Bombardier CRJ-100 N431CA

Summary

On 27 August 2006 at about 10:07 local time, a Bombardier CRJ-100 registered N431CA, operated by Comair Inc, was involved in an accident near Lexington, Kentucky, United States. 50 people were on board and 49 died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 August 2006 at 10:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Lexington, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Blue Grass (LEX)

Coordinates

38.0098, -84.4804

Aircraft

Bombardier CRJ-100

Registration

N431CA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Comair Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lexington → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DCA06MA064

49 people died.

the flight crewmembers's failure to use available cues and aids to identify the airplane's location on the airport surface during taxi and their failure to cross-check and verify that the airplane was on the correct runway before takeoff. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew's nonpertinent conversation during taxi, which resulted in a loss of positional awareness, and the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to require that all runway crossings be authorized only by specific air traffic control clearances.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-07/05. On August 27, 2006, about 0606:35 eastern daylight time, Comair flight 5191, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N431CA, crashed during takeoff from Blue Grass Airport, Lexington, Kentucky. The flight crew was instructed to take off from runway 22 but instead lined up the airplane on runway 26 and began the takeoff roll. The airplane ran off the end of the runway and impacted the airport perimeter fence, trees, and terrain. The captain, flight attendant, and 47 passengers were killed, and the first officer received serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 and was en route to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.