Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The controller handling Comair Flight 5191 saw the jet taxiing to the proper runway, cleared it for takeoff and then turned away to focus on other duties before it crashed, a U.S. safety investigator said.

The controller also was alone in the tower at the Lexington, Kentucky, airport in violation of the Federal Aviation Administration's policy of having two workers on duty, an FAA spokeswoman said.

National Transportation Safety Board and FAA officials today described the events leading to the Aug. 27 crash at Blue Grass Airport as they probed how the Canadair CRJ regional jet ended up on a runway too short for a safe takeoff. The plane plowed into a horse farm, killing 49 people; James Polehinke, first officer for the flight, was the only survivor.

The controller told NTSB investigators he had a ``clear, unobstructed view'' and saw the jet head toward the runway it was supposed to use, board member Debbie Hersman said. He cleared it for takeoff, then ``turned his back and performed administrative duties at the tower,'' Hersman said.

The safety board is examining the FAA's role the morning of the Aug. 27 crash and whether the Comair pilots took the wrong runway because of confusion over changes made a week earlier to the airport's taxiways and runway lights. Cincinnati-based Comair is part of Delta Air Lines Inc.

Two-Controller Policy

The FAA in November 2005 clarified that at least two controllers are required in towers that use radar to direct planes at and near airports. Planes that violated separation standards in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina prompted the FAA staffing change, said Laura Brown, an agency spokeswoman.

FAA officials learned after the accident that the policy hadn't been followed in Lexington and ``directed the facility manager to ensure that a minimum of two controllers are on duty at all times,'' Brown said in an interview.

Lexington has a radar room in the same tower from which controllers can look out windows to direct traffic on the ground. FAA workers there can monitor the radar from the radar room or from the top of the tower. The controller on the overnight shift the morning of the Comair crash was doing both of those functions.

Weekend traffic levels at Lexington average about six aircraft per night between midnight and 6 a.m., Brown said.

Short Runway

Safety board investigators haven't determined why Flight 5191 was on Runway 26 before dawn. That 3,500-foot runway is unlighted, is used by small planes and is half the length of Runway 22, which the Comair jet was supposed to use. The two runways intersect and share a taxiway.

The airport's taxiway configuration, runway lighting and a repaving project are all being reviewed by the NTSB, board spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said.

The taxiway and lighting changes were part of a four-phase safety improvement project that began in October 2003 at Blue Grass Airport, owned by the non-profit Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Corp. Workers blocked the usual route for runway access on Aug. 20, a week before the crash, shortening the taxiway, said Brian Ellestad, airport marketing director.

Comair Captain Jeffrey Clay, 35 taxied the jet onto the runway the morning of the accident, the NTSB's Hersman said. Clay last flew at Lexington in June and had been to the airport six times in the past two years, she said.

First Officer

First Officer Polehinke, 44, took the controls from the captain after the plane taxied onto the wrong runway. He was a crew member on a flight to Blue Grass Airport the day before the crash, Hersman said. Before then, he had last been at Lexington in May, she said.

The jet tore through the airport's perimeter fence, clipped trees and crashed, catching fire and killing the 47 passengers and two crew members.

Polehinke, who remains hospitalized in critical condition, is showing improvement, Jay Blanton, a spokesman for the University of Kentucky's Chandler Hospital, said today.

Polehinke has multiple broken bones from the accident and underwent surgery today, Blanton said. ``He has not achieved consciousness'' since the crash, Blanton said.

``Our thoughts continue to be with the families of the passengers and crew members affected by this tragedy,'' Polehinke's family said in a statement today. ``We know that if he were able to, Jimmy would join us in telling them that they are in our constant prayers.''

Pilots Notified

A fully loaded CRJ needs at least 5,800 feet of runway to take off, or 2,300 feet more than the length of the runway used by the Comair pilots, according to the Web site of plane maker Bombardier Inc. The jet was headed for Atlanta the morning of the crash.

The short runway chosen by the pilots wasn't lit in the pre- dawn hours. The 7,000-foot runway the pilots should have used didn't have working center-line lights, which were removed in a repaving project that closed the airport to flights the previous weekend, Ellestad said.

Pilots flying into Lexington had been notified as recently as Aug. 25 about construction on the runways that could result in changes such as lighting, Hersman said.

The Comair pilots discussed the lack of runway lights with each other before takeoff, Hersman said. Even after noticing the absence of lighting, she said, they still didn't realize they were on the wrong runway.

The two pilots also got in the wrong plane before their flight and were directed to the correct one by a ramp worker, Hersman said.

In addition to Polehinke and Clay, the crew consisted of flight attendant Kelly Heyer, 27. Clay joined Comair in November 1999, Polehinke in March 2002 and Heyer in July 2004, according to Comair.

Comair followed Atlanta-based Delta in filing for bankruptcy reorganization last year and is working to trim $42 million from annual operating expenses. The carrier began flying for Delta in 1984 and became a subsidiary in 2000.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net; John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 29, 2006 20:51 EDT