Comair flight 191 (CRJ1/L) from Lexington, KY (KLEX) bound for Atlanta, GA (KATL) crashed almost immediately upon departure from KLEX at approx. 0607 hours this morning, 27AUG06.
Initial reports are that there are no survivors among the 47 passengers and three crewmembers.
Secondary reports are announcing the possibility of one survivor.
Cnn is reporting that one person has been taken to the hospital in critical condition…they are reporting also that at 10am est,comair will be having a news conference…
I’ve heard of one survivor. The media inconsistency with this one revolves around the wx conditions. CNN says that it was dark (6a.m.), but clear. Fox News says there was a light rain falling, but in their own interview with a spokeswoman from the FAA, she specifically stated that there was NO rain at the time. Two against one, I’ll take clear w/ no rain…I think.
Not much left of the a/c from the pics I’ve seen…Just a big, muddy streak on the side of a hill.
Red Circle is where they are saying it went down.
There saying that it tookoff on the wrong runway and might not of had enough speed and went through some trees. I say broken trees from a new chopper. People who saw the crash said that it was on fire in the air before it went down.
HOW do I get the image bigger on here???
Yes, one survivor (male) in critical condition at the local LEX hospital.
Impact is reported to be approx. 1/2 to 1 mile from the end of the runway. Reports from an eyewitness also states that the aircraft was substantially intact after the impact but was consumed by fire before rescuers could arrive.
I think speculating about the plane “taking off on the wrong runway” or such is a little silly. They haven’t released any actual information about the flight other than it took off and came back down right away and that there was 1 confirmed survivor.
Anything heard on CNN or Fox News or wherever should be taken with a grain of salt because they are notorious for providing incredibly inaccurate information. In a couple of days the NTSB will release their preliminary briefing on the website. Until something official comes out, anything anyone says is merely speculation, and possibly completely false.
Yes I know it sound silly but look at the end of the runway and the crash site it lines up. If it took off from the other runway it looks like it would have made a big left turn then and if it were to crash on the side like that I don’t think that it would have been intacked like there saying it is. But I wasn’t there so i’m just saying what there saying.
Point well taken. I’ll also mention the fact that there’s so little real information available that the media has already resorted to the infamous “How do you feel?” questions!
My thoughts on that are already well documented on the Forum here!
I didn’t realise that we already had satellite photos that showed that it actually did crash in the big red circle. We don’t know anything other than at least 49 people lost their lives this morning. That’s all. We don’t know why, how or where really, just general details.
FYI- the METAR’s from KLEX:
KLEX 271154Z 22006KT 6SM HZ OVC055 23/20 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP161 60001 70001 T02330200 10250 20233 53012
KLEX 271054Z 22008KT 8SM FEW047 BKN060 OVC090 23/20 A3002 RMK AO2 RAB12E51 SLP154 P0001 T02330200
KLEX 270954Z 20007KT 8SM FEW090 SCT120 24/19 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP147 T02390194
Also, a NOTAM is out for 8/26 being closed:
******** NOTAMs ********
!LEX 08/035 LEX 8/26 CLSD
Now, given winds SSW [210] at the time of the accident, why would an aircrew CHOOSE a 3500ft runway with a direct crosswind when they had a another 7000ft LIGHTED runway almost directly aligned into the wind.
This really starts to smell like pilot error to me. I HATE saying that but the last time I checked 3500ft is too short for later model Lears much less a CRJ. CRJ’s are not that overpowered - and cannot maintain mid-flight levels altitude on a single engine. You might get a Lear 35 or a Hawker / Falcon level jet out of 3500 feet, but a fully loaded CRJ? I don’t think so.
I await the CVR - and as a pilot really wonder when they realized it was too short.
I am watching streaming coverage from a local station in Lexington and they had doppler radar from the time of the accident. It looks like there was a pretty strong cell due west of KLEX right before the accident (0558). The cell progresed east and rapidly died out, with the remains reaching the airport boundaries at about the time of the accident. That could have complicated the situation with a high probability of strong outflow from the collapse of the cell. If the cell was at the end of the runway, that cell collapsing would have created the classic wind shear/micorburst scenario. Even if they were able to get airborne off of runway 22, hitting this wind event could have done them in. Again, this is all based on the assumption that they actually did depart the wrong runway, which it appears they might actually have done. We’ll just have to wait and see what facts the NTSB finds over the next few days/weeks.
First Officer is lone survivor of crash. He is currently in surgery at University of Kentucky Hospital.
God bless all folks involved in this tragedy. per some of the fire\rescue sites i belong to 191 consumed by post-crash fire. only 1 victim could be extricated prior to consumption due to high heat and flames. couple rescuers with minor inj/burns while trying to rescue passengers. per public safety witnesses aircraft never gained altitude. struggled into air. no reports of mechanical malfunction. aircraft came to rest straight off runway no turn involved. will advise if more info comes available.
Crash site owner is apparent source of conjecture that the wrong runway was used!
Just saw the FAA depart from LEX (N1 tail number). Not in the Flightaware system, though. Interesting. Taking the black boxes back to Washington??
Louisville TV chopper Video shows treetop damage 300 ft from departure end of rwy 26 The 3400’ one, as well as the ground skid track! It sure appears that they departed rwy 26 !
BTW, I am from Lexington and fly in and out of Klex a lot.
More comments reported on wrong runway usage.
from what I hear from a CRJ pilot I know, his AOM/POH charts show that a max gross CRJ-100 needs 4800 feet to clear a 50ft obstacle with zero wind.
assuming the wind was as stated [220/10] there would be a zero headwind component to a Rwy 26 departure.
There was no windshear alert and no new Metar published at the time of the crash - routine weather reporting, not even a SPEC. If the wind changed due to a wind shift [expected with a WS alert] there would have been a new metar and a WS added to the metar.
This one seems like taking off on the wrong runway.
The tower guys know- they would have cleared the airplane to depart 26 or 22 and the tapes will not lie. Moreover, 26 is not permitted at night to part 121/135 operators - no lights. Notam states MIRL 08/26 OTS INDEF. Sunrise today was 7.05a, they departed 6.07a.
Technically they flew in daylight for the purposes of pilot currency [not required for part 121 or 135 ops anyway] but it was still night for the purpose of operating at a towered field, which is 30 minutes before/after sunrise.
I’m sure they could see the runway in the twilight [with clouds though that might be in doubt] but with a lighted one right next to it - it makes you wonder.
My wonder is about crew rest, what was their day like yesterday, with a 6a depart you wonder if they got in late last night and got the full measure of real rest. Thats the kind of mistake a tired crew would make . …
I noticed that this flight has apparently been removed from the airport’s Departure Board also, including the “(More)” provision. Is this customary in these situations? Or did I just miss it? Thanks, God bless all involved in this terrible tragedy.
We never got a departure notification for this flight, so it was just listed as “Scheduled.”