Last minutes of Comair 5191 (security video)
 

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...DEO01/71117021

Sunday, November 18, 2007

By James R. Carroll
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal

WASHINGTON -- A videotape of the last seconds of Comair Flight 5191 clearly
shows the jet maneuvering away from the well-lighted main runway at
Lexington's Bluegrass Airport -- a runway used only moments before by two
other planes.

The videotape and two others, all from airport security cameras, were obtained
by The Courier-Journal under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

None of the tapes shows the moment of the Aug. 27, 2006, crash that killed 49
of the 50 people aboard the Atlanta-bound plane.

But the one showing the Comair jet moving toward takeoff from the wrong
runway -- Runway 26, which was too short for it -- underscores the mystery
behind the doomed flight:

How did two experienced pilots miss obvious clues that they were in the wrong
place for a takeoff?

The National Transportation Safety Board, which ruled in July that pilot error
was the cause of the crash, viewed the tapes. But the board and the airport
declined to comment on the tapes for this story.

Comair spokeswoman Kate Marx said, "We actively participated in the NTSB's
investigation and reviewed all the associated data to help us assess ways to
enhance safety."

Pete Janhunen, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said, "The
investigation is over and there are no unresolved issues from our standpoint."
Doug Church, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association,
said members of his organization have not seen the videos so they couldn't
comment on them.

But he said the group wanted to reiterate its position that the FAA put the
lone controller at the airport that day "and every flight that he handled that
morning . in an unsafe and extremely difficult position by not staffing that
tower to the agency's own requirements."

In its July 26 findings, the NTSB blamed the crash on the failure of the pilot
and co-pilot to pick up on multiple visual cues -- such as runway markings,
signage and lights -- that they were making a fatal error, and their failure
to cross-check their instruments to make sure they were in the right place.

The Federal Aviation Administration's failure to require controllers to issue
specific clearances to cross runways also was a factor, the NTSB said.

The board also said crew members' extraneous conversation, unrelated to the
flight, caused them to lose track of their location at the airport and was a
contributing factor.

What the videos show
The videotape showing the flight's last moments begins, as the other tapes do,
just before 6 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2006. (The videotape clock and the actual time
were out of sync by about three minutes.)

Shot from above the airport manager's parking lot and restaurant dock, the
tape starts with preflight preparations for American Eagle Flight 882.

About three minutes into the tape, the American Eagle plane is pushed back
from the terminal and put into position to begin taxiing.

The American Eagle plane sits for about two minutes. Then another plane,
SkyWest Flight 6819, passes the American Eagle plane, taxiing to the runway.
The American Eagle jet turns on its takeoff lights and follows.

The tape shows a string of lights on the main runway in the background. NTSB
investigators later determined that lights on the main runway -- Runway 22 --
were set at an intensity level of 3, with a setting of 5 being the brightest.

Not visible in the darkness is a second runway. It is unlighted and not used
by commercial aircraft.

In two more minutes, the SkyWest plane begins rolling at the end of the main
runway. Its takeoff lights shine into the camera. It zooms out of view.

Having taxied to the hold-short area, the American Eagle flight now moves into
takeoff position and keeps rolling. Its takeoff lights, too, shine into the
camera. In moments, it also zips out of camera range.

Less than 30 seconds later, the Comair jet taxies by, its navigation lights
blinking. The plane then disappears from view, obscured by a building.

But the jet does not reappear where the other two planes did, out on the main
runway.

Investigators later determined that Flight 5191 stopped at the beginning of
the shorter Runway 26 for about 50 seconds. According to the cockpit voice
recorder, the crew never discusses being lost or disoriented and never asks
for help.

The plane's location was clearly visible from the air traffic control tower,
but the lone controller, Christopher Damron, later told NTSB investigators he
did not watch the Comair jet taxi and take off. Instead, he conducted
administrative duties.

The last moments
After more than a minute out of the camera's view, the Comair plane reappears,
rolling toward takeoff. But the Bombardier CL-600 jet is at a different angle
from the two previous planes. Its takeoff lights are not pointing at the
camera.

At this point, the Comair plane is gathering speed toward a takeoff that will
never come. In 14 seconds, it is gone from the camera frame.

According to the cockpit voice recorder, First Officer James Polehinke
remarks, as the plane is rolling for takeoff, "Dat is weird with no lights."

"Yeah," replies Capt. Jeffrey Clay.

Moments later, the jet will run out of pavement, hit an earthen berm and a
fence, and crash into trees. The jet will burst into flame. Only Polehinke
survives, with severe injuries.

No reflection of an explosion or fire appears in any tape.

But after several minutes, the videotape showing the Comair jet's takeoff
shows police cars, then fire trucks, responding to the accident.

Another videotape, taken from a camera at the edge of the airport tarmac,
shows the Comair jet very briefly in the darkness but also gives a close-up
view of the emergency vehicles going through a security gate.

A third tape, from a camera atop the airport firehouse, most clearly shows the
lighted main runway. The Comair jet appears briefly as it taxies past the
terminal, while the American Eagle jet takes off.

The third video is the only one that shows the camera being moved, apparently
to find the crash site.

As the camera peers over highways into the dark, faint emergency lights appear
to be blinking in the distance.

Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.

So the NTSB is backing the FAA with putting blame on the pilots, and at the end of the day it is their actions that caused this tragic accident, but are they accepting any fault for not having the required number of controllers in the tower? I wonder if this guy is still controlling anywhere.....

Wow, a video of nothing.....gotta love the media!

I take off at airports at 6 am without a controller.

XJ,

I am glad you are able to take off at an airport without a controller. If you would care to read the NTSB report and the ALPA submission along with the Comair submission you will realize what was clearly stated is a major contributing cause was ignored. I hope if you or anyone you know is involved in a tragedy that the ignorance in which you show and that of the final ruling does not throw you under a bus.

By no means am I saying that the controller was the only factor in this accident but convenient oversight by government officials and people like you led to major contributing factor not being studied to prevent future occurrences.

I have to agree. What was the point of this video exactly? Seems kind of morbid- like seeing a video of a death-row inmate walking to the electric chair.

BlueB

As much as we all hate to hear that our brethren have committed a fatal mistake, no one but the crew put that a/c into the weeds. Yes, another controller might have told them not to, but only the PIC and his crew can take the aircraft onto a wrong runway, fail to crosscheck his heading with the number of the intended takeoff runway, and push the throttles up. We all bemoan when the company/FAA/whoever fails to credit our great skill and removes some of our precious autonomy and authority. We are hypocrites if we fail to admit it when we or our brothers and sisters make a human error. Our job being what it is, the mistakes can have horrendous consequences, but they are ours. Grow up and live with it or get an office job.

Hey thats great! Proud of ya... that wasn't my point.

Just as others have pointed out, the FAA agree'd to staff that tower with more then one controller. They didn't. Now if we were to staff our planes along the lines, well bad things would happen. I'm just sayin', who's policing the police?

I'm not saying that this isn't the crew's fault, because at the end of the day, what does it take to look at your heading bug... I'm just saying, they flame the crew when they are in the wrong or not. I would love to see the FAA take fault for something. That's all.

Lighten' up....

Blue

Nothing personal, Blue, but I get tired over the years of hearing pilots whine every time "pilot error" proves out. Most of the responsible press mentioned the "other factors" in the Comair crash, as did the ntsb, but when the day is done it was a failure of the "nut holding the yoke". The FAA is a government entity and will take responsibility the day hell freezes over and the Army Corps steps up for mismanaging the Big Muddy.