5191

The best single page about the events in Lexington, Kentucky this morning.

Tidbits:

1. Lieutenant Gov. Pence is not the state’s point man in this. No explanation has been given. Pence is hale and hearty and was not on the flight.
2. Blue Grass Airport is the airport used by state officials when departing Frankfort which is part of the Lexington metropolitan area.
3. This is the airport featured in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger and, despite significant growth in the area, survives today in remarkably similar layout.
4. This type of error, the wrong runway being used during a series of takeoffs in IFR conditions (darkness, light rain), is all but inconceivable.
5. However, IFR may have been a contributing factor as the runway was both unlit and may be unmarked due to very recent renovation.
6. Lots of little towns in Kentucky may be mentioned in the coverage of this event. Lexington, not unlike Louisville until recently, is actually a large number of tiny municipalities surrounding “Lexington proper”. Assume these towns are, for all points and purposes, “Lexington”.
7. Curiously, “Delta Connection” or Comair 5191 is the designation for a regularly scheduled non-stop between Jacksonville, FL and Boston. I have yet to discover how this connector to Hartsfield-Jackson received this designation.

See also.