"C. Massey" wrote:

1. Is the ATC responsible for making sure the aircraft is on the correct
runway?

No, the pilot in command is the final authority for the safety of the
flight. A pilot has the authority to disregard an ATC instruction if the
pilot believes that this instruction will put the aircraft in harm's way.

Among the many other responsibilities, ATC does serve as a "check and
balance" of sorts, but for some reason this check did not occur on that
morning.

2. Aren't there check's that are made from inside the cockpit to assure they
are on the correct runway?

Yes there are. However, I am not a professional pilot so I am unaware if
airlines have written procedures dealing with this. I suspect they do.

In the GA world we would compare the directional gyro, compass, or HSI to
the known runway heading before departing.

3. Looking at the two runways using google earth, it looks as though the
actual pavement is the same width on both runways in question, but all of
the documents that I have seen show a 75 ft and a 150 ft runway. Why is
this? Someone mentioned the 75 ft runway is actually 150 ft wide, but the
markings make it 75 ft usable. Why would that be?

Unknown by me, but perhaps the airport purposely did this to assure a
distinction between the smaller runway and the larger one.

--
Peter