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Attorney For Survivor Says Cockpit Conversation Did Not Cause Comair Crash

First Officer James Polehinke

First Officer James Polehinke

Comair says the pilots of Flight 5191 broke the rules just before the crash at Blue Grass airport, now the attorney of the co-pilot says the conversation in the cockpit didn't have anything to do with the crash.
First Officer James Polehinke was the only survivor to the crash. In a statement to 27 NEWSFIRST, his attorney said, "Small, short conversations before takeoffs are not the cause of the accident. There's a system out there to prevent accidents and the system didn't work."
The system according to attorney Bruce Brandon included the Federal Aviation Administration. He says the agency "didn't follow its own rules by only having one (traffic) controller"
He goes on to say "there seems to be a chronic problem with lighting at the airport" and "the charts (the pilots) had were not accurate"
As for Polehinke, Brandon wouldn't talk about his condition saying that's personal. We do know Polehinke is continuing his recovery at a rehabilitation hospital near Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Pilots are supposed to have what's called a sterile cockpit, meaning they're only supposed to talk about the flight while taxiing, taking off and landing. The FAA adopted the rule in 1981 after investigating a series of accidents that were caused by flight crews, who were distracted because of unnecessary conversation,
The National Transportation Safety Board has not released a cause of the crash, that won't come out until late spring or summer.


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