the Comair flight was using the short runway at Lexington. The runway is 3500 feet long which is a real problem for an aircraft like the Canadair RJ-100 since it requires about 5000 feet for takeoff. Drawing on my past experience, I cannot fathom why a pilot would ever make such a mistake given the huge amount of documentation available to him. The airport plates that every pilot I’ve ever known carry with them have details on every airport they might fly into or out of. Every runway, altimeter setting, radio frequency, and much more are reported on those plates. “Puzzling” doesn’t begin to capture this situation.
More to come as I hear more.
Comments
Comment from Mark Thompson
Time September 3, 2006 at 23:22
Controller Overload….. My intention is not to sound disrespectful, but please give me a break. At this time in the morning at the LEX airport, there are only a hand full of departures, maybe less than 8. Also, probably no arrivals. What would make you think the contoller was over loaded? That is just bunk. The amount of aircraft he had to handle in compared to what a controller would handle at a larger aiport, lets say CVG or ATL or LAX or most of the other towers in America, is by far lower for the LEX guy. It was negligance on the controller’s part as well as the pilots. Human errors happen and that is a fact of life and a learning experience for all of us. That controller was not overloaded though? All he had to do was clear the a/c for departure and prioritize his work, which would entail ensuring the a/c taxied on the correct runway before turning to comlete other administrative duties.
Comment from Scott Brown
Time September 3, 2006 at 23:28
I agree with the above opinion. If that controller can’t handle a dozen departures over the course of an hour, he doesn’t need to be a controller. There was not a need for a second controller at this time in the monring with this low flight activity. This accident was unfortunate and my heart goes out to the families of Comair, the passengers, and the controller.
Scott Brown – NASA Chemical Engineere
Pingback from Controller overload a factor in the Comair crash? « HoodaThunk?
Time August 30, 2006 at 06:30
[...] Additional details are coming out about the Comair crash as the NTSB continues its investigation. The ultimate cause of the crash is a simple one: the aircraft needed about 1500 feet more runway to develop sufficient flight speed than she had. By the time the crew ran out of runway, there was no chance whatsoever for the aircraft to take flight. It is, regrettably, that simple. The question isn’t what made the plane crash, it’s why did the pilot get on the wrong runway to begin with? [...]