Home  Newsflashes Newsflash Comair Flight 5191 Crash
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Sunday, 27 August 2006 |
A Comair CRJ-200 regional jet crashed during takeoff early Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor - the co-pilot is in critical condition. Initial speculation is the aircraft departed on a runway too short for that type of aircraft.
Atlanta-bound Comair Flight 5191 crashed at 6:07 a.m. in a field less than mile from the departure end of the runway.
Aviation experts said the twin-engine CRJ-200 regional jet would have needed 4,500 feet to get off the ground but for some unknown reason used a runway only 3,500 feet long..
The plane was mostly intact but in flames when rescuers reached it. The fire prevented any type of rescue as officials watched the flames engulf the wreckage. "They were taking off, so I'm sure they had a lot of fuel on board," Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said. "Most of the injuries are going to be due to fire-related deaths."
There is no indication that terrorism was involved. This accident marks the end of what has been called the "safest period in aviation history" in the United States. There has not been a major crash since Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., killing 265 people.
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