Feds want to improve runway safety

The Federal Aviation Administration has announced measures to improve runway safety, including the installation at major airports of lights that signal pilots when a runway is safe to enter.

Monday's announcement comes amid criticism of FAA officials by federal lawmakers and others over an alarming rate of runway incursions.

Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell planned to discuss the lighting systems at a morning news conference. He was expected to face questions about two near-collisions in less than a week at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Friday's near-collision - involving a Delta Air Lines and a Comair flight - prompted the FAA to change the sequence of takeoffs and landings on perpendicular runways.

New informaiton on deadly plane crash

There is new information on last summer’s Comair jet crash that killed 49 people. The pilots never got four important notices on airport and runway conditions. Among the missing updates, one saying the normal taxiway to the main runway was closed.

Comair is owned by Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. The Atlanta-bound Comair flight crashed at a Kentucky airport last August shortly after taking off from the wrong runway.

On Thursday, the National Transportation Safety Board will announce the results of its investigation into what caused the crash.

Cause of Comair crash due inJuly

The National Transportation Safety Board says it won’t know until July what caused the crash of a Comair flight that killed 49 people. Comair is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. A Comair jet crashed August 27th taking off from an airport in Lexington, Kentucky. Today the NTSB announced tentative plans for a public meeting on July 26th in Washington, when it will announce its findings about what caused the crash.

Comair settles with victims' estate

Delta Airlines subsidiary Comair has reached settlement with the estate of two plane crash victims. The settlement between the estate of Jesse Clark and Bobbie Sue Benton and Comair is confidential. The Bentons were heading to the Caribbean for a vacation last August 27th, when their Comair jet tried to take off from the wrong runway and crashed. 47 other people died in the crash at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky. Comair, which is owned by Atlanta-based Delta, has settled with the estate of two other victims. In total, 29 lawsuits on behalf of 38 victims were filed against Comair. Comair has admitted to federal investigators that its pilots were partly responsible, but also said better systems for alerting airlines to taxiway changes might have prevented the crash. The co-pilot, James Polehinke, was the only survivor of the crash.