I am still puzzled. Don't you guys check the heading before taking off on a runway?
I seem to remember my CFII drilling me on this before taking off when I was working on my stuck-wing-Instrument-Rating.....
I remember because I always failed to do it. (since I am not used to using runways and just look where the wind is coming from before I take off.....)
Isn't there a big number painted on the runway as well??
This is a very sad accident that definetly could have been avoided....
I check my heading, but I can easily see where you wouldn't catch the error.
I keep being told by pilots familiar with the airport that those runways can be confusing. Add to it that the taxiways were changed for construction to make even the correct runway look different and it becomes even easier.
Now it comes to light that a hump in the middle of the longer runway makes it appear the same length as the short one. In other words, from the cockpit, once they turned on the runway, the pilots saw the same sight picture on that runway.
There *is* a big number on each runway end, however I wonder if the construction meant they entered the runway after the number (they are at the beginning of the runway). If you see both the runway number and your heading and they aren't the same, it's easier for it to "click" that one is different. However, if you only see the one...
Comair is union, so I doubt that it's work rules related (basic work rules are pretty tough as far as how much rest you get etc).
They are dwelling on the fact that the pilots started out getting on the wrong airplane, but that's not a big surprise, if the numbers on the aircraft were similiar it would be an easy mistake.
I think that one change you might see after this is that controllers will not clear you to take off on a runway until you cross all other runways first. Think about this... the captain is taxiing and comes up on a runway. When he gets to the runway he is cleared for takeoff. Instinctively he might think that he is cleared on the runway he just came up on.
I also wonder if the controller told him "cross 26, cleared for takeoff runway 22" or just "cleared for takeoff" (with or without runway number). I never cross a runway without verbal instructions on crossing that runway. Even if the clearance would allow me to cross, I want specific clearance for that runway in case the controller has forgotten something himself (such as telling me to hold short). The controller might have also issued the full clearance (including crossing) initially. Then takeoff clearance so he could get to other items. This is why I think there may be a change. If he waited until the aircraft only had the correct runway in front of it, there wouldn't have been a possibility of this happening.
Regardless of fault (it will rest on the Captain here), the unfortunate truth is that if the controller simply cleared the aircraft to takeoff without a crossing instruction the flight crew gets "takeoff on the runway" into their heads instead of "cross one runway and takeoff on the next one." I can easily see how this could have happened.
