Originally Posted by
Loose rivets
Cut from .Mr Dog's post.
I have looked at all the posts about this tragic accident since the first day. Making the assumption that the aircraft was visible, even by its lights alone, I would have watched, required or not required.
I feel that whatever the ATC guy did or didn't do, he will spend the rest of his life thinking ‘if only'. But. With an airfield that was very quiet, and the take-off of a slippery jet imminent, I would have wanted to watch it go. After 40 years in the industry, I have never grown tired of watching T/O or landings, so for someone that was involved in the movement, it just seems a little strange IMHO to turn away. Again, there is a but.... This could have been one of the few times in his career that he did turn away, some deadline may have taken precedence, only he would be able to answer that. A lot of work is already going into researching the imagery that the pilots were seeing, I guess in time we may be given the time-line and the psychology of the occurrence, but for now it's all guesswork.
Most small field ATC folks get used to a certain routine as the flights, especially that time of day, are the same day after day. Just speculation, but perhaps the controller knows that as soon as Comair 5191 departs, Flight XXX calls for its clearance. Whatever, it was not his controller's routine to watch that flight take off. Eventually, he would have glanced up before saying, "Comair 191, contact departure, g'day."