The crew did say COM553, but I believe they might have been in error. They were probably looking at their DSL and 6553 was the next flight they were to operate.
The accident happened around 20:05-20:10 and looking again I see flight 553 wasn't sked to depart until 21:00, so most likely that it wasn't 553 after all. Your callsign mixup theory would explain it.
Okay, that helps, I did not know what time the incident occurred. 6293 is showing an in-time of 20:10, so that makes sense.
The aircraft was not pushed back. When we are pushed out of the horseshoe, they turn us around so we are facing west towards Alpha on Mike. This aircraft was inbound, and we are not permitted to enter the ramp too far without a marshaller and wing walkers.
Thank you, for the clarification.
But, assuming he (Comair) was not clear of the threshold, which the photos show (and i know we can't trust those), whose responsibility is it? I'm just a PP but my instruction taught me that you hold short of thresholds and clear them completely before stopping on the other side.
Just to clarify, they were not at the runway threshold. This was simply the intersection of Alpha and Mike. They may not have been completely clear of the movement area, but that isn’t really the issue. Taxiway turn-ins routinely get clogged (not just at JFK, anywhere)
Any aircraft that is moving is required to give way to another aircraft or something else that is stationary. Let’s use an extreme obviously exaggerated example: taxiing in MIA there are light poles out on the ramp area. Are you responsible for going around them?
The crew of the aircraft is responsible for ensuring their aircraft will not cause harm or damage to people or objects. Could the Comair have pulled up a little farther to let the big fat ‘bus go by? Sure, it would have been courteous, but also they are pushing the limits of their clearance (not permitted to enter the ramp too far without ground crew guidance)
Looks to me like the video was sped up, making it difficult to estimate the speed of the plane.
There are red flashing lights on both planes (sorry, don't know the technical terms). Do they flash at a known frequency, and if so, can someone calculate the actual speeds and post a slowed-down video?
The video was indeed sped up (judged by how fast the ramp agent ran at the time of collision). While it would be nice to be able to estimate the speed by the beacon lights on the CRJ (which flash at regular intervals, top/bottom/top), the nature of camera shutters do not have the ability to capture strobes real well. You might be able to notice this just by how irregular the CRJ’s strobes appear.