The Lexington ATC was NOT doing traffic count after he cleared Comair 5191 for takeoff

Sam Spade wrote:
Newps wrote:




An IFR tower doesn't call for release.

This is from the NTSB ATC Chairman's report about Comair 5191 and
confirmed by the transcript and ATC tape:

"At 0447 (UTC), all LEX tower and radar positions were combined and
being worked from the local control position in the tower cab. In
addition to those functons, the tower controller was responsible for
obtaining releases from the Indianapolis (ZID) Air Route Traffic Control
Center (ARTCC) Traffic Management Unit (TMU), and recording the ATIS
broadcast and all other operational and administrative duties required
of a tower/radar facility."

It would be nice to see what their LOA with the center shows. Having to
call TMU is a tip off that something was going on. TMU are not
controllers, they don't work any airplanes, they have no airspace. TMU
are the guys you call when a ground stop/delay program is going on. If
you want a regular old release you call the radar controller who owns
the airspace.