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Continental CEO Meets With Injured Pilot

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Dec 24, 2008 12:45 pm US/Mountain

Continental CEO Meets With Injured Pilot

By Ivan Moreno, AP Writer
DENVER (AP) ― The Continental Airlines captain who was injured when his jetliner careened off a Denver runway and burst into flames got a pre-Christmas hospital visit from his company's top boss.

The captain, whose name and condition haven't been released, was among 38 people hurt in the accident at Denver International Airport on Saturday. The captain and three others remained hospitalized Wednesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board hasn't said what went wrong. Investigators said they had not yet interviewed the captain, but they say they have good information from the plane's voice and data recorders.

Continental Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner had a "meaningful" and "worthwhile" chat with the captain in his hospital room on Tuesday, airline spokeswoman Julie King said. She declined to give the specifics of what they talked about.

Authorities said the captain was at the controls when the Houston-bound plane left the runway and sped about 2,000 feet across a taxiway, an access road and grassy slopes before sliding to a halt on its belly in a shallow ravine.

All 115 passengers and crew got out through emergency exits.

The NTSB said no problems were found with the brakes or the two main landing gear, but the nose gear was hidden under the fuselage, which was still lying in the ravine.

NTSB officials have said a bumping and rattling sound was heard on the plane and the aircraft seemed to fishtail on the runway before the accident.

Former NTSB board member John Goglia said both the noise and the fishtailing could point to a problem with the plane's nose gear.

He said the fishtailing could also mean there was a problem with the plane's rudder trim.

The NTSB blamed a rudder control problem and pilot errors in the 1989 crash of USAir Flight 5050 that killed two passengers at LaGuardia Airport in New York. The plane was taking off for Charlotte, N.C., when it started drifting to the left before skidding off the end of a runway and into the East River.

NTSB spokesman Terry Williams said the charred plane won't be moved from DIA until after Christmas. He said investigators were still at the scene on Wednesday.

Of the four people still hospitalized, two were in good condition at Denver Health Medical Center and two were in fair condition at the University of Colorado Hospital in suburban Aurora, including one who was upgraded from serious.

King said Kellner also met with the airliner's employees in Denver and thanked "all of those who have assisted in this accident."

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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