COA1404

News? Friend just called…engine caught fire while taxing for departure. Flight from KDEN to KIAH. COA1404.

msnbc.msn.com/id/28330517/

Welcome to the forum wagrier!

The aircraft involved was B737-524 ship number 611.

Reg - N18611
First flight 31st May 1994
First registered 14th June 1994
MSN - 27324
LN- 2621

ASN Report


                   NTSB ADVISORY

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

November 21, 2008


NTSB SENDS GO TEAM TO DENVER TO
INVESTIGATE 737 TAKEOFF ACCIDENT


The National Transportation Safety Board has 

dispatched a Go Team to Denver, Colorado to investigate the
crash of an airliner on takeoff last night.

At 6:18 p.m., Mountain Standard Time, Continental 

Airlines flight 1404, a Boeing 737-500 (N18611), suffered an
accident while on its takeoff roll for a scheduled flight to
Houston, Texas. Although there have been injuries, no
fatalities have been reported. Regional NTSB investigators
were on the scene of the accident within hours.

NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Bill English is 

the Investigator-in-Charge for the team of approximately a
dozen investigators. NTSB Member Robert Sumwalt is
accompanying the team and will serve as principal spokesman
for the on-scene investigation. Terry Williams is the
team’s press officer.

The Go Team is expected to arrive in Denver later this 

morning. At that time, Mr. Williams may be reached on his
cell phone at 202-557-1350.

		- 30 -

NTSB Media Contact: Terry Williams (in Denver)
(202) 557-1350
williat@ntsb.gov

		Ted Lopatkiewicz (in Washington)
		(202) 314-6100
		[lopatt@ntsb.gov](mailto:lopatt@ntsb.gov)

I was in a United jet about three or four behind it on the taxiway. I did not see any fire, just smoke. The captain came on and said the FAA had put in a ground hold but didn’t say why. Obviously those of us with windows saw what was going on. I didn’t know whether the plane was taking off or landing.

We were delayed for about 90 minutes, having to be turned around and taken to the other side of the airport. There was a BA 777 right in front of us, if the CO jet hit something on the runway all are very lucky it wasn’t the 777.

I am a Continental Platinum and many people knew I was in Denver and traveling and I got a flurry of text messages from people worried about me. In truth, I have been on 1404 in the past and very well may have taken it again but prefered a non-stop yesterday.

http://twitter.com/2drinksbehind

According to an article posted on the The Wall Street Journal’s web site, the aircraft was in the process of aborting its takeoff roll when it encountered braking problems.

Robb’s slacking on his primary job here…

Wow :open_mouth: That is a total loss.

Nothing a little Duct tape and chewing gum can’t handle.

Another great story of survivability!!

This has to be the year of the most major crashes, where everybody survives. Amazing.

I’m still perplexed at how many airports have ravines!!! I live in Toronto, and at YYZ we had an Air Canada DC-9 and the Air France A340 go off into the same ravine.

They have ‘talked’ about filling it in for years.

Being Christmas and all, I’m very happy to hear that this accident was not worse.

It’s great that everyone survived with relatively minor injuries. It’s a testament to the strength of the Boeing name. In time we’ll find out more about the crew and other factors in this accident. I’d still call it a happy ending!

*edit
When I first wrote this I was thinking about the evacuation process. I saw an article that said one passenger said the plane was on fire and going to blow up. A mother yelled at him afraid he would scare her children. I was going to say something about people grabbing their iPhones and other status gadgets.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/176611

I thought this guy’s decision to grab his bag with his sweater and phone was a bit much. The comments are brutal. Here’s his explanation:

Posted By: JTilly @ 12/21/2008 11:03:17 PM

A couple of thoughts on my decision to grab the bag: I was in the last seat in the farthest corner of the plane so i wasn’t holding anyone up. At the time that i made the decision there was a rush for the door, and it seemed smarter to be patient than to join the push and try to struggle past others. as i waited i thought to grab the bag, which was at my feet. took about 2 seconds. in retrospect i believe it was a good decision. it was 10 degrees outside and i was able to give my wife a jacket, and lend my phone to several people who needed to get in touch with their own loved ones.

I have a friend who flys 37’s for CO…hope this wasn’t his bird.

Nah… If he waited and was the last one out, I don’t see any harm. Given the same circumstances (knowing I’d be the last one out), I probably would’ve grabbed my camera bag (which I stow under the seat in front of me).

I am confused…

Th article says there was a rush to the tail exit and since he and and his wife were seated in the last row they were out quickly. I am confused on where the information came from his explanation but this contradicts what he said earlier.
In an situation like this I probably would have grabbed my bag to as people do the unthinkable in times like this.

I assume half the exits were not usable since there was a wing full of fuel burning on the right side.

I read they evacuated before the fire was a problem.

From Newsweek article posted above:

It took a minute for us to realize we weren’t moving anymore, that the engine noise and the wrenching, roaring destruction had stopped. Voices screamed, “Get out! Get out! The plane’s going to blow up!” The right wing was entirely engulfed in flame, but thankfully, the fire was still outside the plane. There was a crush at the tail as everyone tried to push through. Ashley and I were out quickly because we’d been in the last row of seats. We clambered over the spongy rubber emergency slides and out into a dark, snowy, windy field. Everyone was running as fast as they could away from the fire, and against the flames we saw surreal silhouettes of people scattering in all directions.

New info from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/22/colorado.plane.investigation/

So again the question is that he initially said he and his wife were out quickly becasue they were seated at the back. Then he defends his decision to grab his bag becasue he was not holding anyone up.
Are we talking about the same guy here?