Survivor in a Plane Crash That Killed 49

Aug. 28, 2006 — -- Rescuers saw James M. Polehinke, the first officer of Comair Flight 5191, moving around in the cockpit as the aircraft burned in a field approximately a half mile from the Lexington, Ky., Blue Grass Airport.

A Lexington police officer was one of the first to the crash site and pulled Polehinke from the aircraft that was largely intact but engulfed in flames.

Officer Bryan Jared received minor burns to his elbow from the jet fuel as he pulled Polehinke out of the burning wreckage. The flames, however, kept rescuers from reaching anyone else onboard.

"When you see somebody that needs your help, you just focus on that and do the best for them," Jared said today at a press conference.

The flight, with 47 passengers and three crew members, crashed at 6:05 a.m. Sunday on its way to Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

"There's nothing that can prepare you for something like this," Jared said in a clearly emotional and shaky voice.

Polehinke, the plane's sole survivor, remained in critical condition today after undergoing lifesaving surgery on Sunday at the University of Kentucky Hospital.

Hospital officials declined to comment on the extent of his injuries.

Early indications from the plane's black box recorders and the damage at the scene points to the crew taking off from the wrong runway, a runway half the length that is typically required for a regional jet.

Comair president Don Bornhorst said the crew was experienced and had been flying that airplane for some time.

Polehinke, the 44-year-old co-pilot from Margate, Fla., has flown for Comair since 2002.

David Norris, who lives next to Polehinke, told ABC News affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami that it took a moment for the news to sink in.

"It's strange," Norris said. "You know, at first you hear about it and you go, 'That's kinda interesting.' Then it hits, and when reality sets in, I know this guy."

Polehinke's neighbors describe him as a friendly man who kept to himself, and mostly saw him driving in his red Mazda Miata.