Boeing 737-524 N18611

Summary

On 21 December 2008 at about 01:18 local time, a Boeing 737-524 registered N18611, operated by Continental Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 115 people were on board and 6 were seriously injured, 41 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

21 December 2008 at 01:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver International Airport (KDEN)

Coordinates

39.7506, -105.0008

Aircraft

Boeing 737-524

Registration

N18611

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Continental Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Houston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

NTSB number

DCA09MA021

6 people were seriously injured.

The captain’s cessation of right rudder input, which was needed to maintain directional control of the airplane, about 4 seconds before the excursion, when the airplane encountered a strong and gusty crosswind that exceeded the captain’s training and experience. Contributing to the accident were the following factors: 1) an air traffic control system that did not require or facilitate the dissemination of key, available wind information to the air traffic controllers and pilots; and 2) inadequate crosswind training in the airline industry due to deficient simulator wind gust modeling.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-10/04. On December 20, 2008, about 1818 mountain standard time, Continental Airlines flight 1404, a Boeing 737-500, N18611, departed the left side of runway 34R during takeoff from Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, Colorado. A postcrash fire ensued. The captain and 5 of the 110 passengers were seriously injured; the first officer, 2 cabin crewmembers, and 38 passengers received minor injuries; and 1 cabin crewmember and 67 passengers (3 of whom were lap-held children) were uninjured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The scheduled, domestic passenger flight, operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121, was departing DEN and was destined for George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas. At the time of the accident, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, with strong and gusty winds out of the west. The flight operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.