LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Wednesday’s plane crash in Washington D.C. near Ronald Reagan National Airport was one of the deadliest in United States history, killing 67 people. American Airlines flight 5342 operated by regional airline PSA Airlines collided midair with an Army Blackhawk helicopter.
Wednesday’s tragedy marked the first deadly major commercial airline crash since an incident in Buffalo in 2009 killed 49 people.
Many in Kentucky remember Aug. 27, 2006, when regional airline Comair operating a flight for Delta had its own deadly crash in Lexington. Comair Flight 5191 crashed at Blue Grass Airport during takeoff; tragically killing 49 of the 50 people on board.
The flight crashed that morning around 6:07 a.m. after overrunning the runway. It had been scheduled to land in Atlanta around 7:15 a.m. that morning.
Mont Dawson will never forget that day.
“I was actually driving back in an RV from Bristol Motor Speedway, and you remember that moment for the rest of your life,” Dawson said.
Dawson’s brother, Fenton Dawson, was one of 47 passengers aboard Flight 5191. All passengers and two of three crew members died that morning. Fenton Dawson was 46 with two young children when he died.
“He’s missed every day. It’s life-changing. For a long time, your level of happiness was somewhat tempered by such a big loss,” Dawson said.
Wednesday night’s mid-air collision involving an American Airlines passenger plane and Army Blackhawk helicopter hit home for leaders at Blue Grass Airport.
“The airport and aviation community is tightly knit so when we see something like this happen we say it impacts us all and we all want to be there to help each other,” said Amy Caudill, vice president of marketing and community relations at Blue Grass Airport.
Caudill said the airport regularly prepares for the worst with 50 agency partners in the area.
“We also invite those 45-50 mutual aid agencies out to the airport at least once a year for a tabletop exercise and every three years for a full-scale exercise,” Caudill said.
Now, the country awaits answers as the FAA and NTSB investigate Wednesday’s crash.
“You immediately think about the people and what they’re going through and the mayhem of dealing with the FAA and it’s a very crazy situation that anyone ever has to be in,” Dawson said.
Dawson said despite his brother’s death, it has not stopped him or the family from traveling on a plane.
Comair ceased operations in 2012 after nearly three decades of business.
A memorial dedicated to the 49 lives lost during the Aug. 2006 tragedy is at The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.