"Blue Grass Airport Officials Deny Blame In Comair Accident"

Friday, December 1, 2006

Airport denies fault in crash
Responds to lawsuit against it by Comair
By Brandon Ortiz
The Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader


Blue Grass Airport shares no blame in the Comair Flight 5191 crash that
killed 49 people, and "the sole proximate cause of the tragic accident ...
was the negligent and wrongful conduct of Comair and its flight crew," the
airport said in court documents yesterday.

In its response to Comair's lawsuit against it and the federal government,
the Urban County Airport Board reiterated its stance that the airport is
safe and said that the Flight 5191 crew made a series of errors that led to
the Aug. 27 crash.

The airport contended that either Comair failed to provide pilots
information about recent airport construction and runway changes or pilots
failed to read that information, called Notices to Airmen. The airport uses
Notices to Airmen, or NOTAMS, to inform pilots of changes in signs, markings
or construction work.

Pilots also failed to devote all their attention to cockpit and taxi
procedures, the airport alleged.

The airport said that it cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity, which
prohibits lawsuits against government entities in many instances. It is
asking a U.S. District Court judge in Lexington to dismiss a lawsuit Comair
filed, contending that the airport shares responsibility for the crash.

"As today's filings demonstrate, Comair's lawsuit ignores the law and does
not have the facts on its side," airport officials said in a statement.

The airport accused Comair of trying to have it both ways by denying
liability in lawsuits filed by crash victims' families but trying to spread
blame in the carrier's lawsuit against the airport and Federal Aviation
Administration.

"If Comair and (its) insurance company really believe they are not liable,
they should not be asking others to share a financial burden," the airport
said.

Comair spokeswoman Kate Marx said the airline wants to ensure that everyone
who contributed to the accident pays their fair share of damages. It has
always said it wants to pursue prompt settlement with the families, Marx
said.

Marx said Kentucky law is not so clear on the issue of sovereign immunity,
echoing what some attorneys representing the families have said.

Responding to the NOTAMS allegation, Marx said that the airline passes on
all pertinent FAA and airport communications to pilots. But she could not
say whether that indeed happened with Flight 5191, citing the pending
investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

In October, Comair filed a lawsuit demanding that the FAA and the airport
pay part of any settlements or judgments resulting from the crash. Comair
said that the FAA and the airport made several errors that confused pilots,
who took off from the wrong runway and crashed into a nearby field.

The airport's filing said "literally hundreds of commercial flights and
thousands of additional private flights" had successfully departed Runway 22
without any problems. Prior flights to Atlanta in the 5191 slot departed
without any glitches, including those on several consecutive early mornings
before the accident, the airport said.

Airport attorney Tom Halbleib Jr. of Louisville said yesterday that the
airport was in compliance with FAA regulations at the time of the crash, and
recently passed an inspection on Nov. 21.

"We have answered their allegations with what we have always said: Blue
Grass Airport is a safe airport," Halbleib said.

The airport said Comair and its crew made several errors, which include:

n Failing to observe and follow taxiway and runway signs and air traffic
control instructions to Runway 22, the airport's 7,000-foot main runway.

n Not cross-checking the runway heading and directional and heading
instruments in the plane.

n Failing to notice signs that would have warned them they were on Runway
26, an unlighted runway that is 3,500 feet long and too short for takeoff by
the Bombardier regional jet.

n Not maintaining "proper situational awareness" while taxiing, and failing
to direct "all of their attention to cockpit and taxi procedures."

n Not aborting the takeoff after they knew or should have known they were on
the wrong runway.

n Not taking appropriate pre-flight, taxi and runway confirmation
procedures.

Halbleib declined yesterday to discuss the specifics of the allegations.

"I don't want to argue our evidence in the newspaper," he said.

Discovery, or document and information sharing between the parties, has not
yet begun in the lawsuit. But both Comair and the airport are parties to the
NTSB investigation, meaning they have access to information not yet released
to the public.

The NTSB has not yet released information from the flight's voice and data
recorders. Nor has the FAA released recordings of conversations between the
pilots and control tower, despite open-records requests from numerous media
outlets since the day of the accident. Those could shed light on what pilots
were discussing and what they were focusing on before they took off from the
wrong runway.The Tragedy of Flight 5191.


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************