Date: November 15, 1987
Type: DC-9-14
Registration: N626TX
Operator: Continental Airlines, Inc.
Where: Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado
Report No. NTSB-AAR-88-09
Report September 27, 1988 Pages: 90

Executive Summary:

On November 15, 1987, Continental Airlines, Inc., flight 1713, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-14, N626TX, was operating as a regularly
scheduled, passenger-carrying flight between Denver, Colorado, and
Boise, Idaho.  The airplane was cleared to take off following a delay
of approximately 27 minutes after deicing.  The takeoff roll was
uneventful, but following a rapid rotation, the airplane crashed off
the right side of runway 35 left.  Both pilots, 1 flight attendant, and
25 passengers sustained fatal injuries.  Two flight attendants and 52
passengers survived.

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 flightcrew members and the confusion that existed
between the flightcrew and air traffic controllers that led to the
delay in departure.

The safety issues discussed in the report include:

    o  pilot training;

    o  aircraft deicing procedures; and

    o  wingtip vortex generation and lifespan.

Recommendations concerning these issues were addressed to the Federal
Aviation Administration, the National Fire Protection Association, the
American Association of Airport Executives, the Airport Operators
Council International, and Continental Airlines, Inc.