Your Crisis of Control - #5170
Friday, November 3, 2006
I know men are never lost. We just find alternative routes, right - scenic routes. I've found more than my share, but my choice of a wrong road has never led to deadly consequences. It did for Comair Flight 5191 out of Lexington, Kentucky. Somehow, the pilot went down the wrong runway; one-half the length of the runway from which he'd been cleared to take off. He ran out of runway and hit a row of trees. Tragically, 49 of the 50 people aboard died in that crash. As the investigation of the crash unfolded, we found out that the one flight controller in the tower wasn't looking when the plane turned onto that fatal runway. He had what was described as "administrative duties" to tend to, and he turned his back, and moments later - disaster.