Commuter Plane With Canadians On Board Crashes In Kentucky

Comair Flight 5191 went down just after 6am shortly after taking off from Blue Grass Airport bound for Atlanta, according to U.S. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

The plane was a Bombardier CRJ-100 regional jet carrying 47 passengers and three crewmembers. Comair is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

Introduced in 1992, there are 1,360 CRJ-series aircraft of various configurations in service around the world. The planes, which each sell for about $25 million, have flown more than 13 million hours with just two other accidents involving death.

The single survivor, the flight’s first officer, is listed in critical condition in hospital and Foreign Affairs in Ottawa has confirmed two Canadians were on the plane.

“I can confirm that two of the passengers on board Flight 5191 were Canadian citizens,” said Ambra Dickie, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs. “I have confirmed with consular officials they are confirmed to be dead among the passengers on board.”

Further information about the two Canadians is not available. “The only information that I can release right now is that we’re currently in the process of notifying the next of kin, and we’ll be providing consular assistance as required,” Dickie said.

Meanwhile, officials are trying to determine what caused the crash and investigators from the F.A.A. and National Transportation Safety Board are at the scene.

There was a light rain when the crash happened, but Don Bornhorst, president of Comair, said weather doesn’t appear to have been a factor.

“We cannot speculate onto the cause of this accident … We will be working closely with the F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board and their agencies to conduct a full investigation to determine the cause of this tragedy,” Bornhorst said.

“I personally pledge to you a total commitment of Comair and all of its employees to this effort.”

Police spokesman Sean Lawson said investigators are looking into whether the plane had taken off from the wrong runway. The crew may have discovered too late that they didn’t have the length they expected.

Both flight data recorders were found.

According to police the plane was still intact, but it was badly burned. Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said the deaths were likely caused by the fire, and not the impact.

“We’re calling in some people with a lot of expertise as far as dental records,” he said.

A temporary morgue was set up at the scene of the crash and the bodies will be brought to the state medical examiner’s office.   

The airline sent care teams to both Lexington and Atlanta to meet the families and friends of the victims.

This is the first major plane crash in the U.S. since American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Queens, New York on Nov. 12, 2001. Two-hundred and sixty-five people were killed.