Continental flight slides off runway; dozens injured

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DENVER - A Continental jet trying to depart from Denver International Airport slid off the runway and caught fire on Saturday, causing dozens of injuries and forcing an emergency evacuation.

According to Julie King, a spokeswoman for Continental Airlines, flight 1404 from Denver to Houston was trying to take off but instead it "exited the runway."

"It went off the runway," said Assistant Fire Chief Steve Garrod of Denver Fire. "I have not heard that it ever got airborne."

Officials at DIA say the Boeing 737-500, which had 107 passengers and five crew members onboard, caught fire, but emergency crews were able to extinguish the blaze.

Kim Day, the manager of aviation for DIA says 38 passengers were transported to local hospitals. She says none were critically injured. Continental Airlines, which initially reported there were no serious injuries, says some of the injured people were suffering from broken bones and strained backs. The injured passengers were taken to local hospitals, including Denver Health Medical Center and University Hospital.

Officials say ten passengers were taken to Denver Health and 15 passengers were taken to the Medical Center of Aurora, with minor injuries. University Hospital in Aurora took in eight passengers, all in fair condition. Four passengers were taken to Swedish Hospital, all in fair condition.

Captain Brian Gallager of the Denver Police Department says the most serious injuries were a head injury and one patient who was having shortness of breath.

Crew members on the plane had to activate the evacuation chutes, according to DIA officials, in order to get everyone off the aircraft safely.

Denver Fire Chief Patrick Hynes says firefighters were met with heavy flames when they first got on scene and the entire right side of the aircraft was engulfed. He says fire spread as passengers were evacuating.

Once all of the passengers had safely evacuated, Hynes says the fire had spread inside the plane and firefighters had to go onboard. He says the fire was so hot, it had melted the luggage compartments, which began to drop down onto the seats below.

"It was like a movie scene," said Hynes.

One of the passengers, Maria Trejos, tells 9NEWS the plane was trying to take off, got into the air for a few seconds and then slammed back down into the ground into a ravine off the runway. At that point, she says there was some sort of explosion on the right side of the plane and she saw a big ball of flames.

Maria Trejos says the plane then skidded to a halt after it went off the runway. Passengers were then evacuated to emergency exits and also the slides.

Maria Trejos is pregnant and was traveling with her husband, Gabriel, and their infant, Elijah. (Pictured to the right) She says she is OK, but says she witnessed several people being taken away on backboards with head and shoulder injuries.

"It sounded like it was just about to take off and then something happened where we veered off," said Gabriel Trejos. "And I noticed planes on my side of the plane 'cause I was sitting right over the wing where the right engine was and that's the one that was caught on fire when it hit the ground."

The plane was evacuated at that time and Trejos and his family were able to get off safely.

"Well the back of the plane was packed. Everybody was trying to get off the plane," said Gabriel Trejos. "Everybody was yelling, 'The plane's gonna blow up, the plane's gonna blow up!' The plane was on fire, the engine was anyway. We saw that at the middle of the plane. We ended up closer because there was nobody trying to get out of that section. So we went out and got out the middle of the plane."

Numerous emergency vehicles were dispatched to the airport, including several ambulances.

"It seemed like they [the injured people] were getting crushed from the seats because the plane seemed to be buckling from the front to a pretty quick stop," said Gabriel Trejos. "And you could kind of see the seats buckling in. I was holding my son who is 12 months and I was trying to keep him from getting crushed because the seats were crushing in on each other."

Garrod says the wings of the aircraft were cracked and the fuselage was cracked in the accident.

Hynes says fuel continued to leak from both wings of the plane Saturday evening and there was a lot of debris on the runway.

"I'm checking out my knees because they were pretty crushed," said Gabriel Trejos. "They're not broken or anything just badly bruised. And I'm just gonna have my son checked out. He seems to be OK but I just want to make sure there's not internal injuries."

Officials at DIA say the accident occurred on runway 34 Right, around 6:18 p.m.

The airport is currently experiencing 40-minute delays and the west airfield was closed. Travelers were told to expect similar delays on Sunday.

Garrod says there were no injuries related to the smoke that he has seen.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the crash to determine the cause.

The runway was clear of snow and ice at the time, according to officials.

9NEWS Meteorologist Marty Coniglio says skies were partly cloudy with no limitations on visibility at the time of the jet's attempted takeoff.

Marty says there was a 31 knot (36 mph) crosswind around the time of the accident. A crosswind can make it difficult for a pilot to maintain a straight-line track down the center of the runway while on takeoff roll.

The Boeing manual for the 737-500 states that "crosswinds are not limiting factors" and that crosswind takeoffs on dry runways are approved up to 40 knots (46 mph).

It was not immediately known if weather was a factor in the accident.

Anyone who had family onboard Continental flight 1404 can call 1-800-621-3263 for more information.

If you or your friends or family were involved in the Continental accident Saturday evening, share your story with 9NEWS. Send an e-mail to kusa-newstips@9news.com.

On Nov. 15, 1987, Continental flight 1713 crashed at the old Stapleton Airport, killing 28 people. Fifty-four people survived that crash amid bad weather. The NTSB blamed improper deicing for the cause of the crash.