I'm glad you guys aren't crucifying the controller. Some of the guys over at JC would love to crucify this guy for the crew's lack of SA.

The fact remains, the controller told them to taxi to 22. They taxi to what they say is 22, and state ready for departure on "22." The controller, knowing that the pilots surely know where they are located. . . clears them for TO at 22. The crew takes off from 26, not even noticing they mistakeningly are on the wrong RWY.

The line of sight from the TWR to both 22 and 26 are very similar. In a low light situation, being fatigued, it very well may have appeared that they "looked" to be holding short of 22.

I ask those of you crucifying the controller, and asking for checks in balances, to step back and look at what happened.

The checks and balances were there. The primary function of a controller is to ensure seperation of air traffic. Bottom line. Controllers are not there to babysit and make sure that pilots taxi to the right runway, ESPECIALLY not at a Class D (or is KLEX class C?) field at 6am, when they are the only departing traffic, and no arrivals are expected for a number of hours. So long as the local controller made sure no runway incursions would occur, and that no one was going to land on top of the RJ as it started their roll. . . he did his job just fine.

The only 4 eyeballs that could of stopped this from happening were inside that cockpit.

The FAA is failing the American public, not just the travelling public, by their ignorance over the past years. A shortage of manpower has been expected, and expressed by NATCA for years. But what happens? The FAA says we are crying for more money. No, not quite. We want bodies, we want bodies in the facilities to take the seats of the guys who are leaving the careerfield. So what does the FAA do? They impose a B-scale on all new hires. A 30% reduction in pay from the previous generation. Well guess what FAA. I'll have a jolly time tell you to F-off when you call me for my 2 day lead time to report to OKC. The travelling public is ignorant when it comes to the fight of controllers, for more bodies, and more technology implementation. Nothing happens, and no fingers are pointed until something like this happens. . . and to compound it. . .it wasn't even a mid air, or a runway incursion associated with traffic.

Did any of you guys call your House Representative over the past 6 months? Have you guys visited www.fairfaa.com ? How about just www.natca.org ? I'm guessing no. Because NATCA was unable to get enough of the public to actually pay attention to what is happening to THEIR, yup, THEIR, National Airspace System. Thanks America Public.

How about this, will you call them now? Voice your concern over YOUR National Airspace System?

/steps off of his soapbox.

But back to the unfortunate events of this weekend,

It was a lapse of concentration, and loss of situational awareness by the only two individuals that could of stopped it.