Comair Flight 5191

Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Date: August 27, 2006
Aircraft: CRJ-200

Early on the morning of August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191 was cleared for takeoff at the Lexington, KY, Blue Grass Airport. However, due to repaving of the runways at the airport the taxiways had been altered, and the flight crew mistakenly lined up the aircraft for departure on the incorrect runway. The runway actually used was only half the length of the intended runway, which affected the speed the aircraft was able to gain for takeoff. Because this length (3,500 ft.) proved too short, the aircraft could not attain flying airspeed. The aircraft ran onto the grass at the end of the runway, crashed through the airport perimeter fence, and into trees before bursting into flames. There was only one survivor out of the 50  passengers and crew on board. 

The crash of Comair Flight 5191 proved significant for the traveling public as the crash marked the end of what had been called the “safest period in aviation history” in the United States. A major crash in the United States had not occurred since November 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, NY, shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Jamaica, NY. That crash claimed the lives of 265 people, 260 passengers and crew on board and five people on the ground.