Co-pilot at helm in Kentucky crash

LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The lone survivor of the weekend Comair commuter plane crash in Kentucky was the flight's co-pilot who was at the helm when the craft went down.

National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said co-pilot James Polehinke, 44, was at the controls when Flight 5191 took off from a runway half as long as it needed at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport Sunday morning.

Investigators have been unable to speak with Polehinke, as he is in critical condition after being pulled out of the flaming wreckage, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

Voice recordings show the crew had talked with the air traffic controller only about Runway 22, which is 7,000-feet long and more appropriate for such a plane, Hersman said. They instead left on Runway 26, which is half the length.

Aviation experts have said the Bombardier CRJ100 needed about 5,000 feet of runway to take off, the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal said.

Just 29 seconds after trying to lift off, the plane slammed into a berm, briefly became airborne and plowed through an airport perimeter fence and trees before crashing on a hilltop a half-mile away, the NTSB said.