Kentucky plane crash (headline changed per Moddy) ....

Michael,

Haha. Crews are morning people?

These guys probably came in late the night before, caught a few hours of sleep at a crashpad, and were back at it the next morning. ... It's criminal the way some of those regional airlines push crews around.

 

Was a report on CNN earlier saying that the crew checked into the hotel about 10 p.m. Saturday.

Since crews get to the airport an hour or two before their flight, that doesn't lead for much time to relax and recharge, especially if you (gasp) would like to enjoy a cocktail before snoozing.

 

Hank,

That is the Lexington airport. It's a smaller airport. Louisville (about an hour and a half) and Cincinnati (about the same) are larger airports, and cheaper too.

 

There are a lot of unanswered questions here. The black boxes are going to shed a lot of light on this one.

 

Yes, LEX is not a big airport.

However, Lexington is major center for the horse trade. It's common, esp. during the Fasig-Tipton sale and Keeneland seasons, to see jumbo jets from the middle east sitting in the airport's staging area on the NW end of the property. The airport has the appropriate technology and facilities to handle things like that. It's not a po-dunk place.

 

Isn't the horse business why they built the airport across the street from Keeneland?

 

Ah, my Keeneland.

And now, there will always be a twinge of sadness and anguish whenever I go there.

RIP to all those lost.

 

Blue Grass is Lexington's commercial airport. I've flown in and out of there several times over the years myself, it's a regional airport, not some rinky-dink one-runway operation. I simply can't fathom how something like that could happen. This isn't mechanical failure, it's human error on a massive, massive scale.

BTW, if you were watching the coverage yesterday and noticed what looked like a football stadium to the north of the airport in the overhead of the airport, that's actually Keeneland Racetrack.

 

Um, it basically is a one-runway operation. This one he used isn't for most planes.

 

By one-runway operation I mean a single stretch of concrete, no taxiways and a couple buildings. BGA isn't that.

 

Last "small airport" early morning flight I was on (earlier this month), I got to the airport about 45 minutes pre-flight. After dropping me off, my cab driver was heading to pick up the crew.

RIP to all those involved.

 

Fly, I stand corrected. Still, cutting it rather close with giving the guys a good amount of rest.