DENVER, Dec. 21, 2008
Jet Crash Probe Continues In Colo.
38 Hurt As Continental 737 Catches Fire During Takeoff; Left Engine And Landing Gear Shorn Off; Cause Unknown
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Play CBS Video Video Plane Erupts In Flames As a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 was preparing to depart from Denver, Colo. it erupted in flames. Remarkably no one was killed. The airline is still investigating the crash.
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A Continental Airlines Boeing 737 on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008 in Denver, the morning after a fiery crash injured 38 people. The cause is being investigated. (AP Photo/KUSA-TV)
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Kim Day, aviation manager for the city of Denver, speaks at a press briefing following the crash of Continental Flight 1404 at Denver International Airport, Dec. 20, 2008. (KCNC)
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Interactive Eye On Air Safety See how turbulence affects an airplane, test your flight survival knowledge and see how black boxes help crash investigators piece together what happened.
There was no official word on the possible cause of the crash of Continental Flight 1404 at Denver International Airport, which injured 38 people. Cockpit and voice recorders were recovered and appeared to be in good condition, the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday.
As the plane was preparing to take off something went very wrong, reports correspondent Rick Sallinger with CBS station KCNC. The jumbo jet veered left off the runway, across a taxiway, finally coming to rest in a ravine.
"We went off into what felt like a little bit of a rough patch, took a little bump up, took flight for a few moments, hit the ground again, bumped again then the engine on the right side of the plane seemed to just blow up," passenger Alex Zamora told KCNC in Denver.
Gabriel Trejos was on board with his infant son, Sallinger reports.
"On my side of the plane I could see the engine," Trejos told KCNC. "I noticed it was on fire. And I could feel the heat coming from the window."
One passenger snapped photos as flames erupted, engulfing most of the right side of the aircraft. Inside, melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats.
When rescue crews arrived they described the scene as, "Surreal, like something out of a movie." Firefighters were prepared to see dead bodies inside, but passengers had already tumbled down chutes to escape.
"We had people that were totally dazed, had that deer in headlights look, we had people that were very emotional, crying," says Tom Glivar, a Fire Captain with Denver's Engine 32.
None of the injuries was life threatening - mainly broken bones, smoke inhalation and bruises.
By daylight the charred right side of the plane was visible from the air. The fuselage appeared cracked and one of the engines was lying on the ground.
At the time of the accident it was cold and windy in Denver - but it's too soon to know if weather is a factor in the crash, reports Sallinger.
"It was a miracle ... that everybody survived the impact and the fire," said Bill Davis, an assistant Denver fire chief assigned to the airport. "It was just amazing."
A crack encircled much of the fuselage near the trailing edge of the wings, Davis said.
Davis, one of the firefighters who rushed to the scene, said the plane came to a rest about 200 yards from one of the airport's four fire stations. Passengers walked out of the ravine in 24-degree cold and crowded inside the station, he said.
The 110 passengers and five crew members left the plane on emergency slides, officials said.
Passenger Emily Pellegrini told The Denver Post that as the plane headed down the runway, "It was bumpy, then it was bumpier, then it wasn't bumpy."
The injuries included broken bones, but Robert Sumwalt, an NTSB member, didn't know whether they were caused by the impact or the evacuation. Two people were initially listed in critical condition at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver but were upgraded Sunday, one to serious and one to fair, spokeswoman Tonya Ewers said.
Continental Airlines spokeswoman Julie King said fewer than seven people were still in the hospital Sunday morning.
The plane veered off course about 2,000 feet from the end of the runway and did not appear to have gotten airborne, city aviation manager Kim Day said.
Investigators said Sunday evening that work would start again at daybreak. Robert Sumwalt, an NTSB member, said the damaged plane would remain for several days in the 40-foot deep ravine where it landed. That runway will remain closed during the investigation, he said.
The weather was cold but not snowy when the plane took off on a flight to Houston around 6:20 p.m. Saturday.
The ravine in which the plane came to rest sits between runways. Flat land is rare on the plains abutting the Rocky Mountains near Denver, and the airport was built on gently rolling country. The runways are elevated so rain and snow will drain away.
Jim Proulx, a Boeing spokesman, said the company was supporting the NTSB investigation and sending representatives to Denver on Sunday night. He declined to comment on whether Boeing had any indication of possible problems with the 737-500 jetliner.
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See all 37 CommentsPosted by redstripe11 at 11:07 AM : Dec 21, 2008
You''re right about not flying the planes to S. America for maintenance. Most airlines bring the S. Americans here to do the work. :)
What I really want to know is how old was this aircraft?
Second, there is NO evidence that any maintenance issue contributed to, much less caused, this accident.
What is strange is that the reports say the accident occurred about 2000'' from the end of the runway, which is 16,000 feet long. Takeoff should have been (as I read the charts) before 10,000'' (and perhaps before 7000'') vs the report they were not airborne - which is NOT what the passengers are quoted as saying. The difference is that if they were airborne, there had to be an asymmetric drag or thrust issue (i.e. engine out, one sided control surface failure, etc. NOT brakes) which the crew could/did not correct for. There are reports of the right hand engine catching fire BEFORE they hit anything. So, all I see in the media is SPECULATION which has NO place in responsible reporting.
What SHOULD be, and is NOT being, stressed:
The Flight Attendants - who do NOT exist to serve meals, they exist for emergencies - conducted a successful evacuation with NO deaths. THAT is newsworthy, critical and obvious from the facts. Of course, the media has elected not to mention it.
Continental Airlines spokeswoman Julie King said fewer than seven people were still in the hospital Sunday morning.
.... ummmm 6?
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Yes, it does... 107 passengers plus 5 crew members.
They are all just lucky to be on or close to ground and not 10,000 feet up. And people wonder why I dont fly...
Gaza: did that move to Denver? Keep shooting you rockets and I hope they take the entire place out Consider them forgot.
Im not minimizing this tragic event or the horror the people involved felt just some simple looking at the single picture so far. I also noticed something else look at the very front of the plane look how it appears the nose is up against an earth wall as if to stop it. It must have slowed down a lot because I do not see major damage to the nose. Im not placing blame on anybody that%u2019s the inspection teams job but this is one that could have got ugly real fast.
An overhead picture of the airport to spot the location would be good. Parts 600 feet away on the runway should explain a lot of what went wrong. Im sure they will be looking at that.
Posted by shanev137
Not really, the plane never got off the ground, didnt even make full takeoff speed.
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