Doctors have amputated the left leg of a co-pilot whose plane crashed on takeoff after it turned onto the wrong runway, and he does not remember the accident that killed 49 people, his family said Monday.
James Polehinke, the lone survivor of the Aug. 27 crash at the Blue Grass Airport, faces several additional surgeries to repair fractures, one involving his spinal cord, the family said.
Polehinke “does not remember anything,” the family said in a statement. He is asking about his family and dogs and wants to go home.
“He is more wakeful at times and more communicative, but is still not completely lucid and currently has no recollection of the accident,” the statement said.
Polehinke remains in serious condition at University of Kentucky Hospital. The family said he should be able to begin rehabilitation after his surgeries, but he isn't expected to be released for several weeks, university spokesman Jay Blanton said.
A Lexington police officer pulled Polehinke out of the charred wreckage of the cockpit after the plane crashed into farmland. According to federal investigators, the flight's captain, Jeffrey Clay, taxied Comair Flight 5191 onto the wrong runway before Polehinke took over the regional jet and attempted to get it airborne from the too-short runway at the airport.
Also Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board said toxicology testing on Polehinke and Clay detected no traces of alcohol or illegal drugs in their systems.
An over-the-counter decongestant was detected at a low level in Polehinke's blood, it said. FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the substance was not on the agency's banned list.