Denver crash update
As we first reported Saturday evening, Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was headed to Houston when it ran off a runway at Denver International Airport and into a ravine and burned. Daylight pictures from KUSA-TV at the top and bottom of this entry give a better view of the scene.
The jet had 112 people on board. Fifty-eight were injured, including two woman in critical condition.
The passengers and crew escaped down emergency chutes as the fire spread inside the 737-500.
Below are more details on the actions of fire and rescue crews. FireGeezer also has more information this morning.
Watch briefing by Denver Fire Department Division Chief Patrick Hynes and other officials
Excerpts from Denver Post article:
The fire was quickly extinguished by Denver Fire Department crews from a station just 100 yards from the site, said Assistant Fire Chief Steve Garrod.
Firefighters were stunned by what they found, as passengers made their way from the broken plane.
“We train for this sort of thing every day,” said Denver Fire Division Chief Patrick Hynes. “But it was described to me as much like a movie scene. People were coming out of the smoke, climbing up the hill.”
A firefighter at the scene told Hynes, “It was a heck of a firefight.”
Capt. Brian Gallagher of the Denver Police Department said four people had moderate to serious injuries, with head injuries and shortness of breath that might have been related to heart conditions. The others were treated for “broken bones and fractures, bumps and bruises,” he said.
Crews had not determined whether the fire happened before or after the plane veered off the runway. The plane smoldered until it was declared extinguished about 9:30 p.m. The overhead luggage bins melted onto the seats, fire officials said.
Hynes said it had not officially been determined whether the flight got off the ground, but the runway was littered with wreckage, “which indicates to me it might have been airborne. The wheels were sheared off.”
