I want to tell you, a lot of things pass before your eyes when something like that happens, said Helpenstell. Twenty-one passengers were able to walk out of the wreckage, and were treated for shock. In February 1990, Reader's Digest detailed the flight crew and some of the passengers in its article "Miracle In The Blizzard.". Neither Bruecher nor Zvonek had checked the wings for ice before taking off, the board said. Adding to speculation about icing being at fault in the crash was the acknowledgment by Continental officials on Monday that the airline used a new system designed especially to speed up the de-icing operation at Stapleton. He said he was wedged between the wall of the plane on his right side and another trapped passenger on his left. "My mind got banged around, and it left me different. The plane had lifted off the ground, then the right wing touched and the plane nosed into the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled Sept. 27 that ice on the plane's wings and relative inexperience of the two pilots were the major contributing factors of the crash. Flight 1713 then notified air traffic controllers that they were holding at the start of the runway and awaiting takeoff instructions. The left wing exploded in a ball of fire. Said Comstock, "They lost most of their steam; their emotional desire was drained from them.". Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. NAME: Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. [1] Not kept properly informed of Flight 1713s position, the air traffic controllers tried repeatedly to have different planes take off, leaving Flight 1713 standing in the falling snow for several minutes and opening the airliner to the risk of "wing contamination" by ice. He spent the next 10 hours wondering why he hadn't. The last survivor was removed from the wreckage four hours after the crash. [1] In addition, five passengers died of head injuries secondary to blunt trauma and 9 passengers died of asphyxia. [1] The first officer rotated the airplane at more than 6/sec or twice the recommended rate. If youve ever seen an airplane crash, this is nothing in terms of fire, he said. As the DC-9 skidded, the left side was tilted over and the tail was inverted; this action caused the middle part of the DC-9 to compress and crush many of the passengers on board. --Mechanical failure. There will undoubtedly be tears shed - tears of joy for the 54 who lived, tears of sorrow for the 28 who perished. Continental Flight 1713 crashed at Denver's old Stapleton Airport 34 years ago. Two hours after the crash, Allegrezza finally was cut loose from the wreckage and taken to a Denver hospital. spokesman, Fred Farrar, also played down the role of seat selection, although he conceded that the F.A.A. And the plane had split apart. I never passed out. Nicholas Goldberg: Is God on the side of blasphemy laws? ''I was somewhat apprehensive and, as the takeoff roll started, I fastened my seat belt as tight as I could.''. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the accident determined that the most probable cause of the accident was the failure on the part of the pilot in command to have the aircraft deiced a second time before takeoff. William Spalsbury, age, hometown unknown. The News said at Burnett also raised questions Tuesday night about whether the pilot and copilot of the ill-fated jet had enough experience to have been assigned to the flight. Reports from rescue workers indicated that most passengers who were thrown out of the plane were killed. See the article in its original context from. The whole fuselage twisted like a chicken whose neck was wrung, said airport official Richard Boulware. At his first news conference, Burnett said the disaster might have been prevented had federal officials taken precautions about de-icing aircraft that the safety board recommended in 1982. When the seat section stopped, she said, she unbuckled herself and stood. Burnett noted that safety board files show that three DC-9 jets similar to the jet that crashed Sunday, called a DC-9-10, have crashed because of ice buildup on the leading edges of their wings. . Josephine Bliss Glynn, 51, Kansas City, Mo.] The cause of the crash is under investigation, but many survivors and witnesses say the plane veered wildly to the right and then to the left before crashing. The aircraft went up about 100 feet before it turned upside down and landed on its roof, according to Tom Allegrezza. Since the fatal crash, the two have collected countless newspapers and laminated clippings from reports of the crash. April 28 (UPI) -- A lost dog in Northern Ireland was found 26 days later after walking more than 40 miles to the home of his former owners. [1] Based on this, the NTSB concluded that a small amount of ice on the wings had caused Flight 1713 to have significant controllability problems. "I remember thinking, 'I'm going to die,' " Helpenstell said today. The boxes, one called a cockpit voice recorder and the other a flight data recorder, are expected to provide the NTSB with the conversations in the cockpit and data about the planes performance in the final seconds before the crash. Times researcher Dallas Jamison contributed to this story. Survivors were taken to Denver-area hospitals, where three were in critical condition Continental has since boosted its minimum-experience standards for pilots - the biggest reform to spring from the tragedy. [1] Deicing was completed at 13:46. Again, the NTSB said it is premature to speculate whether there was any error by the experienced cockpit crew. Of the 82 occupants on board (77 passengers and 5 "I was going to do a talk at an outfitter meeting on Monday the next day. [1], Flight 1713 was cleared for takeoff at 14:14. Daniel and his lawyer, David Comstock of Boise, admit to being exasperated by the legal meanderings. Fifty-four people survived. 1 Adult. '', He distributed a report from the FAA that said setting a 20-minute limit, ''is not considered in the best interest of flight safety,'' because it might encourage flight crews to always wait 20 minutes for an inspection after de-icing when sometimes ''ice may form in a much shorter period.''. The toll rose to 28 late Tuesday with the death of James Marria, 38, of Boise, at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The nightmares, which sometimes repeat themselves twice in a night, never change. The survivors included Vicky Prasad of Gaithersburg, Md., who works at CNA Insurance Co. in Rockville. "Just going through my life and being kind to people. It happened so slowly that I had the time to think it three times, said Dr. Fred Helpenstell, a 56-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Nampa, Ida. But if you ask me if I would have rather died, I would say no.". And legal battles continue. Where there was tragedy, there were also miracles, and stories of tremendous luck and even greater courage. WebThe impact and subsequent uncontrolled descent severed the right wing of the Cessna; the main wreckage and left wing were found in an empty parking lot 6,500 ft (2,000 m) from the approach end of runway 17. Travelers. Two more passengers died later. Before boarding the plane, he was the academic head at Nampa's Northwest Nazarene College. During the six weeks he tried to work this fall, takeoffs and landings were a white-knuckle experience that seemed to get worse. Caldwell police arrest New Jersey man suspected of sexually assaulting teen, 'It was a real surprise': Eagle Senior Center Inc. frustrated with city's decision to terminate lease, Record heat continues with isolated t-storms, then cooler by Friday, Flood watch in effect for portions of southeast Idaho, Wood River Foothills, 1 dead at site of small plane crash near Snoqualmie Pass, Plane crashes into building near Milan; all 8 aboard die, Remembering 9/11 through the eyes of three Idahoans. April 28 (UPI) -- An isolated private island off the coast of Scotland is for sale with an asking price of about $188,000. Shaken survivors recounted the last terrible moments of Flight 1713 on Monday as federal investigators began trying to find out why the Continental jetliner crashed during a snowy takeoff from Denvers Stapleton International Airport. Reporting on early interviews and the first examination of the wreckage, Burnett acknowledged that the first order of business will include exploring suspicions such as those expressed by Allegrezza that the crash was caused by ice buildup on the wings, a phenomenon aviators call ''leading edge accretion.''. Fatalities From Flight 1713 November 18, 1987 DENVER (AP) _ Here are the people who died as a result of the crash of Continental Flight 1713, based on The flight, which left in a blinding snowstorm, was en route to Boise with 77 passengers and a crew of five. Economy. But I'm still every day waking up trying to figure out what that is," Jennifer Allegrezza said. The decision found the airlines guilty of "reckless misconduct" but innocent of gross negligence. The survivors included Vicky Prasad of Gaithersburg, Md., who A lot are about just any plane crash. "I don't have the grimness of the crash in my mind," the Nampa college administrator said, grateful for that small consolation. I heard people say, Im sorry my foots in your face, and there were some words of encouragement like Dont worry, theyre coming, but mostly it was quiet, Helpenstell said. Two years after Continental Airlines flight 1713 crashed while on take-off at Denver's Stapleton International Airport killing 28 people, memories among survivors still are vivid and their hearts and minds still are healing. With his parents, Vermeulen is promoting a first anniversary memorial service at the First Presbyterian Church in Boise on Nov. 15 to remember the 28 victims. Dates*. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. , The people I talked to thought they were incredibly lucky and fortunate. 'Fog of bees' briefly interrupts PGA Tour's Mexico Open. Robert Linck, 60, Green Pond, N.J., fair. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. the Nampa, Idaho, surgeon said today as he recovered from his remarkably minor injuries: hypothermia and a broken finger. [5] At 13:03, Flight 1713 taxied from its gate to the deicing pad; unfortunately, air traffic controllers were not aware that Flight 1713 had departed the gate because the flight crew had done so without first requesting taxi clearance. The cold was horrible. As he emerged into the arms of a fireman, he began to realize how fortunate he was. The tail was coming over, and all the rest was in flames. Patrick Lovelady, 17, Melba, Idaho, fair but stable. On that date last year, Vermeulen was sitting in the first-class section of Continental Airlines Flight 1713 as it began rolling down the snow-covered Runway 35-Left at Stapleton International Airport. BIOG: It would be nice to know there are people who are going through the same thing. Dr. Fred Helpenstell, 56, Nampa, Idaho, released. After an eerie, stunned silence, the screams began. Paschkov, 32 of Boise, and her 6-year-old daughter, Melissa, were at Denver General Hospital this morning. But like investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board he suspects that the DC-9 jet may have had a fatal buildup of ice on its wings while awaiting takeoff Sunday. I thought I was going to die. Ice contamination shown on a wing. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Diane McElhiney, 40, Mountain Home, Idaho, guarded. Burnett recalled that the FAA had rejected the suggestion, ''and we reconsidered and concurred. I tried to think about other things--other trips, things in the past, my wife and family, he said. "I was on a professional track, and I was knocked off that track," Watson said. [1] [4] [5] Notable victims [ edit] Several famous passengers were among the dead, including: Former world lightweight boxing champion Carlos Cruz, his wife and their two children. The two had no idea that a simple seat change would ultimately allow them to live another day. . I heard that one young man, among the first out, went back in to help extricate people., Ritvo said the survivors he saw were really bearing up heroically . [2] [1] In 21 years of service, it had accumulated over 52,400 flight hours and over 61,800 cycles. '', Continental has declined to release seating information, saying it may be inaccurate because passengers frequently switch seats. A few terrible moments later, the mangled remains of the plane came to rest in the snow. May 1 (UPI) -- Police in England said a pig spotted running loose on a village road was returned to its owner thanks to a loaf of bread. April 28 (UPI) -- The PGA Tour's Mexico Open was briefly interrupted when a swarm of bees sent a group of golfers ducking in the grass. 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. [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. Comstock said the case was the biggest of his career and the most frustrating. No plans were made for a second observance, which some attribute to a yearning by survivors to get on with their lives. Frank Zvonek, 43, 18-year Continental pilot, Carlsbad, Calif. First Officer Lee Bruecher, 26, Houston, Texas. Hobbs, an Idaho State University student returning from a Future Farmers of America Convention in Kansas City, said that when the plane crashed, she slid along the ground while strapped into the center of a three-section seat with two other people. He was thrown from the plane into a snowbank, where his burning clothing was extinguished. People were hurting, Helpenstell said. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. I came very close to hypothermia and I did my best to keep calm by using self-hypnosis.''. Stapleton International Airport spokesman Richard Boulware speculated the fire may have been the result of a gas tank catching fire behind the plane. But the pilot was among the dead, and an airline employe who had talked to a survivor said most passengers near the front of the plane also had died.
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