Several plot points in the crash of Comair Flight 5191 point to a staffing shortage at the regional airports that may contributed to the tragedy.

“The flight crew had begun to power up the aircraft early Sunday when a worker at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington notified them that they were on the wrong plane…”

“The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that on Sunday when the Atlanta-bound flight crashed, there should have been two air-traffic controllers on duty.”

“Charlie Monette, president of Aero-Tech flight school based at the Lexington airport, said he has students with 15 hours of flying time who navigate the airport’s two runways without any confusion.”

“Worker had 2 hours of sleep…Air-traffic controllers are required to have 8 hours off between shifts, according to federal regulation. It was not known what the controller for Blue Grass Airport was doing during his time off, Hersman said.”

Source: Chicago Tribune.

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