http://www.kentucky.com/multimedia/k...ase/361245.pdf

You're incorrect about the crew noticing that the runway lights were off at about 100 knots. If that were the case then I'd find the whole situation even more alarming than it actually was because I'm sure you'd agree that the appropriate time for noticing an absense of runway lights would be when you were lining up with the runway. In actual fact the comment about lighting being absent was made about 4 and a half seconds after the thrust was set, and nearly 8 seconds before the captain made the "100 knots" callout.

Doing rough calculations, the lighting comment would probably have been made when the airplane was doing 25-30 knots give or take a few knots. This would have constituted a low speed abort, no harm done, not difficult to do. In fact, after they realized the error, it was a full 15 seconds before reaching the decision speed of V1.

I don't wish to disrespect the deceased, I'm just saying that the blame for the incident should rest fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the 2 people responsible for the safety of the flight.

Secondly, I agreed whole-heartedly with the statement made by ExDeltaPilot in that mistakes can be made by anyone, and I backed this up later in my post. I did not agree with everything he said. I think people should be accountable.

Care to show me where in my post I said that I was??

I'll explain my point clearly for you since you have obviously missed it. A lot of people seem to think that this was just a simple mistake. Well, it was a mistake and it was one that could have happened to any of us. The context of my post is not to Monday-morning quarterback the actions of the crew. My point is to show that some here need to have a little sympathy for the victims' families.

I think it is very unprofessional to admonish those who are filing lawsuits and to just chock it up to "mistakes happen". I highly doubt anyone would be filing lawsuits if luggage were missing. Unfortunatley that isn't the case. Now whether you, I or anyone else feels that these lawsuits are the right or wrong thing to do is irrelevant. The families have been through an experience that most, if not all of us cannot even begin to imagine, and I think they have the right to do whatever they feel they need to do.


You first.

well, as well know mistakes do happen, and none of us are exempt from that. This mistake was catastrophic in nature, unfortunately, who is responsible for the safe operation of the aircraft? That's a hat we all put on when we decided to join these ranks.

Should the families sue people? That's a debate for politicians, and i don't feel like getting into that. It would have only taken a second to change the outcome of this event, but that didn't happen.

Another note, if there were lighting problems all over the field (which if memory serves correct there were) then not having runway lights on probably wouldn't have been any "big deal" atleast not one worthy of an abort. Also think of how long it would have taken for the pilots to realize that this wasn't the runway, it isn't a "no lights, wrong runway" situation, it'd be a "no lights...hmmmm...wonder why the lights aren't on (V1-VR)" situation.

Best of luck all, fly safe.

The older you get the more you realize how lucky you've been your whole life. I look back and wonder how I made it this far. If you have never made a big mistake that could have been bigger but for some reason was minor, you will. "Experience" is just a way of saying "learning." And, we all know we learn from our mistakes.

I'll tell them.

Very well said!

My beef isn't with people saying the crew *******ed up. My beef is people suing everyone from the FO (who has already paid dearly) to Comair (who wasn't responsible). First off, the people who took off from the wrong runway are the capt., who is dead, and the FO, who is *******ed up for life. With the greedy lawyers and opportunistic families, if I was involved (capt. or FO), I would rather be dead.

I feel sorry for any family that didn't run to a lawyer. If you did, you are taking a tragic opportunity to enrich yourself which, frankly, makes me sick to my stomach.

Yes, they have a right to do whatever they feel they need to do. Just like a loser crack ho has a right to get pregnant and have us taxpayers foot the bill. These people have a right, but it's not right.

I have two problems with that statement, first it was 11 seconds after the f/o increased to near takeoff power (it took the capt 4 seconds to set it from where ever the f/o put it, incidentially that's 4 seconds head down in the cockpit not loooking outside) and I don't know if you fly a CRJ, but I do, and I can say that you're going pretty quick after 11 seconds. I'm guessing in the neighborhood of 80 kts. #2 at that time they didn't realize their mistake, they realized there were no lights. There's a difference.

Deleted_________________________

reelbigchair...

I dont want to split hairs here, nor do I want to spend my whole day arguing over this small point.

But... I really doubt that the lighting comment could have been made at 80 knots. It was said nearly 8 seconds before the captain made the 100 knots callout. You're right I don't fly the CRJ, but it seems to me that 8 seconds before reaching 100 knots the MOST you could be doing is 50.

I also know that when the pilot flying says "Set thrust" they often say it AS they advance the thrust levers, and also the first few seconds are (obviously) the period where the airplane is accelerating the most slowly.

My educated guess would be 30 knots but maybe 40. I'd be surprised if the CRJ could take more than 8 seconds to get from 40 knots to 100 but I don't fly it so I'm not speaking from experience.