Comair Flight 5191
Comair Flight 5191 (marketed as Delta Connection Flight 5191 under a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines) was a scheduled United States domestic passenger flight from Lexington, Kentucky, to Atlanta, Georgia. On the morning of August 27, 2006, at around 06:07 EDT (10:07 UTC), the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 100ER crashed while attempting to take off from Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, west of the central business district of the city of Lexington. The aircraft was assigned the airport's Runway 22 for the takeoff but used Runway 26 instead. Runway 26 was too short for a safe takeoff, causing the aircraft to overrun the end of the runway before it could become airborne. It crashed just past the end of the runway, killing all 47 passengers and two of the three crew. It was the second-deadliest accident involving the CRJ100/200; two years earlier, China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 claimed 55 lives. The flight's first officer, James Polehinke, was the pilot flying at the time of the accident and was the sole survivor; however, Captain Jeffrey Clay was responsible for taxiing to the wrong runway. In the National Transportation Safety Board's report on the crash, investigators concluded that the likely cause of the crash was pilot error. Flight details The flight was marketed under the Delta Air Lines brand as Delta Connection Flight 5191 (DL5191) and was operated by Comair as Flight 5191. It was identified for air-traffic control and flight-tracking purposes as Comair 191 (OH5191/COM5191). The flight had been scheduled to land at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at 7:18 a.m. The aircraft involved was a 50-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet CRJ100ER, serial number 7472. It was manufactured in Canada and was delivered to the airline on January 30, 2001. The captain was 35-year old Jeffrey Clay. He had 4,710 flight hours, including 3,082 hours on the CRJ100. The first officer was 44-year-old James Polehinke. Prior to his employment by Comair, Polehinke worked for Gulfstream International as a captain. He had 6,564 flight hours, including 940 hours as a captain and 3,564 hours on the CRJ100. Crash Analysis of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) indicated that the aircraft was cleared for takeoff from Runway 22, a runway used by most airline traffic at Lexington. However, after confirming the takeoff clearance for Runway 22, Clay taxied onto Runway 26, which was only 3,501 feet (1,067 m) long, unlit and unauthorized for commercial use. Clay then relinquished flight control to Polehinke for takeoff. The air traffic controller was not required to maintain visual contact with the aircraft. After clearing the flight for takeoff, he turned to perform administrative duties and did not see the aircraft as it taxied to the runway. Based upon an estimated takeoff weight of , the aircraft's manufacturer calculated that a speed of and a distance of would have been needed for rotation (increasing nose-up pitch), with more runway needed to achieve liftoff. At about an hour before daybreak and at a speed approaching , Polehinke remarked,