On September 27, 1988, the NTSB published a final report on its investigation into the crash, attributing the accident to the captain's failure to have the plane deiced a second time, the first officer's poor takeoff performance, confusion between the pilots and air traffic controllers, which contributed to delays, compounded by a cockpit crew where both pilots were relatively inexperienced on the aircraft type. WebInitial survivor [ edit] The only person to initially survive the crash was Stephen Baltz, an 11-year-old boy from Wilmette, Illinois. Two years after Continental Airlines flight 1713 crashed while on take-off at Denver's Stapleton International Airport killing 28 people, memories among survivors He said he told her: Youre talking fast enough, youve got to be getting oxygen.. And legal battles continue. Agency Seeks Data. In 1982, after an Air Florida jet became ice-bound and crashed into the Potomac River on takeoff from Washington`s National Airport, the board recommended that the FAA require pilots and ground crews to inspect wings and control surfaces whenever an airplane remained on the ground 20 minutes after being de-iced. Both airport officials and survivors, including Helpenstell, said the twin-engine DC-9 appeared to accelerate down Runway 35-Left and lift off normally. Neither Bruecher nor Zvonek had checked the wings for ice before taking off, the board said. [1] The aircraft was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B engines. A fuel-fed flash fire ignited in the left wing shortly after it struck the ground, causing a "fireball" inside the cabin. Helpenstell recalled today that rescuers reached him fairly soon after the crash but were unable to move him until they had removed several rows of seats behind him. WebOn November 15, 1987, Continental Airlines, Inc., flight 1713, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14, N626TX, was operating as a regularly scheduled, passenger-carrying flight between [4], At the time of the accident on Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service was reporting moderate wet snow at Stapleton International Airport. Continental has since boosted its minimum-experience standards for pilots - the biggest reform to spring from the tragedy. Twenty-eight people lost their lives on Nov. 15, 1987. A total of 55 people survived the crash Sunday afternoon, many of them walking away from the twisted debris with just scratches and bruises. Of the 27 still hospitalized, six were listed in critical condition. The pilot, 43-year-old Frank Zvonek, was killed, as was First Officer Lee Bruecher, 26. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. ''All I know is that the middle took it the worst,'' Mr. Benzon said. AIR DATE is 4 July 2018 on @DiscoveryCanada and 6 July 2018 on @natgeoau . See the article in its original context from. Continental Airlines Flight 1713 was taking off from Stapleton Airport for Boise, Idaho. As survivors struggle to heal bodies and minds, a liability tug-of-war drags on, possibly for years to come. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The NTSB said Bruecher, who had only 36 hours of flight time in a DC-9, was at the controls when the plane took off. The plane lifted off the ground, dipped one way and then back, caught a wing and flipped on its top. He was traveling unaccompanied on Flight 826 to spend Christmas in Yonkers with relatives. [1] Combined with the effects of ice on the wing, the high climb rate caused the plane's left wing to stall and the plane to begin rolling over. BIOG: (The airline had erroneously said Sunday that the flight had come from Oklahoma City.). The flight, which left in a blinding snowstorm, was en route to Boise with 77 passengers and a crew of five. Many survivors and other witnesses said they saw a ball of flame shortly before the plane went down, although rescuers and airport officials say the wreckage shows few signs of charring and few injuries were caused by fire.