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  • 6/7/2025

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00:00Continental 1713, runway 35L, cleared for takeoff.
00:05A commercial flight from Denver, Colorado...
00:09Damn it!
00:11...crashes on takeoff.
00:17The plane was on top of me.
00:20I was like, OK, maybe I am going to die here today.
00:25Rescuers struggle for hours in the bitter cold
00:28to free trapped passengers.
00:32You're never going to be able to save everybody.
00:35What's going on here?
00:37After we determined that a safe flight was technically possible,
00:40we had to determine what else went wrong.
00:43But that job proves more difficult than anyone imagines.
00:47There's a lot more to it,
00:49and that's what the investigators had to understand.
00:52It's just past 2 in the afternoon in Denver, Colorado.
00:55It's just past 2 in the afternoon in Denver, Colorado.
00:59It's just past 2 in the afternoon in Denver, Colorado.
01:18There are 77 passengers on board Continental Airlines Flight 1713.
01:33They're headed to Boise, Idaho.
01:37It's been snowing all morning.
01:44Controllers are busy trying to get a line-up of planes off the ground.
01:49Continental 65, runway 35L, cleared for takeoff.
01:54Wind is 010 at 15.
01:58Clear for takeoff, 35L. Continental 65.
02:02Continental 594, taxi into position and hold runway 35L.
02:07Report in position.
02:09The controllers have no ground radar to help them track the planes at the airport.
02:14They're struggling to keep departures on schedule.
02:18The air traffic controllers, when they can't physically see the airplanes,
02:23depend on the pilots reporting known positions to them,
02:28so that the taxi clearances will be taxi via this taxiway to this point,
02:33report when you get there.
02:35They have to keep a mental image of where all the airplanes are
02:39without physically being able to see them.
02:42The pilots of Flight 1713 are waiting for their turn to get off the ground.
02:49The winter weather has already delayed them by nearly an hour and a half.
02:53Continental 594, tower.
02:56The captain is 43-year-old Frank Zvonek.
02:59He's been flying for Continental for almost 19 years.
03:03You might want to tell them we're number one here on the north side.
03:07Denver Tower, Continental 1713 is number one. DC9 for Continental.
03:13The first officer, Lee Brucher, has only been with the airline for a few months.
03:21The pilots are at the controls of a McDonnell Douglas DC9,
03:25an extremely popular and economical short to medium-haul airplane.
03:30The airlines could fly at several legs in a day.
03:33Do it economically, do it reliably.
03:36Continental 875, taxi into position and hold.
03:40Continental 875, position and hold.
03:42Continental 875, position and hold.
03:49Great trip, Dad.
03:51Thanks.
03:52It was fun, wasn't it?
03:54But it will be good to get back home.
03:56Among the passengers on the two-hour flight to Boise
03:59are teenager Jason Kemper and his father.
04:02They're headed home.
04:04We're traveling from Nebraska, where our family farm is, back to Boise.
04:08I feel like we've been here forever.
04:13I know what you mean, buddy.
04:16I remember just sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting and being like,
04:21are we ever going to take off?
04:26Ladies and gentlemen, we have been cleared to taxi into position and hold on the runway.
04:29We will be airborne very shortly.
04:31Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for departure.
04:37At 2.14 in the afternoon, Flight 1713 moves into take-off position.
04:43Before take-off, brake selector.
04:49Mission is override.
04:55Now 875, airborne to Isabel, clutter on runway.
04:59Continental 875, thank you.
05:02For anyone who asks, there's a bit of crud on the runway.
05:04A little crud.
05:08VR speed, 145.
05:11Don't slide.
05:13The pilots set their take-off speed, 145 knots.
05:17When there's a contaminant on the runway, be it wet snow, dry snow, or slush,
05:24they all differently affect the acceleration and the stopping capability of the airplane.
05:30Continental 1713 is in position.
05:33All right, thank you.
05:35Got the brakes on.
05:37You've got the airplane.
05:39First Officer Brucher will pilot the plane during the take-off from Denver.
05:43Continental 1713, runway 35L cleared for take-off.
05:50Continental 1713 cleared for take-off.
05:58Lights on.
06:01As the airplane starts to accelerate, the biggest thing is maintaining control of the airplane and keeping it on the center line.
06:09Okay, power's set left and right.
06:13We've got 95 knots.
06:17You hear the engines thrust up.
06:20We're finally rolling down the runway.
06:23That was the exciting part of the trip.
06:26United 227, taxi into position and hold.
06:29As Flight 1713 speeds down the runway, the controller has already turned his attention to the next flight in line.
06:42V1.
06:45All right.
06:46We, you know, are picking up speed and then, uh, lift off.
06:55Rotate.
07:01Positive rate.
07:03Damn it.
07:06The plane is barely off the ground, but there are signs of serious trouble.
07:11What's happening?
07:13Don't worry, Jason.
07:15We lifted off the ground and then there was a sharp bank.
07:21A very short time later, it banked back the other direction.
07:25It was just like, what's going on?
07:35Everybody is screaming at this point.
07:39I'm just like, something's wrong.
07:41Something's wrong.
07:42What's going on?
08:08In the tower, controllers have no idea that anything is wrong.
08:13United 227, please advise when at runway.
08:17Tower.
08:19Somebody just crashed on 35 left.
08:21Big fireball.
08:23Continental 1713.
08:25Tower.
08:31Emergency.
08:32All fire and rescue to 35 left.
08:34We think we had a crash at DC-9.
08:43City firefighter Bob Werner is one of the first to answer the call.
08:50My first thoughts were that it wasn't a commercial airliner.
08:56It was a small general aviation, maybe two or three souls on board.
09:01We had no idea what we were actually responding into.
09:04The plane was on top of me.
09:05I was like, no, no, no, no.
09:06We had no idea what we were actually responding into.
09:07The plane was on top of me.
09:08The plane was on top of me.
09:09There was just, you know, a fuselage.
09:10The plane was on top of me.
09:11The plane was on top of me.
09:12There was just, you know, a fuselage and scrap metal and broken up pieces.
09:15The plane was on top of me.
09:16There was just, you know, a fuselage and scrap metal and broken up pieces.
09:17all around me.
09:18The plane was on top of me.
09:32The plane was on top of me.
09:34There was just, you know, a fuselage and scrap metal and broken up pieces all around me.
09:43I was like, okay, maybe I am going to die here today.
10:01Darkness has fallen over the Denver crash site of Continental 1713.
10:07Firefighter Bob Werner quickly realizes the accident is much worse than he imagined.
10:12When I looked and saw a Continental written upside down on the side of the plane,
10:16my plans changed immediately.
10:21Of the 82 people on board, more than half are still alive.
10:27But many of the survivors, like Jason Kemper, are trapped in the twisted wreckage.
10:33I remember being very, very, very cold.
10:38To my left was a woman.
10:42And she was hysterical.
10:44She was, I'm not going to make it to Thanksgiving.
10:47We've got to cut away some of this fuselage.
10:58There were some victims that were able to move away from the scene.
11:04But the ones that we were dealing with were basically trapped in the aircraft.
11:08Rescuers work frantically to free the trapped passengers.
11:13But Werner is worried about sparking a catastrophic fire.
11:18The plane was carrying almost 17,000 pounds of fuel.
11:22I smell the vapors, I smell the fumes.
11:27With the saw that I was using, it was throwing sparks.
11:30And I didn't want to become an ignition source.
11:35Drop me that fly bar!
11:37Bob Werner struggles for five and a half hours straight, working to save lives.
11:54You're cutting things and they're not moving.
11:55And you're thinking, uh-oh, what do I do now?
11:58So we just had to chip away a little bit at a time.
12:02That five and a half hours seemed to fly by.
12:05Finally, after hours spent trapped in the bitter cold, Jason Kemper is freed from the wreckage.
12:18I remember the snow falling in my face and I looked at, you know, the wreckage from outside of the wreckage for the first time.
12:27Rescuers save 54 lives.
12:31But 28 people die in the crash, including Jason's father.
12:36I remember thinking in my head, like, I don't want to leave here.
12:40It's the worst accident ever at Stapleton International Airport.
12:52We do what we can and we work as quickly and effectively as possible.
12:58Um, but you're never, you're never going to be able to save everybody.
13:01Um, but you're never going to be able to save everybody.
13:05Bob Benzen will lead the investigation for the National Transportation Safety Board.
13:18It was my first, uh, big accident for a major airline and, uh, I was a little intimidated.
13:25So I want to do everything right.
13:28I see the weather records from the time of the crash.
13:35Visibility, three-eighths of a mile.
13:40Moderate snow and fog.
13:43Not the best conditions for flying, that's for sure.
13:47I want to know about the runway conditions and the de-icing protocols.
13:52It was snowing at the time of the accident.
13:55It was below freezing.
13:57And these aren't ideal conditions for aviation operation.
14:01But then again, we couldn't focus on that immediately
14:05because other aircraft were taking off and landing, uh, routinely.
14:09So it had to be, had to be something more than simply bad weather.
14:17Investigators know that Flight 1713 barely got off the ground.
14:21The lack of lift points to a possible cause, wing flaps.
14:30Richard Rodriguez is the investigator looking into the operation of the airplane.
14:36We had had a recent accident involving, uh, an MD-80
14:41that, uh, had not configured the aircraft properly for takeoff.
14:45The flaps were left up instead of takeoff position.
14:48And so that was on our mind and one of the things we looked for first of all.
14:53Yeah.
14:54Flaps are out, no question.
14:57They quickly discover that the flaps on Flight 1713
15:01were in the correct position for takeoff.
15:05The flaps were down when we got there.
15:07So that indicated that they had set it properly.
15:10Investigators will need help from the plane's two black boxes
15:15if they hope to crack this case.
15:18Luckily, they're both found intact.
15:22Cockpit voice recorders record more than just, uh, the voices in the cockpit.
15:26We can determine an engine rotation speed.
15:29We can hear, uh, switches being thrown,
15:31oral warnings that the aircraft gives off, buzzers or noises, things like that.
15:36What clues do the Flight 1713 recorders hold?
15:40Investigators won't know until NTSB technicians get a chance to analyze them.
15:49While investigators wait for the black box data,
15:51they hope to learn more about Flight 1713 from the controller on duty at the time of the accident.
15:57OK, let's take it from the top.
16:01Look, first I heard from them, they were already at the runway.
16:04I mean, it kind of took me by surprise, actually.
16:13Continental 594. Tower.
16:16The controller thought the next flight in line was Continental 594,
16:20but he was unable to make contact with that plane.
16:26Uh, Denver Tower.
16:27The number one on the runway is Continental 1713.
16:311713, are you an MD-80?
16:34Negative, sir. DC-9.
16:42I don't know how 1713 got there, but there he is.
16:45The controller explains that all of a sudden, Flight 1713 reported being at the runway.
16:52He should have gone from the gate to the de-icing facility, then taxied to the runway.
17:03At first I heard from him, he was already in position at the runway.
17:07The revelation leaves investigators with a crucial question.
17:11Did Flight 1713 neglect to de-ice before heading for the runway?
17:22Ice on the surface of a wing can be deadly.
17:26It can disrupt the wing's ability to produce lift, leading to an aerodynamic stall.
17:31That's why in winter conditions, planes must be de-iced before every take-off.
17:36For aerodynamic reasons, you don't want any ice adhering.
17:41It distorts the airflow and has an adverse effect on lift or the airplane's ability to fly.
17:54Investigators check with the de-icing supervisor.
17:57So it was fully de-iced then out to the runway.
18:01His records show that Flight 1713 did de-ice before going to the runway.
18:07Investigators are no closer to understanding why the plane couldn't climb out safely.
18:12But they are very close to hearing the final moments inside the cockpit.
18:26The recording is intact.
18:31Looks like going through a car wash.
18:32Unmistakably de-icing spray.
18:33In this particular case, the cockpit voice recorder even picked up the sound of de-icing fluid hitting the fuselage.
18:43The de-icing was something that I'd never seen before.
18:48You know, you see foam just getting shot all over the plane in the windows.
18:52That's it. De-icing complete at 1.47.
19:07So we knew exactly when that de-icing procedure began and exactly when it stopped.
19:13Start them both.
19:20Okay.
19:25Investigators now know exactly when the pilots restarted their engines and left the de-icing bay.
19:36They wonder if there were any other factors that could have affected the plane before take-off.
19:44Stapleton was down to two runways.
19:4735 left for take-offs, 35 right for landings.
19:52They consider the layout of the Denver airport.
19:57The two runways were only 1,600 feet apart.
20:00They were able to use one side for arrivals and one side for departures.
20:05And that let the flow run as well as it could considering the weather.
20:10Let's see who was landing beside our plane.
20:11Large airplanes can create dangerous wake vortices.
20:22Swirling winds coming off the wingtips can travel great distances.
20:27How far depends on the weight of the plane and the weather conditions.
20:32Investigators now wonder,
20:34did a powerful vortex from another plane upset flight 1713 just as it was attempting to take-off?
20:45Tower continental 875 is in position.
20:48Yeah, it's going to be a few more minutes for the runway guys.
20:50We are running them a bit tight to the right.
20:52Because the runways are so close together, controllers usually call for a two-minute gap between each landing and take-off.
21:01But on the day of the accident, there was so much traffic that the time between landings and take-offs was sometimes as short as one minute.
21:09The last plane to land before the accident was this one, Delta flight 367.
21:19Three minutes before flight 1713 was cleared for take-off, a Delta Airlines 767 touched down on the neighboring runway.
21:28Continental 1713, runway 35L cleared for take-off.
21:33Continental 1713 cleared for take-off.
21:37Was flight 1713 allowed to take-off too soon after the Delta flight's landing?
21:46A 767 weighing 300,000 pounds creates a wake vortex that can drift 1700 feet to the side.
21:57And linger for up to three and a half minutes.
22:01Such a wake vortex could have disrupted flight 1713's take-off.
22:06Okay, let's start with the weights.
22:09Using flight records, investigators calculate the weight of the landing Delta plane.
22:17They factor in passengers, baggage and fuel load, and come up with a number, 232,000 pounds.
22:25Tough to generate much of a vortex at that weight.
22:28What about the winds?
22:33A wake vortex will travel furthest when the atmosphere is calm and stable.
22:38Even mild winds can help dissipate wake vortices.
22:47Moderate snow, winds gusting to 17 knots.
22:50Based on the weather reports at Stapleton Airport, investigators calculate the distance a wake vortex could have traveled.
22:59There's no way a vortex traveled 1600 feet that day.
23:04In the end, when we took everything into consideration, wind speeds, wind direction, aircraft weights, et cetera, et cetera, the wake vortex encounter simply could not have occurred.
23:14What doomed Continental Flight 1713 is still a mystery.
23:26Okay, de-icing is completed at 1.47.
23:32Investigators are still hunting for the cause of the failed takeoff of Continental 1713.
23:39They begin a detailed analysis of the plane's various movements around Denver's Stapleton Airport.
23:45They need to get off the ground in the next 20 minutes.
23:49Continental at that time in their flight operations manual said that the crew needed to be airborne within 20 minutes of de-icing.
23:57After 20 minutes, the melting ice and snow on the wing can start to freeze again, forming a new layer of ice.
24:06Let's see what happens.
24:11Did Flight 1713 get off the ground within the mandated 20 minutes?
24:19Before start.
24:21The CVR shows that it took the pilots four minutes to restart their engines.
24:26Hydraulics.
24:28Check.
24:29On high.
24:30So far so good.
24:31Plenty of time to get to the runway and off the ground.
24:35Engine's anti-ice.
24:37Engine is on.
24:39It takes the crew another three minutes to run the pre-taxi checklist.
24:44Go ahead, run the taxi.
24:49And they're on the move.
24:52Eleven minutes after de-icing, Continental 1713 is taxiing towards the runway.
24:58Focus set.
25:034.5.
25:04It should only take about a minute to reach the runway from the de-icing bay.
25:10The de-icing array was as close as practical to the runway for obvious reasons.
25:16You want to de-ice and then take off as soon as possible.
25:19There are two flights ahead of them.
25:21Continental 1617, Continental 65.
25:26They're eight minutes until the clock runs out.
25:29Flight 1713 should be able to get off the ground within the 20-minute deadline.
25:35Continental 1617, runway 35L, cleared for takeoff.
25:40OK.
25:42Continental 1617 is off.
25:47Continental 65 is up next.
25:52And they have one plane in front of them with five minutes left on the clock.
25:58This stuff just may not go anywhere.
26:02They hang in for a couple of days.
26:05Clear for takeoff, 35L. Continental 65.
26:1018 minutes after leaving the de-icing bay, there are no more planes between flight 1713 and the runway.
26:18The pilots expect to hear their number next.
26:21Continental 594, taxi into position and hold runway 35L.
26:27Report in position.
26:30Continental 594.
26:33What's going on here?
26:34For some reason, the controller isn't clearing flight 1713 for takeoff.
26:39It was very, very confusing trying to figure out where several aircraft were on the ground at the same time.
26:49I mean, it was so complicated.
26:51And I ended up going to a toy store and buying a bunch of little plastic airplanes,
26:56getting a big map of the airport, and we were pushing these little plastic planes around
27:00just so we could get a handle on where everybody was.
27:04They check the flight records of 594 to determine its position at the time.
27:12Continental 594 is an MD-80 back at the de-ice bay.
27:18So why is the tower trying to get him on the runway?
27:24Can anybody see an MD-80 going into position out there?
27:26The controller seems to have lost track of the planes in line for the runway.
27:33You might want to tell them we're number one here on the north side.
27:37The crew of flight 1713 tries to clear up the confusion.
27:42Denver Tower, Continental 1713 is number one.
27:45DC9 for Continental.
27:48Closing in on the 20-minute limit,
27:49they report that they're next in line to takeoff.
27:52But the controller thinks the next plane in line is flight 594.
28:00The controller thinks 1713 is flight 594.
28:05But flight 594 is back here being de-iced.
28:10He was in the de-icing pad, radio shut off, engine shut down, and wasn't even listening.
28:16Continental 875, can you get around an MD-80 for the runway?
28:20Continental 875, affirmative.
28:22Who's this now?
28:28He's moving planes around what he thinks is 594.
28:33The controller isn't getting an answer from what he believes is the next plane in line, flight 594.
28:39So he starts moving planes around it.
28:41That confusion was in the part of the controller because he had three or four Continental aircraft he was talking to and he didn't know where each of them was.
28:53As flight 1713 passes the 20-minute mark, the crew is busy trying to sort out the controller's confusion.
29:03Denver Tower, number one at the runway is Continental 1713.
29:09The controller doesn't have a flight strip for flight 1713, which only adds to his confusion.
29:23I don't know how 1713 is out there, but there he is.
29:33All right, thank you.
29:34Okay, I think we've got him straightened out.
29:37We'll see.
29:40Then 875 takes off ahead of...
29:43In all the confusion, flight 1713 is still on the ground, well past the 20-minute limit.
29:56Continental 1713, runway 35L cleared for takeoff.
30:00Continental 1713 cleared for takeoff.
30:03The DC-9 spent 27 minutes waiting in the snow.
30:14That's a pretty long time when you're having continuous precipitation at freezing temperatures.
30:21So they start their takeoff roll at 214.31, but never get more than 20 feet off the ground.
30:28The critical question now, did a seven-minute delay turn a routine takeoff into a fatal disaster?
30:49Investigators need to know how much snow could have accumulated on flight 1713's wings after de-icing.
30:58Passengers say they saw patches of ice on the wings while they were waiting to take off.
31:10Snow was accumulating on the wing.
31:12That was kind of uneasy about it.
31:14Is this normal?
31:18I'm sure the pilots know what they're doing.
31:20You trust your father and the people that are running a plane.
31:28They study data from the National Weather Service.
31:47Investigators now need to figure out how much of that snow could have turned into ice on the wings of the DC-9.
32:04The de-icing solution is supposed to melt the snow accumulating on the plane's wings.
32:09But, if it's cold enough, that melted snow can dilute the solution and then re-freeze as ice.
32:1928 degrees.
32:22It's cold enough for water to freeze.
32:25Benzen calculates exactly how much ice accumulated on the wings in the 27 minutes before takeoff.
32:31You melt 0.292 inches of snow and you get 0.036 inches of water.
32:45It can't be enough to bring down a DC-9, can it?
32:49It would be the equivalent of 30 to 40 grit sandpaper, which is about like sprinkling salt on the wing.
32:56Investigators look into the wing accumulation tolerance of a DC-9.
33:04The manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, provides them with some stunning data.
33:08Higher stall speed.
33:12Wow.
33:13That's incredible.
33:16Calculations show that the very small amount of ice on the wings was enough to degrade performance, increasing the speed needed for takeoff.
33:26When I found out that just the equivalent of 30 grit sandpaper of contamination on the wing can degrade the performance by a good 20 knots, that's significant.
33:41And so I was kind of shocked.
33:45Damn it.
33:47Investigators may have finally solved the mystery of Flight 1713's failed takeoff.
33:52Oh my God!
33:56They turned to the flight data, looking for confirmation that ice contamination caused a fatal stall.
34:07Wait a minute. Look at this.
34:10But right away they spot something that suggests there is more to it than just ice.
34:16The plane sped past the target takeoff speed of 145 knots.
34:20They kept accelerating to 165 right before the crash.
34:33All right.
34:35The data shows the plane did reach a speed where it could have overcome the loss of performance caused by icing.
34:42That's close, but it looks like they could have climbed out.
34:47We determined that even with the contamination and the type of aircraft, etc., etc.,
34:53if flown correctly, the aircraft probably would have been able to get off the ground and fly away safely.
35:00So icing was a factor, but not the only one.
35:03After we determined that a safe flight was technically possible, we had to determine what happened, what else went wrong.
35:12Show me the angle of attack.
35:17Now what is going on here?
35:20Investigators are intrigued by the plane's pitch-up attitude on takeoff.
35:24To keep drag to a minimum, airliners normally takeoff at a shallow angle of about 5 or 6 degrees.
35:36When you get to the flying speed where you pull back on the yoke and the nose starts to rise,
35:43you want to do that somewhat gently to let the wing start producing lift and make that transition in a smooth way.
35:50Data reveals that Flight 1713 pitched up steeply, at twice the normal rate.
36:01E1 rotates.
36:04The problem is that then you create a large amount of drag,
36:10and if there's any contamination on the wing, you drive the airplane into a stalled condition right as it breaks ground,
36:17which is in fact what occurred here.
36:20It's a positive rate.
36:21Damn it.
36:24It seems the first officer took a bad situation and made it worse by pulling back too severely on his control column.
36:32What's happening?
36:33Don't worry, Jason.
36:39How a trained pilot could make such a lethal mistake is the next important question.
36:45Once we determined that the rotation rate and the degrees that the aircraft obtained very quickly on rotation were so high,
36:56we needed to try to figure out why.
37:05Q, let's see what we can figure out about these guys.
37:09Investigators dig into the crew training records.
37:15Well, the training records became quite important once we began to suspect that one crew member wasn't quite up to snuff, so to speak.
37:23What they uncover about the first officer is troubling.
37:27What they uncover about the first officer is troubling.
37:31Hardly a stellar performance of that airline.
37:35But then he gets hired again.
37:37The first officer had a checkered history, to say the least.
37:41He wasn't really the ace of the base.
37:43And then in May 86, he fails a flight exam.
37:48And get this, he flew right past a holding fix and then botched his approach.
37:53The first officer had failed some check rides and had had some issues in the turboprops.
38:01Guess who hires him next?
38:02He was not fully up to speed with all the jobs that he had to do flying this new airplane.
38:14This was a big step for him.
38:19Investigators scour Lee Brucher's employment records,
38:22trying to understand how he ever got hired by Continental Airlines.
38:27Wait, stop.
38:28This is from the guys who fired him.
38:29They soon learned, that although Continental did perform a background check on Brucher,
38:37the airline was kept in the dark about his poor performance.
38:43The previous employer informed Continental, this pilot had left there to pursue other opportunities,
38:51but he left of his own choosing.
38:54We think the reason the previous employer wasn't quite truthful about the situation,
38:59the skills of the first officer.
39:01Well, they frankly were afraid of a lawsuit, afraid of getting sued by the first officer.
39:08Four months after being hired, and with only 36 hours flying large passenger jets,
39:14he over rotates a DC-9, leading to a fatal stall that claims 28 lives.
39:20That young man never belonged in a large aircraft.
39:28The revelations about the first officer raise an important question about the captain of the flight.
39:34Why did he allow him to attempt a challenging take-off on a snow-covered runway?
39:39Continental 1713, runway 35 left, cleared for take-off.
39:52Cleared for take-off, Continental 1713.
39:57Investigators learned that Frank Svonek had been with the airline for almost 19 years,
40:02but he'd only been a captain for less than a month.
40:06To make matters worse, the two pilots had never flown together before,
40:10and neither one had ever flown a DC-9 in icing conditions.
40:15It was just a bad combination from the get-go.
40:19No real check and balance there.
40:21The weather was very poor.
40:26The captain was really in error to let the first officer make that take-off.
40:32Investigators conclude the inexperienced captain was ill-prepared for what came next.
40:38You won.
40:41Rotate.
40:43Positive rate.
40:44Damn it.
40:46Captain Svonek does nothing to counteract his first officer's catastrophic actions.
40:51The combination of a new captain, a rookie first officer, and a thin layer of ice proves lethal.
41:03Had the rotation rate been at the normal or even slightly below rate,
41:09it is quite likely that the airplane would have accelerated normally,
41:14produced lift normally, and that the take-off would have proceeded normally.
41:21Investigators are left with one final mystery to solve.
41:28Denver Tower, number one at the runway is Continental 1713.
41:331713, are you an MD-80?
41:36Negative, sir. DC-9.
41:37The delay in getting flight 1713 off the ground was a critical factor in the crash.
41:47Why didn't the controller know there was a DC-9 waiting at the foot of the runway?
41:51I never asked for permission to taxi.
42:03Continental 1713 at Delta 18, going to Boise.
42:09Continental 1713, clear to Boise.
42:12Okay, ready to push?
42:13Investigators discover that the pilots began taxiing to the de-ice bay without proper clearance,
42:20creating confusion for the controllers.
42:24From that point on, no one had a clear picture of the plane's whereabouts.
42:29The fact that the accident aircraft 1713 was taxing around almost at will with no true idea of where he was going,
42:42he wasn't telling people where he was, that's a very serious thing.
42:46I mean, they could have overcome a couple of these, but combined, they didn't have a chance.
42:56In the end, we actually had to have two major reasons to make the accident occur.
43:03If you take one away, the icing, then the rapid rotation wouldn't have mattered too much at all.
43:09If you take away the rapid rotation, then the icing wouldn't have mattered much at all.
43:13So you had to have both to have this accident.
43:17The NTSB recommends strict new guidelines for the de-icing of DC-9 airplanes.
43:24They also call on airlines to establish new rules to prevent inexperienced pilots from being paired together on the same flight.
43:34We recommended that a crew such as the one on Continental Flight 1713 would never exist again.
43:42Not a very inexperienced crew member on the right seat, coupled with an inexperienced captain in the left seat.
43:53And the Continental and the other airlines and the FAA bought off on that very quickly.
43:57So that was a big lesson learned.