Plane Crash Kills 49 in Lexington, Kentucky

By Heather Siladi

Published on August 28, 2006

The preliminary data indicates that the CRJ-100 regional jet attempted to take off from the Lexington Blue Grass Airport’s shortest runway. The landing strip was about half the length of the airport’s main runway, and unlit. The runway in question is not intended for commercial flights. It remains unclear how the jet ended up on the wrong runway.

When rescuers reached the crashed jet, it was mostly intact but engulfed in flames. A police officer on the scene received burns to his arms while dragging the sole survivor through the cracked cockpit. The fire prevented the rescue of anyone else aboard.

Jon Hooker, an ex-pitcher for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and his wife, Scarlett Parsley, were among the victims. They were leaving for their California honeymoon after their wedding on Saturday.

This crash brings an end to the United States’ “safest period in aviation history." The United States has been free of major commercial crashes since Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., killing 260 people on board and 5 on the ground.

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