The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has added a second controller to the weekend overnight shift at Lexington Blue Grass Airport following a crash that killed 49 and critically injured the first officer.
Only one controller was in the tower at 6:07 a.m. Sunday, when the CRJ100 attempted to take off on a runway too short for it to gain enough speed to become airborne.
"We have restored the second controller on the weekend overnight shift," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. She declined to give a reason for the decision.
Had an air traffic controller at Lexington noticed the pilot of Comair Flight 5191 lining up on the wrong runway, the accident might have been prevented.
In November 1993, a twin-engine jet taxied to the wrong runway in Lexington but was stopped from taking off by an alert air traffic controller, according to NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System. The tower controller alerted the flight crew, canceling the aircraft's clearance for takeoff.
Following Sunday's fatal crash in Kentucky, investigators interviewed the lone controller on duty. A day later, a second controller was in the tower on the midnight-to-8 a.m.
Brown said two controllers are in the tower on weekdays but only one controller was scheduled for the weekend overnight shift because traffic was significantly lighter.
Bill Waldock, aviation safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, said the FAA tends to do things for a reason. "It may be a proactive response to cover any possible holes," Waldock said.
John Nance, a pilot and aviation analyst, said it isn't the duty of the air traffic controller in the tower to make sure the pilot is on the right runway.
"You clear him for takeoff and that's the end of it," Nance said. "It's not the duty of the controller to baby-sit every flight. It would have been great if he or she had, but they have other duties up there."
Nance is one of three judges for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association annual Archie League Medal of Safety awards to honor controllers who have prevented accidents.
Many air traffic controllers have saved lives by noticing problems on the air or in the runway, he said.
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