Kentucky aircrash - a Queens connection and a coincidence.

Only the co-pilot James Polehinke survives after a Comair ( part of Atlanta based Delta airlines) CRJ-100 jet, Flt 5191 bound for Atlanta, Georgia, crashed and exploded in flames in woods about a mile (1.6km) from Lexington's airport at about 0610 (1010 GMT).He was dragged from the blazing cockpit by rescue wrokers from the airport.

It took off from Runway 26 (1,051 m) not Runway 22 ( 2,100 m) wwhich it would ned to get airborne as it would need at least 1,350 metres to the point of rotation.

There were 47 passengers and 3 crew, all except James Polehinke have been declared dead. The flight recorders have been recovered.

Polehinke had been with Comair since 2002 and was based out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens... a coincidence of no significance whatever .. but a memory jog.

This is the worst US air accident since November 2001, when American Airlines Flt 587 Airbus A300-600 No N14053 mysteriously crashed in Queens, New York, shortly after takeoff from JFK airport, killing 265 people. The second deadliest aviation accident in American history.

The official NTSB version in their report claims the A300, which took off on the same runway as a Japan Airlines Boeing 747, flew into the larger jet's wake, an area of very turbulent air. The co-pilot, Sten Molin, attempted to keep the plane upright with the rudder, but pushed the rudder too far to one side and then overcorrected too far to the other. The strength of the air flowing against the moving rudder stressed the aircraft's vertical stabilizer and eventually snapped it off entirely, causing the aircraft to lose control and crash. According to the NTSB, the crash would not have occurred but for the co-pilot's use of the rudder.

The aerodynamic loads placed on the vertical stabilizer due to the sideslip that resulted from the rudder movements were beyond the ultimate design strength of the vertical stabilizer.

"No law enforcement agencies provided any evidence that the accident may have stemmed from criminal conduct. The Board said that witnesses who reported observing the airplane on fire were most likely observing misting fuel released from broken fuel lines, a fire from the initial release of fuel or the effects of engine compressor surges" .... which is why no doubt the Chairman of the NTSB could say with certainty hours after the accident that no terrorist action was involved...even though the Hudson tunnels were closed, UN locked down and the Empire State Building evacuated.

There is no memorial to the victims at the site of the crash, (filled in in 7 days) which has now had houses rebuilt on it.A US$8.5 memorial site should be finished by fall this year at the junction of Beach Road and the ocean, including 2 comfort stations.

Todd Wissing is an Airbus A300-600 First Officer and in evidence to the much stalled enquiry said..."Finally, a fellow pilot of mine, points this out regarding wake turbulence, and he says 'if you consider all the places in the world where aircraft take off that are behind other aircraft and you consider that these airplanes have been taking off one behind the other for 50 years…large commercial airplanes…and you consider that Kennedy Airport is probably one of the best airports in the world with the most highly trained air traffic controllers…and you consider what's being speculated here about over-control in reaction to a wake turbulence event that is likely felt a lot by pilots, and I certainly have felt it many times, and you consider what we're being asked to believe that these pilots mis-controlled this airplane and caused structural damage…and go back 50 years [and see that this] has never happened before…it seems to us that they [NTSB] still need to do some work."

No Airbuses were re-called, none grounded and no statements have been made about the accident by Airbus.

Huge chunks of the plane were recovered (NTSB photos, engines etc) as were all 256 bodies.

Prison Planet has more information ... start here and watch the video of an eyewitness fireman who saw an on board explosion and subsequent fire before the plane split up and crashed. In August 2004 a supposed Al-Qaeda operative told Canadian intelligence that a Montreal man who trained in Afghanistan alongside the 9/11 hijackers was responsible for the crash. Rense had another theory about sabotage.

UPDATE 27th July 2007
If you have found this as a result of following up the NTSB hearing on Wednesday go here
http://postmanpatel.blogspot.com/2007/07/lexington-comair-crash-tsa-censors-ntsb.html