Search for clues in jet crash

2008-12-22 17:04

Denver - Federal investigators hope data from flight recorders recovered from the charred wreckage of a Continental Airlines jetliner will yield clues about why the plane veered off a runway in Denver and skidded into a shallow ravine.

The twin-engine Boeing 737-500 was left in a shallow, snow-covered ravine where it came to rest after its aborted take-off on Saturday at Denver International Airport.

National Transportation Safety Board officials wanted to make use of scarce daylight hours on Monday to examine the wreck, measure skid marks and then conduct their first interviews of the pilots.

Flight data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered and sent for examination to Washington, DC. It appeared both were in good condition, the NTSB said on Sunday.

The accident forced the 115 passengers and crew aboard Continental Airlines' Flight 1404 to flee through emergency exits as the plane burned.

The jet had shed its left engine and both main landing gears, and caught fire. The entire right side of the jet was burned, and melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats.

The plane veered off course about 610m from the end of the runway and did not appear to have got airborne, city aviation manager Kim Day said.

Bill Davis, an assistant Denver fire chief assigned to the airport, said it was a miracle "that everybody survived the impact and the fire".

'Everybody was shocked about what was going on'

Thirty-eight people suffered injuries including broken bones, although officials weren't sure whether they were caused by the impact or the evacuation.

The weather was clear but cold when the plane attempted to take off for Houston on Saturday evening.

Davis, one of the firefighters who rushed to the scene, said the plane came to a rest about 182m from one of the airport's four fire stations. Passengers walked out of the ravine in minus four degrees Celsius cold and crowded inside the station, he said.

A crack encircled much of the fuselage near the trailing edge of the wings, Davis said. There were 110 passengers and five crew members aboard, officials said.

Passenger Gabriel Trejos told ABC's Good Morning America in Denver that the plane buckled during its high-speed skid across the ground and seats came loose. His knees were bruised from the seat in front of him as he tried to protect his 13-month-old son in his lap.

"That's all I could think of, just please don't squish the baby," he said. "Everybody was shocked about what was going on. They were just trying to hang on for dear life."

His pregnant wife, Maria Trejos, said that there was an explosion and that the right side of the plane, where they were sitting, became engulfed in flames. The family used an emergency exit and slid down the wing of the jet to the ground.

Many passengers from the flight arrived in Houston, its original destination, on Sunday afternoon, some clearly injured, the Houston Chronicle reported.

- AP