The Continental Airlines 737 jet that veered off a DIA runway Saturday night traveled nearly a half mile through fields, then up and over a taxiway and an airport service road like a four-wheeling Jeep before coming to rest on its belly a short distance from an airport fire station, a site visit for news media revealed today.
The National Transportation Safety Board took a pool of reporters and photographers to the crash scene at Denver International Airport for a 20-minute visit shortly after noon today.
The tracks made by the plane’s wheels were clearly visible where the jet departed runway 34Right and traveled over a field, crossed taxiway WC, then dropped down a steep embankment and traveled through a depressed area before bouncing over Kewaunee Street, an airport service road.
One of the plane’s main landing gears rested on the other side of Kewaunee, so it appeared that the jolt of hitting the raised roadway sheared it off. The other main gear sat about 75 yards from the roadway, close to where the fractured plane ended up.
Bill English, the investigator in charge for the NTSB on the Continental crash, said he hoped his agency would have its on site investigation completed by Wednesday.
“There are all kinds of systems inaccessible to us beneath the plane,” English said.
The plane sat about 100 yards from Kewaunee on its belly, with its nose gear collapsed under it.
English said the NTSB expects to remove the plane from the crash site so investigators can get at systems underneath. The plane’s fuselage was badly burned on the right side, but the right engine, still attached to the wing, did not show obvious signs of fire damage. Through the burned right side of the fuselage, passenger seats were visible.
The left engine lay a short distance from the left wing, with the engine’s outer covering ripped off.
The 100-yard stretch from Kewaunee to the plane’s final resting place was strewn with small pieces of aircraft debris. One piece said “APU shroud drain.”
The escape doors on the right, or burned side of the plane, were open, but English said firefighters opened them as they were putting out the fire. When the plane came to a rest and Continental’s cabin crew saw flames out the right-side windows, they only evacuated out the left side of the plane, English said he was told by Continental officials.
English said he has a “structures” team looking at the issue of how the 737 ended up where it did in the condition it is in. Orange marks were painted on the ground to assist investigators with GPS and survey positioning, he said.
Flight 1404 was bound for Houston on Saturday evening when the plane — with 115 people aboard — veered off the runway to the left during its takeoff roll.
Air safety officials have not officially said that the pilots aborted the takeoff. One area of inquiry is expected to be how procedures normally associated with such a “rejected takeoff,” might have played a role in the aircraft leaving the runway.
Five of the 36 people injured remained hospitalized today, one of them in serious condition.
Late this afternoon, DIA officials said they were opening runway 34R to air traffic tonight. Current weather forecasts call for snow to begin falling at the airport early Tuesday morning, said DIA spokesman Jeff Green, and the airport wanted to have the runway available for use during inclement-weather operations.
It is the closest DIA runway to the bulk of the airport’s de-icing pads.
“Having this runway available will allow the airport to keep any weather-related delays to a minimum, especially during the busy holiday travel period,” DIA said in a statement.
An NTSB spokesman said this afternoon that the agency has good data from the Continental jet’s cockpit voice recorder and it may make some preliminary information from the recordings available to the public tonight.
“Crew conversations are audible,” NTSB’s Robert Sumwalt told a 2:30 p.m. briefing. “We will have some overall characterization of what was said in the cockpit.”
Sumwalt said a team of investigators will gather Tuesday in Washington to begin the task of accurately transcribing the voice recorder tape, which may provide key clues as to why the Boeing jet exited the runway.
Sumwalt, a board member of the NTSB, said his teams started their investigation of the crash scene in earnest at first light today and planned to continue the work until dusk.
He planned to hold another daily briefing at 9 p.m. tonight after investigators had a chance to review their progress. Sumwalt said he had teams looking at the plane’s structure, systems, operations, engines and recorders, as well as weather conditions at the time of the accident, air traffic control issues and “survival factors.”
Sumwalt said “interested parties” participating in the investigation include Boeing, the plane’s maker, Continental, and unions representing pilots, mechanics and air traffic controllers.
One investigative team was examining the configuration of the flaps and slats on the jet’s wings and the settings of various cockpit controls.
The agency’s survival factors group was interviewing the plane’s first officer, Sumwalt said, and officials hope soon to similarly interview the plane’s captain, who reportedly suffered a back injury in the accident.
They also expect to interview off-duty Continental crew members who were riding in the cabin of the plane. Sumwalt stressed that the memories of eyewitnesses are among the most “perishable” pieces of evidence during an accident investigation.
Sumwalt said the agency wanted “to be respectful of the captain’s mental condition” and his physical condition as well. He would not say whether it was the captain or first officer who was flying the plane at the time of the accident.
Sumwalt would not say whether NTSB was focusing on any special area of inquiry, such as problems with the landing gears, tires and braking system as a possible contributing factor in the accident. All areas of inquiry, including that one, are still open, he said.
Today, two of the nine people originally taken to University of Colorado Hospital remained there, one of them in serious condition and one in fair condition. The hospital wouldn’t identify the victims. On Sunday, hospital spokeswoman Tonya Ewers said both suffered fractures.
Three of the 11 originally taken to Denver Health remain and are in good condition. They have declined to comment to the media, said Denver Health spokeswoman Kalena Wilkinson.
Two flight attendants are among those receiving medical care, one for smoke inhalation and neck issues and another for foot and ankle injuries, said David Supplee, flight-safety chairperson for District Lodge 142 of the International Association of Machinists. The union represents all Continental flight attendants.
Supplee lauded both the crew and off-duty crew members aboard who helped passengers from the plane.
“The actions of the flight attendants definitely speak volumes for their professionalism. They’re willing to step up even while not on duty to assist passengers rather than thinking of themselves,” Supplee said. “They’re not just there to serve you drinks.”
It wasn’t the first time the Continental aircraft was involved in an emergency. In 1995, with the plane flying at 31,000 feet, an engine began vibrating, forcing the crew to land at DIA, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
The engine was removed and replaced.
The problem would have had no bearing on Saturday’s accident, said aviation analyst Mike Boyd. “That’s ancient history.”
The aircraft had other problems that led to repairs as well, but none that forced it out of the air. On Nov. 27, 1996, a flight attendant reported smoke coming from an oven in the first-class galley while the plane was in flight. The oven circuits were cut and the smoke ceased. Maintenance crews later found cooking grease in the oven and removed it.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
