Comair Flt 5191 / Lexington Crash - sub poena's defied, gag orders, TSA censors reports ..WTF!?!?
It has now become apparent that the NTSB took the rare step of subpoenaing the lone survivor of Flight 5191 , co-pilot James Polehinke, but the interview never happened because Polehinke’s doctor insisted he was unfit to cooperate - he suffered major burns and in juries in the crash.
Today in the Miami Herald there is an unsigned news report that Attorneys for Polehinke said on Friday that neither he nor his crew was to blame for the crash that killed 49 people despite the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington on Thursday.
The attorneys for First Officer James Polehinke of Margate (Miami), the sole survivor of the crash, released a statement on Friday saying the board's findings are insufficient.
The board's findings fail to address, for example, faulty charts that misled the pilots to believing the original taxiway ended at the assigned runway, according to the statement from attorneys H. Bruce Brandon and Larry I. Moore III of Greensboro, N.C.
Curiouser and curiouser....
If you are interested in this story .. please make sure you read the comments. Also take a look at "Huffs Blog" which has 32 contemporary and useful comments, especially from Indie... and many very interesting news links.
Curiouser and curiouser....
5 comments:
Well here's the (incomplete)passenger manifest. Good luck.
Corporate Communications: 859.767.1500
08/29/2006
Comair Releases Passenger Manifest for Flight 5191
CINCINNATI, Aug. 29, 2006 – Comair this morning released the passenger manifest for Flight 5191 after receiving permission from individual families to publicly share the identities of their loved ones. Out of respect for our customers’ privacy and the wishes of individual families, the names of six passengers are being withheld.
As required, Comair on Sunday provided the complete passenger manifest to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and is fully cooperating with the agency as the investigation continues.
Crewmembers:
Captain Jeffrey Clay
First Officer James Polehinke (survivor)
Flight Attendant Kelly Heyer
Passengers:
Rebecca Adams
Christina Anderson
Lyle Anderson
Anne Marie Bailey
Bobbi Sue Benton
Jesse Clark Benton
Carole Bizzack
Brian Byrd
Homer L. Combs
Karen Diane
Adams Combs
Fenton Dawson
Thomas Fahey
Mike Finley
Clarence "C.W." Fortney
Wade Frederick
Hollie Gilbert
Erik J. Harris
Jonathan Hooker
Scarlett Parsley Hooker
Priscilla Johnson
Nahoko Kono
Tetsuya Kono
Charles M. Lykins
Dan Mallory
Steven R. McElravy
Lynda J. McKee
Robert I. Meaux Jr.
Kaye Craig Morris
Leslie W. Morris II
Judy Ann Rains
Michael N. Ryan
Jane Silas
Patrick Smith
Timothy K. Snoddy
Marcie Thomason
Greg Threet
Randy D. Towles
Dr. Larry W. Turner
Victoria Washington
Paige M. Winters
Joann Wright
Ms. Betty B. Young
Comair requests that media respect and understand the privacy of families who may not wish to speak publicly during this difficult time.
Many thanks Vilipend.
" Out of respect for our customers’ privacy and the wishes of individual families, the names of six passengers are being withheld."
More (or less) incomplete information.
1. Taxi-ing ruote repaired.
2. New Taxi-ing route required
3. Maps and notice sent to Comair which they don't receive and so their 2 pilots don't know about
4. The tower doesn't advise of changes to 2 pilots - there is only 1 on duty despite FAA requirments for 2 staff.
5. The pilots chat inconsequentially for 2 minutes in the dark waiting presumably for control tower - shock horror !
6. At the end of the wrong runway some XXX yds from where they should be, the two pilots get clearance to depart from control tower, Polehinke is to be responsible.
7. Control tower operator turns to paperwork.
8.When launched on take - off they slowly realise a mistake due to no runway lights.
9. Polehinke realises they have run out of runway "Whoa" "Rotate"
.. and this is 100% Pilot error ?
No witnesses, TSA censors the docs, Polehinke sub poena'd and refuses due to ill health , he gets a gag order from someone unknown.
Something doesn't look right from 4,000 miles away and without the report.
If anyone out there has any information on the passengers please let us know.
There is an interesting note about one passenger Dr. Larry Turner from UK. 52 who was on his way to an agricultural conference in Puerto Rico.
http://tinyurl.com/2unzaj
http://tinyurl.com/35dyb5
There is also a guest book at the Lexington Herald open until Aug 30th 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3a8h5r
It seems as though his family and the University lost a great hard working guy who had contributed a great deal to Kentucky life, education and agriculture.
Wayne Hoover class of ’73 made a cross-country bike trek seems like the perfect way to remember and honour him in a Larry Turner Memorial Cross Country Challenge, a personal journey of remembrance lasting 52 days, cover 3,850 miles and cross 13 states, ending in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While on the road, he raised money in Turner’s name for the Kentucky 4-H Foundation and, at the same time, inspire 4-H’ers across the state and across the country.
Also found this from somebody evidently with some knowledge of these matters. Comment to Lexington Herald Article.
http://tinyurl.com/35yl7y
Here is what I don't get. The controller did not put the closed taxiways on the ATIS (wx broadcast). The FAA did not issue the appropriate NOTAM information to the airlines. The FAA required two controllers and only staffed with one. The other controller was NOT looking at Comair when he taxied...he was working two other aircraft on the radar. Once Comair taxied past the tower, the controller was too busy to watch him. A second controller would have been working radar allowing the controller to provide the same level of service to Comair taxiig as he provided the other two aircraft now on his radar scope.. If staffing was not a problem, why did Bruce Johnson (No. 2 at the FAA) instruct subordinates to make phone calls to FAA facilities that were staffed similar to Lexington before 9 am on Aug 27, a Sunday morning? I smell something and it ain't pretty.
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:10 pm
From the Lexington Herald-Leader, May 15 2007: Comair withholds 6 names from list
By Steve Lannen
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn met last night with family members of those who died in the crash of Comair Flight 5191.
Before going into a meeting with family members at the Crowne Plaza Campbell House in Lexington, Ginn said he did not know when he would complete next-of-kin notifications for each of the 49 people killed in Sunday's crash.
Ginn said he hopes to follow normal procedures for his office and eventually publicly identify all victims involved after notifying families. The airline withheld six names from a passenger list it released publicly Tuesday.
After conferring with the Fayette County attorney's office yesterday, Ginn said he was told it is up to the airline to release the identity of passengers in an air accident.
"From what I've been told the airline is the party that is supposed to be releasing the individuals' (names) that perished," Ginn said.
Earlier this week, Comair provided a complete passenger list to the National Transportation Safety Board.
However, the company decided to allow families the choice to keep their loved ones' names off another list publicly released on Tuesday. Six did so.
"We thought it was the right thing to do," said Josh Hammond, a spokesman working with Comair's corporate communications, discussing the decision to allow families to opt out.
The Herald-Leader and other media have identified other victims after speaking with their families or employers.
An NTSB spokesman confirmed the airline's obligation to turn over a complete passenger list to the federal agency, but said there is no law requiring it to make the list public.
"I think the law is silent on that," said Ted Lopatkiewicz, director of NTSB public affairs, referring to the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996. "There's no requirement that you do put it out."
Attorneys contacted yesterday were surprised about the redactions.
"I've been doing aviation litigation for 30 years, and that's the first time I've heard that," said Stan Chesley, a Cincinnati attorney. In every airline crash case he has worked on, Chesley said, the names have been released.
Jeremy Rogers, a Kentucky Press Association attorney, said he was not aware of any law that prevents the release of passenger names. "The community and the public has a strong interest in knowing this kind of information," he said.
In a 1994 article about a USAir Flight crash outside Pittsburgh, the New York Times noted four names were withheld at families' requests from the list of 132 passengers that perished.
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