Comair 5191 Accident

Comair 5191 – what happened? As a pilot I have a difficult time understanding why this accident occurred. Comair 5191 has an experienced crew with pilots who had previously flown into this airport before without incident. The crew was well trained, the aircraft fairly new, equipped with all of the bells and whistles one could possibly want so what went terribly wrong?

First, a little background about me so that you will understand I have enough experience and knowledge to understand this particular aircraft operation. For example, when I learned to fly many years ago in West Texas my instructor used to carry a rolled up newspaper, and any time my head wasn’t moving, my eyes were not moving or I was simply gazing out the window at the scenery, he would whack me on the back of the head! His point was – pay attention!

Later in life, as a flight instructor, I noticed that newer pilots were fascinated, almost mesmerized, by all of the bells and whistles which had found their way into the aircraft cockpit. For example, the aircraft used for this flight, the Bombardier CRJ100, has a Collins Pro Line 4 Avionics suite consisting of six tubes called EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System). Each of the television like screens can display an array of information to the flight crew ranging from engine instrumentation, weather radar, navigational information and flight instruments. You can see how the cockpit display looks in the photograph I have included.

In this case the crew was cleared by air traffic control (ATC) to taxi to and depart from runway 22 at the Lexington Blue Grass airport, but for some reason took off on runway 26. Runway 22 is 150’ wide and 7,003’ long; runway 26 is 75’ wide and 3,500 long. In addition, each runway has markings painted on them (you have seen them before) in white luminescent paint. The very first marking on the runway is the number of the runway. For example, there would be a giant 26 painted on the departure end of runway 26, a giant 22 painted on the departure end of runway 22. If the runway was being repaved, and the markings had not been placed on the pavement yet, the airport would issue a NOTAM to alert all pilots using the airport of that fact.

NOTAMS stands for Notice to Airmen and contain important information to all pilots using the airport. It is a requirement for pilots to check for NOTAMs before operating at a particular airport. In addition, Blue Grass airport has an ATIS system which broadcasts important information about the airport to pilots on a continuous basis. All pilots know to listen to the ATIS when arriving or departing from an airport. Given all of the information available to them, it is hard to understand how they could have made this mistake.

All a pilot has to do is look out the window to see these numbers! Further, heading information is displayed prominently on the EFIS screens. But, again, the newest and latest is not always the best. For example, back to when I learned to fly. The first thing we were taught to do when we taxiied onto the active runway was to set our DG (Directional Gyro) to the runway heading. The DG had to be reset every time the engine was started because it did not operate with the engine off. These types of instruments are called “steam gauges” as opposed to the “glass cockpits” of the CRJ aircraft. In glass cockpits all of this is taken care of for you automatically – so – no need to set the DG.

Now Comair has said the charts used by the pilots were out of date. Well, so what. The most important fact to keep in mind is this: the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR’s) specify whose responsibility the safe operation of an aircraft is to wit:

Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations Section 91.3 Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command, (a) states The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

Not much wiggle room here, is there? In any case, let us hope that the co-pilot recovers and we find out why this accident really happened. All pilots know that accidents usually start well before the crew ever reaches the aircraft It is all about attitude.

Have a great day! “Crusty Captain”