The airport board admits that construction work was underway but it claims that NOTAMs were properly created and distributed and that signs leading to Runway 22, the main 7,000-foot runway that the flight had been cleared to, met all standards and that configuration of the taxiways and runways at the Airport were safe, open and obvious to any pilots exercising ordinary care. The airport board further alleges that the Comair crew should have noticed they were on the wrong runway in time to abort the takeoff. The statement also points out that hundreds of flights, including two airliners that immediately preceded Flight 5191, had no trouble getting to the right runway in the week prior to the accident. The defense also claims the crew didnt have its full attention on the tasks at hand while taxiing, an allegation that could become clearer when some crucial evidence is released by the FAA and NTSB. The NTSB hasnt released the cockpit voice and flight data recorder information yet (despite numerous requests by the media) and, while it has confirmed that the lone air traffic controller on duty that morning cleared the flight to the correct runway, the FAA hasnt released the full exchange between the tower and Flight 5191.
