Snapped in two: The wreckage of the Continental flight
Posted on 12/22/2008 7:34:52 AM PST by yankeedame
A Boeing 737 with 115 passengers and crew on board was almost torn in half when it crashed on take-off and burst into flames - but everyone got off the plane alive.
'It was a miracle that everybody survived the impact and the fire,' said assistant fire chief Bill Davis. 'It was just amazing.'
Snapped in two: The wreckage of the Continental flight
Miracle: A gash in the snow shows the plane's path as it skidded out of control
Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was taxiing along the runway at Denver International Airport on Saturday evening when it veered off course.
Debris was scattered on the runway behind the plane which came to rest in a snow-covered ravine 200 yards from one of the airport's fire stations.
The entire right side of the plane was burned...
Horror crash: Fire tore along one side of the aircraft, melting plastic inside the cabin
Wreckage: The shattered remains of the aircraft black against a dusting of snow
A crack encircled much of the fuselage and the left engine had broken loose and ended up 30 feet away.
Passengers and crew members scrambled from the plane on emergency slides and walked out of the ravine. One of those on board...'It was bumpy, then it was bumpier, then it wasn't bumpy.'
Thirty-eight people suffered injuries, including broken bones, with one listed as serious.
Federal aviation investigators said the weather was cold but not snowy at the time of the crash.
An overhead view of the plan shows scattered wreckage and the gash in the cabin tearing it in half
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Fantastic pictures!
I’m so glad all excaped alive!
Any word on cause yet?
Sure don’t see any “blazing” in those pictures.
‘It was bumpy, then it was bumpier, then it wasn’t bumpy.’
The screenplay of Die Hard V, if ever I heard it :0)
Very glad all survived this!
FR was reporting the police radio transmissions as this occurred. Smoke began coming from the a/c almost immediately.
Glad everyone got out. We'll probably find that a number of the broken bones were due to the evacuation itself, not the crash. But better to break a leg than burn up . . . .
Granted, the blaze is out. It's obviously a Festivus miracle that everyone got out alive!!!
This butthead. He ought be happy he got out. Here he is complaining he can’t get a drink. He should be happy he didn’t fry.
well it did blaze a trail off the runway those brits are pretty good
To tell you the truth if I got out of that alive I would be looking to drink also.
How could such severe consequences result from an aircraft merely “taxiing” along a runway?
Every other article I read said it was on takeoff roll when it veered, not merely taxiing.
My first guess is lack of de-icing on the wings.
Link to Fox news Atlanta with a little more info as to what may have happened.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,470784,00.html
That was my thought too, but the Denver airport seems pretty compulsive about deicing planes this time of year.
If my pilot thinks it's safer to hit the brakes than get airborne, then more power to him.
I'd much rather take my chances on the ground thank you.
From what I read somewhere (don’t have the source handy) the 737 was taking off on a northbound runway at Denver, but the winds at the time were from the west at about 20-25 knots and gusting higher. Why they hadn’t switched to using a westbound runway, who knows, the airport might have been in the process of switching. But if that article’s right, then yeah, a rejected takeoff in a heavy crosswind could’ve caused the pilots to lose control and the plane to “weathervane” in the wind and turn left off the runway. Once it hit the dirt, the wild ride would start.
Now the questions are—why was the takeoff rejected, and why would they be taking off in conditions that *might* exceed the maximum allowed crosswind component for a 737?
}:-)4
I heard that there were 40 minute delays.
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