Continental Airlines Boeing 737-524 plane crash
Denver, Colorado, USA
Updated on
The Boeing 737 operated by Continental Airlines was a scheduled service from Denver, CO, USA, to Houston, TX, USA. 110 passengers and 5 crewmembers were onboard.
During take off, the aircraft veered off the runway and caught fire. 38 people on board the plane have been injured.
The plane was departing runway 34R of Denver International Airport. Forty-one seconds after takeoff, there became a bumping and rattling that started and
that continued through the end of the recording. Four seconds later, one of the crew members called for the takeoff to be aborted as the Boeing 737 jet
kept building speed down the runway. He noticed trouble at a speed of around 90-knots, but the plane kept accelerating to 119-knots. While the crew was
braking the jet, the Boeing 737 veered off the runway, travelled down a ravine and caught fire. Tire marks were spotted at the 1,900 feet mark on the
runway, some 700 feet before the plane veered left off the runway.
Fire crews responding to the accident encountered a heavy fire on the right side of the jet but all the occupants were evacuated. Images of the aircraft
show that it suffered severe structural damage. Its left engine and at least one undercarriage assembly detached. The right engine is badly smashed and
the 737's fuselage has ruptured aft of the wing.
Weather conditions at the time oh the accident were correct, with a good visibility, few clouds, but the wind was gusting to 28-36kt from the west.