Comair Flight 5191
Wreckage path of the aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 27, 2006 |
| Summary | Runway excursion following takeoff from wrong runway due to pilot error |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| A Bombardier CRJ100 in Comair livery, similar to the one involved in the accident | |
| Aircraft type | Bombardier CRJ100 |
| Operator | Comair on behalf of Delta Connection |
| IATA flight No. | OH5191 |
| ICAO flight No. | COM5191 |
| Call sign | COMAIR 191 |
| Registration | N431CA |
| Flight origin | Blue Grass Airport, Lexington, Kentucky |
| Destination | Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta |
| Occupants | 50 |
| Passengers | 47 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 49 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 1 |
Comair Flight 5191 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 CRJ100ER crashed while attempting to take off from Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, 4 miles (6 km; 3 nmi) 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 2 of the 3 crew members. It was the second-deadliest accident involving the CRJ100/200 after China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210, which had crashed two years earlier and claimed 55 lives.
The first officer, James Polehinke, was the pilot flying at the time of the accident and was the sole survivor. Captain Jeffrey Clay was the one who had primary responsibility 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.