While the National Transportation Safety Board is yet to arrive at a conclusion about what likely caused the crash of Continental Airlines Flight 1404 at Denver International Airport on December 20 last year, aviation safety experts opine that it was probably a "powerful crosswind" that swung the plane like a weather vane, leading to the crash!  

Federal accident investigators have said that apparently the pilots of the Continental Airlines' jet failed to react suitably, at the time when their speeding plane swerved suddenly off the side of the Denver Airport runway, due to the stormy winds, and crashed.

It was during the takeoff roll that the Boeing 737-500, which was carrying 110 passengers, suddenly swung left off a runway, thundered across a field, and pitched into a ravine, broke apart and caught fire. Though there were no casualties, 37 people -including the plane's pilot David Butler - were injured.

After the crash, Butler told investigators that when the plane was building up speed on takeoff, it veered sharply as if hit by a "massive gust of wind" or as if the plane's tires had hit a patch of ice.

Meanwhile, co-pilot Chad Levang said that the plane was traveling at about 100 mph when he noticed "a slight deviation to the left of centerline." Referring to the crosswind, Levang said that it was "definitely a manageable situation!"