LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABP) — A Habitat for Humanity official headed to the Gulf Coast was among 49 people killed in an early morning plane crash Aug. 27 in Lexington, Ky.
Pat Smith of Lexington, a member of Habitat for Humanity International's board of directors, was on his way to Mississippi for the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Mary Shearer, executive director of the Louisville Habitat chapter, told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The fiery crash just after 6 a.m. on Sunday occurred after the plane turned onto the wrong runway at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport and was unable to take off safely on the shorter airstrip.
The plane was cleared to take off on runway 22, a 7,000-foot airstrip designed for commercial aircraft, according to Debbie Hersman, a National Transportation Safety Board member. But the NTSB's initial investigation confirmed Comair Flight 5191 attempted to depart from runway 26, which is half the length of runway 22 and too short for large planes to gain sufficient speed before takeoff.
“The tower tapes confirm the plan discussed between air traffic controllers and the flight crew were for a takeoff on runway 22,” Hersman told reporters the day after the crash.
The Kentucky tragedy marks the end of what has been described as the nation's safest period in commercial aviation history. The crash produced the largest number of fatalities in a U.S. plane accident since American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in New York in November 2001, killing 265 people.
Co-pilot James Polehinke, the lone survivor of the Comair crash, remained in critical condition Aug. 28 at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington.
Many of the crash victims reportedly were from Lexington and the surrounding region.
Smith, 58, was planning to aid in constructing the first 13 houses that Kentucky Habitat teams are building in the coastal area of Mississippi hit one year ago by Katrina, Shearer said.
Southern Baptist entities have partnered with Habitat and other groups to build houses in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas devastated by Katrina.
After the massive tsunami in 2004 in South Asia, Smith coordinated efforts to build 26 houses in southern India. He was named Habitat's 2004 national volunteer of the year.
Other crash victims included a couple who got married the night before and were leaving for their honeymoon in California, as well as an engaged couple who were flying to St. Lucia to be married the next day.
The official passenger manifest had not been released by Comair officials as of late Monday afternoon. Airline officials reported that “the family notification process has been completed” and that they “are seeking permission from individual families to publicly release the identities of their loved ones.”
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