Trainer Thomas Fahey and his 16-year-old student Paige Winters were two of the 49 victims of the crash of Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, Ky., yesterday, Aug. 27.

Fahey and Winters, of the Kansas City area, had been in Lexington trying horses and were returning home when the crash occurred.

Winters\’ mother, Joan Winters, had been scheduled to return with them but was bumped from the flight at the last minute because it was overbooked. She was still at the airport when she learned of the crash.

Fahey, 26, had a successful hunter/jumper business based at Winsrun Equestrian Center in Bucyrus, Kan.

“He was wonderful—always smiling and always engaging,” said Marty Sawyer, who trained with Fahey for the past two years. “He was a great communicator as a trainer and so easily gave you the tools to help your riding. Everybody loved him. He was wonderful with the horses and with his students, whether children or adults.”

Paige was a junior at Shawnee Mission East High School and an accomplished hunter rider.

Comair Flight 5191, a commuter jet, was taking off from Blue Grass Airport at 6:07 a.m. bound for Atlanta when it went down about a mile from the airport. Preliminary reports are that the pilot used the wrong runway, a shorter 3,500 runway rather than the 7,000-foot runway for commercial airplanes.

First responders pulled the co-pilot from the wreckage, and he remains the only survivor in critical condition.

Other victims included Lexington-based horseman Dan Mallory, 55, a Thoroughbred breeder, owner and agent. Mallory was reportedly on route to Texas for the Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale, which started today, Aug. 28. Mallory owned Meadow Haven Farm in Paris, Ky.

In addition, George Brunacini, breeder of 2005 Travers Stakes winner Flower Alley, was aboard the flight as was Thoroughbred trainer Jeff Williams. Williams, 49, was based at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio.