Passenger Files Suit Against Continental Over Denver Crash

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KHOU 11 News
By Kevin Reece
12 Jan 2009 at 11:57 PM
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"I relive the crash every day. I can hear the people screaming, ‘Oh my God, we're going to die,'" said Melissa Craft, Continental Airlines crash victim.

On the night the plane skidded across the runway in Denver, Craft was in the very back row on the right side.

She said during the aborted takeoff, the nose of the plane left the runway and slammed back down. She heard a bang and saw fire out her window as the plane skidded into a ravine. 

Panels and wires dropped from the ceiling, then everything went dark.

"The only thing that was lighting anything up was the fire," said Craft. "That's when I turned, looked at my friend, and told her that we're going to die."

Now, nearly a month later, Craft is the first passenger to file a lawsuit against Continental and the flight crew. She claims they were negligent and could have avoided the accident.

"What's clear is the accident was either pilot error or mechanical function, or a combination of the two," said Jason Gibson, Craft’s attorney.

The initial NTSB report said both engines appear to have been working normally. They believe that a crosswind combined with oversteering the nose gear might have been to blame.

"I do know that as we started to get on the plane, they did say the engine was a problem. They were doing something and that we were going to be held back," said Craft.

The lawsuit does not ask for a specific dollar figure at this point. But the passengers certainly want more than what Continental has offered so far, which is $3,000 per person for the luggage that was lost in the crash and fire, and 10 percent off their next Continental flight.

“The Continental representative insisted on going shopping with my client to supervise her purchases and he actually had to make the purchases himself,” said Gibson.

A Continental spokesperson said the payments are only the initial compensation.  The lawsuits will be handled as the NTSB investigation continues.