Investigation into deadly plane crash to probe runways

<p>As investigators comb through the wreckage of Comair Flight 5191 for clues to Sunday's deadly crash in Kentucky, they also will be looking at the runways at the Lexington airport and the instructions the pilot received before take off, aviation experts say.</p><p>The wreckage of the CRJ-200 regional jet was at the end of the Blue Grass Airport's 3,500-foot-long general aviation runway, away from the longer main runway it should have used.</p><p>The airport's main runway had also been resurfaced just a week before the crash.</p><p>Officials at Comair and Blue Grass Airport would not confirm which runway the plane used or discuss possible causes of the crash. Airport Fire Chief Scott Lanter said the wreckage was near the end of the shorter runway, but he said, "We don't know which runway they were using."</p><p>Pilots get data before pushing back from the airport gate that tells them what runway they can take off from based on the weight and balance of the aircraft, said Keith Rosenkranz, a veteran Delta pilot from Grapevine, Texas.</p><p>"If I have weight and balance data for a particular runway, but now I mistakenly go to another runway, a shorter runway, all that weight and balance data is out the window," Rosenkranz said. "Now I may not have enough room to take off with two engines in the normal distance of the runway."</p><p>The main runway at Lexington would have been long enough for the Comair flight _ Runway 4/22, which is 7,003 feet long and lit, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.</p><p>The shorter runway, Runway 8/26, is 3,500 feet long and unlit.</p><p>That type of airplane probably needed 4,500 feet to 5,000 feet before it lifted off the ground, said Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering at Saint Louis University.</p><p>Czysz said aerial images of the wreck indicate it was almost inconceivable that the airplane could have taken off on the longer runway because its nose is almost parallel with the shorter one. Also, trees at the end of the shorter runway were damaged, he said.</p><p>"Sometimes with the intersecting runways, pilots go down the wrong one," said Czysz. "It doesn't happen very often."</p><p>Rosenkranz said the situation for a pilot could be even more complicated if one of the aircraft's two engines cuts out during takeoff.</p><p>"During the takeoff role, as you accelerate down the runway gaining speed for liftoff, there is a point where you could lose an engine," he said. "An engine loss prior to your decision speed requires that you abort the takeoff."</p><p>The flight data recorders from the plane were recovered and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C., for analysis. If they aren't damaged, those "black boxes" should provide a clearer picture of what went wrong.</p><p>With the recent asphalt resurfacing, 600 feet was added to each end of the main runway for safety _ a move that brought it into compliance with FAA standards, according to an airport statement. A retaining wall was also added at the end of the main runway. The work was finished Aug. 20.</p><p>___</p><p>Associated Press Writer Leslie Miller in Washington contributed to this report.</p>

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