Denver Fire Department Division Chief Patrick Hynes called it "surreal." The fire burned the entire right side of the plane, and melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats below.
Thirty-eight people suffered injuries including broken bones, and two were in critical condition with fractures after the Saturday evening accident, officials said.
Emily Pellegrini, a 21-year-old student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, was on her way to Houston to see her parents. She left her cell phone and all her personal items behind in the rush to get off the plane.
"There was a fire after the crash, and I just went with the flow off the plane," she told The Denver Post. "That seemed like the thing to do."
The 107 passengers and five crew members made it out through slides, and firefighters put out blaze quickly, said airport spokesman Jeff Green.
The cause of the accident was not immediately known. The weather in Denver was cold but not snowy when Continental Flight 1404 took off from Denver International Airport for Houston around 6:20 p.m.
The plane veered off course about 2,000 feet from the end of the runway and did not appear to be airborne, Day said. Debris was left scattered on the runway, with the plane about 200 yards away.
Denver International Airport manager of aviation Kim Day said travelers should expect delays Sunday, a busy travel day.
National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were on the scene.
An emergency vehicle leaves the runway at Denver International Airport where a Continental Airlines flight veered off a runway into a ravine and caught fire on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008. Officials said nearly 40 people were injured. (AP Photo/David Zal
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