Continental Airlines Flight 1713

Continental Airlines Flight 1713

Accident summary
Date	November 15, 1987
Type	Loss of control due to icing
Site	Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado, United States Right side of RWY 35L 39°46′28″N 104°53′45″W / 39.774444°N 104.895833°W / 39.774444; -104.895833Coordinates: 39°46′28″N 104°53′45″W / 39.774444°N 104.895833°W / 39.774444; -104.895833
Passengers	77
Crew	5
Injuries	28 serious; 26 minor/none
Fatalities	28 (passengers:25 crew:3)
Survivors	54
Aircraft type	DC-9-14
Operator	Continental Airlines
Tail number	N626TX
Flight origin	Denver-Stapleton International Airport, Colorado, United States (DEN/KDEN)
Destination	Boise Air Terminal (Gowen Field), Idaho, United States (BOI/KBOI)

Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashed while taking off in a snowstorm from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado on 15 November 1987. The Douglas Aircraft 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 crash.

Accident

Continental Airlines Flight 1713 was scheduled to leave Denver at 12:25 PM MST, but many flights out of Denver that day were delayed by inclement weather.^[1] The flight was cleared for takeoff at 2:14 PM Mountain Time.

As the plane was taking off, it over rotated; the aircraft descended and the left wing struck the ground, causing the wing to separate. The left side of the plane and cockpit struck the ground next and the plane continued rolling, inverted. Of the 82 occupants on board (77 passengers and 5 crew), 28 were killed while 54 survived. The majority of the passengers who died were in the middle of the aircraft. As the plane skidded, the left side was tilted over and the tail was inverted; this action caused the middle part of the plane to squeeze and crush many of the passengers on board.^[2]

Of the passengers who died, 16 (including one infant) died of blunt trauma and 12 died of mechanical asphyxia. ^[3]

Of the passengers who survived, 24 received minor injuries and 27 received serious injuries. One lap infant received no injuries. ^[3]

Investigation

Four days of hearings regarding the crash were held in Golden, Colorado in March 1988.^{[4] [5]} During the investigation, it was revealed that the captain, Frank Zvonek, had 166 hours of experience in this particular type of aircraft, and the copilot, Lee Bruecher, had only 26 hours.^[6] Moreover, it was also discovered, as reported in "Miracle In The Blizzard," a feature article Henry Hurt had written for, and published in, the February 1990 issue of the Reader's Digest, that Zvonek had placed Bruecher in charge of actually flying the aircraft and that, before Continental had hired him, Bruecher had been dismissed from another airline^[which?] for his incompetence as a pilot.

In July 1988, Continental Airlines filed a report with the National Transportation Safety Board positing the causes of the crash as wake turbulence, poor snow plowing on the runway and errors by air traffic controllers.^[7]

Seating chart of Continental Airlines Flight 1713 provided by the NTSB; the chart illustrates locations of passengers, lack of injury, severity of injuries, and cause of death

According to the FAA report, NTSB Number AAR-88/09 and NTIS Number PB88-910411:

"The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's failure to have the airplane deiced a second time after a delay before takeoff that led to upper wing surface contamination and a loss of control during rapid takeoff rotation by the first officer. Contributing to the accident were the absence of regulatory or management controls governing operations by newly qualified flight crew members and the confusion that existed between the flightcrew members and air traffic controllers that led to the delay in departure."

Aftermath

After the crash, Continental Airlines reiterated its procedures for handling de-icing and developed a computerized assignment program that would keep pilots with less than 100 hours flying time in type from being assigned to the same flight.^[6] The cockpit voice recorder from this crash was discussed in the cockpit of another flight that crashed the following year - Delta Air Lines Flight 1141.^[8]

Victims

Fatalities

Flight crew:

• Captain Frank Zvonek, 43, Carlsbad, California
• First Officer Lee Bruecher, 26, Houston, Texas
• Flight attendant Diana Mechling, 33, Aurora, Colorado

Passengers:^[9]

• Richard L. Cook, 51, Boise, Idaho
• Tami Daniel, 26, Melba, Idaho
• Joseph Bliss Glynn, 51, Kansas City, Missouri
• William Harkenrider, 43, Manassas, Virginia
• Makoto Hideshima, 54 Lakewood, Colorado
• Herman Klaussen, 53, Mountain Home, Idaho
• Dennis Kemper, 41, Boise, Idaho
• Janine Ledgerwood, 17, Spokane, Washington (attending school in Melba, Idaho)
• Karen Marria, 35, Boise, Idaho
• Jim Marria, 38, Boise, Idaho
• Bob McAlpine, 42, Ontario, Oregon
• Anthony Nasrallah, 2, Jacksonville, Florida
• Peter Nasrallah, 6 months, Jacksonville, Florida
• Sherry Nelson, 18, Melba, Idaho
• Terri Owens, 26, Boise, Idaho
• Max Richter, 45, Boise, Idaho
• Edwin Rood, 46, Emmett, Idaho
• Ruth Rood, Emmett, Idaho
• Bonnie Smith, El Paso, Texas
• William Spalsbury, 46, Evergreen, Colorado
• John Stewart, 32, Payette, Idaho
• Richard Verheul, 54, Stuart, Florida
• Nick Ysursa, 35, Boise, Idaho

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

1. ^ Knudson, Thomas J. (1987-11-16). "Plane Crashes in Snow at Denver; 26 of the 82 Aboard Are Killed". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DE1F31F935A25752C1A961948260. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
2. ^ Associated Press (1987-11-27). "Rear Passengers Survived Air Crash". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED61F31F930A15752C1A961948260. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b} NTSB report AAR88-09 (Page 28 of 99).
4. ^ Associated Press (1988-03-09). "Inquiry Into Denver Jet Crash Looks at Possible Ice Buildup". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DE1230F93AA35750C0A96E948260. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
5. ^ Associated Press (1988-03-10). "Rescue Coordinator Testifies In Continental Crash Hearing". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6DA163CF933A25750C0A96E948260. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Associated Press (1988-09-28). "U.S. Panel Lays Denver Air Crash To Failure to De-ice Second Time". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DB1E31F93BA1575AC0A96E948260. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
7. ^ Associated Press (1988-08-18). "Airline Says Several Errors Caused Crash Fatal to 28". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DB1F31F93BA2575BC0A96E948260. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
8. ^ http://www.aviationexplorer.com/audio/delta_1141.wav Cockpit Voice Recording from Delta Air Lines Flight 1141
9. ^ List assembled primarily from Associated Press story "Partial List Of Denver Crash Victims", published in many US newspapers on November 17, 1987. Additional details were found in subsequent articles.

External links

	Colorado portal
	Aviation portal

• NTSB report
• The haunting memories of Continental 1713, editorial by a former Continental passenger service agent
• Carolyn Holly reports on 1987 Denver-Boise crash, original video news broadcast of crash in 1987.
• Pre-crash photos of the airliner at airliners.net