Continental Airlines Flight 1713

Continental Airlines Flight 1713
Accident
Date	November 15, 1987
Summary	Loss of control due to Atmospheric icing; and pilot error
Site	Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-9-14
Operator	Continental Airlines
Registration	N626TX
Flight origin	Denver–Stapleton Int'l Airport (DEN/KDEN)
Destination	Boise Airport
Occupants	82
Passengers	77
Crew	5
Fatalities	28
Injuries	53
Survivors	54

Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashed while taking off during a snow storm from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado on November 15, 1987. The Douglas DC-9-14 was operated by Continental Airlines and was a scheduled flight to Boise, Idaho. Twenty-five passengers and three crew members died in the accident.

Accident[change | change source]

Flight 1713 was scheduled to depart Denver at 12:25 PM, but many flights out of Denver had been delayed due to inclement weather. The flight was cleared to take off at 2 :14 PM local time.

As the plane was taking off, it began to veer violently; the plane descended and the left wing hit the ground, causing the wing to sever. The left side of the plane and the flight deck hit the ground afterward and the plane continued to roll upside down. Of the 82 occupants on board (77 passengers and 5 crew), 28 died while 54 survived. Most of the passengers who died were in the midsection of the plane. When the plane left, the left side tilted until it touched the tail when it was inverted; this caused the midsection of the plane to dent and crush many of the passengers on board. Fitzsimmons' Army Medical Facility sent its personnel to assist in triaging the wounded. Of the passengers who died, sixteen did so from some kind of trauma and twelve died from mechanical asphyxiation.

Of the passengers who survived, twenty-four suffered minor injuries and twenty-seven suffered serious injuries.^[2]