Runway 22
August 28th, 2006 by some dudeComair flight 5191 apparently took off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport and crashed. On the voice recorders was talk about only runway 22, the correct runway. But the plane took off from runway 26, which was too short. Articles have speculated that the taxiway may be confusing, the runway may be poorly marked, the weather reduced visibility, or recent construction may have altered the taxiway.
Shouldn’t the pilots still have recognized they were on the wrong runway? They would have been pointing in the wrong direction. Runway designations are based on their heading. They wouldn’t need to see a sign or even look at a map. Runway 22 points to 220 degrees (plus or minus 5 degrees). Runway 26 is at 260 degrees. I don’t know, I’m not a pilot … maybe checking your heading is not part of the routine for take off. I guess the NTSB will figure out what went wrong soon enough.
