It was 35 years ago today that
Continental Airlines Flight 1713 crashed
while taking off in snowy conditions
out at the old Stapleton Airport.
The flight was headed for Boise
ID 28 people lost their lives.
The flight left an impact on families
here and there and in our state too.
Yeah, it was also a crash instrumental
in changing different flight procedures,
news reporter Luis De Leon explains.
The old control tower serves as a reminder
of what the Central Park neighborhood
once was. On the
land of the old Stapleton Airport,
the snow covered rooftops are
also a reminder of the day still
ingrained in the minds of many.
I didn't wake up in the morning expecting
to see what I saw and do what I did,
including the mind of Joseph, Petra Feso.
We all did something different
at the time. You know,
once again you can reclaim your
luggage. In the 80s, Joseph
says he was working the ramps at Stapleton.
I'd like to get to Sioux Falls specifically
for Continental Airlines handling.
Luggage loading planes.
On November 15th,
1987, going home
and a supervisor asked if I could help.
With the plane that had went off the runway,
that plane was Continental Airlines
Flight 1713 bound for Boise ID.
The plane had done more than
just run off the runway.
Your heart, your stomach,
everything jumps up into your throat.
And you don't know what to expect.
An NTSB crash report on the flight
said that there was snow and
freezing temperatures that day.
Visibility was low,
so the tower was dependent on the
pilots to say where they were.
In this case, the crew departed
the gate without a taxi clearance.
9 news aviation expert Greg Feith has
investigated plane crashes for decades.
So that began the ball of confusion with
regard to the position of this airplane.
The plane did indeed go and get deiced,
however, 27 minutes passed before takeoff.
Company procedures called for another round
of deicing if a delay exceeded 20 minutes.
That never happened in this case,
Feith says that plus a rapid takeoff.
To the first officer was a big factor.
He pulled back too rapidly and
caused the nose to pitch up too fast.
That in and of itself with the
contamination on the wings,
ended up causing the airplane to
get into an aerodynamic stall.
The plane was destroyed.
Of the 82 people on board,
28 lost their lives, including both
pilots and a flight attendant.
Joseph says he and his coworkers
helped first responders that night.
The snowplows were there first,
and we got there at the exact same time
the fire department was getting there.
I was working a heater hose and
I had to sit on that hose and.
Put it in there while they were
getting the people out, you know,
so the firemen wouldn't get cold.
A lot changed from Flight 1713, Feith says.
That includes deicing procedures
and how disciplined flight crews
are now with having the aircraft
deiced multiple times if necessary.
He says communication between
air traffic control and pilots
also played a role in the crash.
Technology today, of course,
is much more advanced
out of that. We got ground based
radar for air traffic controllers.
To really see now where all the aircraft are.
The crash report also showed
that the level of experience
between the pilots were a factor.
Fight says this crash changed
the way that pilots are paired.
We've taken those lessons learned
and incorporated it back into
better training for pilots,
better operational discipline for pilots,
better oversight by airlines.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. As for Joseph,
say a Hail Mary and you just move on.
He's retired now, but has a
strength and respect for aviation.
Do what you can, when you can.
Into the best that you can.
For 9 news, I'm Louis deleone.
Well, I remember that crash. Well,
I was on call that day and got called
into to come cover the come cover the
accident and back in those days, I mean,
they would put you in a bus and they would
take you not talking about the media.
They would take the media
right out to the crash site.
Yeah, that would never happen to,
it would never happen today.
So yeah, photographer Kathy MacKinnon
and I were out at the crash site probably
an hour and a half after the crash.
It was her first day.
It was and it was her first day at Channel 9,
too. Welcome. The night news, right.
Yeah, it was crazy.
What a tragic day, you know,
and I'm sure it's so hard for the survivors
because they have the survivors guilt.
It's most of the people that were
towards the front of the plane,
the pilots and the passengers
at the front that were killed,
you know, a baby, a 3 year old.
I mean really just tragic.
But a lot came from that crash
that changed aviation. Yeah.
I mean especially the deicing
procedures and and the the
chemical makeup of the deicing,
all that kind of stuff was taken into
consideration and and it's all changed today.
And it's, it's mostly because of
that accident, that crash terrible.
So some of the people who were
first on the scene of that crash
were the snowplow drivers and other
maintenance workers at the airport.
You can hear from some of them
later today at 4:00 and 9:00 PM.