30 Aug, 2006
Ready for takeoff?
Jet route was altered week before Ky. crash
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The taxi route for commercial jets at Blue Grass Airport was altered during a repaving project a week before Comair Flight 5191 took the wrong runway Sunday and crashed, killing all but one of the 50 people aboard, the airport's director said Monday.
The main runway is 7,000 feet long. The other is 3,500 feet. Aviation experts say the twin-engine CRJ100, the type of plane that crashed, needs 5,000 feet for takeoff.
The repaving was finished late the previous Sunday, Gobb said. It wasn't known whether the pilots aboard Flight 5191 had been to the airport since the changes.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was reviewing runway and taxiway markings in its investigation.
Recorded conversations between the Comair cockpit crew and the person staffing the control tower in the minutes before Sunday's crash showed no signs of trouble.
The only runway mentioned was the main commercial strip, said safety board member Debbie Hersman.
The plane clipped trees, then crashed in a field and burst into flames, killing everyone aboard except copilot James Polehinke, who was critically injured.
The cockpit voice recorder indicated the preflight preparations had been "consistent with normal operations," Hersman said. There was no obvious problem with the plane's airworthiness and the engines were intact, she said.
The victims included a just-married couple and a director of Habitat for Humanity International.
photo courtesy images.google.com & story freep.com, 8/29/06
Psalm 25:4-5
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long. (ESV)
What does today's God's Story (His Word) teach us about staying on His "runway"?
The psalmist, David, is asking (not demanding) God to guide his life. He is expressing his genuine desire for God's direction.
How about you? Do you truly want God's guidance in life? Every day, in every way, or for just the "big" decisions about your future?
The starting point for receiving God's guidance is for us to seek it. God will not force His direction on us. Then we must recognize that His main guidance system is in His Holy Word. In fact, Psalm 119 tells us that God's Word provides endless knowledge.
If we read, study, and obey God's Word, we can be sure that we will be on God's runway and ready for the takeoff He has planned for us.
The airplane crash in Kentucky seems to be the result of confusion regarding the right runway and instructions from air traffic control.
When we are willing to trust God as our air traffic control and receive His specific guidance, there will be no mistake about being on His path, which is always the right runway.
How can you connect today's God's Story to your life?
- Pray right now. Thank God for His guidance system - His Word and the presence of His Holy Spirit in your life! Confess anything in your life that you have allowed to get you off of God's planned runway for your life. Thank Jesus for providing the forgiveness you need right now, because He died for all of your sins. Ask His Spirit to keep you on His path every day.
- Start each day by spending time in God's Word. Entrust your day to the power of His Spirit in you to keep in God's "flightplan" for your life.
- Make a written list of what you do in your life that results in a spiritual crash. Let Jesus help you review it every day until you are back on the path of obedience.
- When you see images of airplanes, let Jesus remind you to evaluate your use of God's guidance system. This is another way to understand what it means to abide in Christ.
How can you connect today's story, God's Story and your story to others?
- Pray that as others watch you go down God's "runway", they will see something in your daily "takeoff" that gets them interested in your story and God's Story.
- Share today's DAILYBIDE with your youth group or small group. You could become a good "flightcrew" for each other as you hold each other accountable and encourage each other.
- As you see friends or family members choose the wrong runway in life, be ready to serve as a spiritual rescue worker by listening and helping them recover.
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