[Randi Kaye, Cnn Anchor:] Don Lemon is off tonight. Let get right to it. We begin if Denver where 117 people are lucky to be alive. Just minutes ago the NTSB said flight data recorders from a fiery plane accident last night are now on their way back to Washington for analysis. This is an aerial map of Denver International Airport. A plane left the runway on takeoff and came to rest in the area that you see highlighted right there on your screen. What we know is this, Continental Flight 1404 was about a quarter of the way down the runway when it veered off. You can see the tracks there in the snow. The wheels sheared off and one of the engines actually ripped off. The fuselage nearly broke if half. By the time firefighters arrived, passengers were scrambling out of the burning wreckage.
[Chief Patrick Hynes, Denver Fire Department:] They did find it north of firehouse number four, north of taxi way Whiskey Charlie. They described a surreal scene when they pulled up. Heavy fire on the right side of the aircraft. All chutes deployed from both sides of the aircraft. People evacuating and walking up the hillside towards them. They had to drive off road to get to the aircraft. But were able to extinguish the fire rather quickly. It was described as a heck of a firefight from the commanding officer on scene.
[Kaye:] Now, incredibly, no one died in this accident. And most of the injuries do not appear life threatening. Our Susan Roesgen live at Denver International Airport. Susan, a lot of people counting their blessings this holiday for sure.
[Susan Roesgen, Cnn Correspondent:] No kidding, Randi. You know, I heard the story of two University of Ohio skiers, one was on the plane, the other didn't make it, and he was so glad that he didn't make that plane. And it turns out that his buddy is OK, had smoke inhalation, but was otherwise OK. So you're on this airplane, it's about 6:15 in the evening, you've basically just taken off and you don't expect this kind of thing to happen. The plane as you can see from the aerial pictures, Randi, was basically cracked in half. The fuselage cracked in half like an eggshell. The plane skidded, landed on its belly. The good things for the investigators, the National Transportation Safety Board investigators are as you the voice recorder and the data recorder, both intact. They're actually going to listen to them tonight and they'll learn a little bit more tonight and then tomorrow, they're going to be out here in this brutally cold weather trying to gather all the evidence the can. Here's more on what the NTSB plans to do.
[Robert Sumwalt, Ntsb Member:] There is extensive fire damage to the right side of the aircraft and the interior is quite burned. The left engine is separated from the aircraft. The right engine is still attached to the pylon and the wing. The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, they were located last night. They were secured. And they were intact. They appear to be in good condition, however, they are sooted. Those recorders have are being flown back to Washington right now.
[Roesgen:] You heard him say those recorders are sooted. That means there's so much smoke, in fact, the fire crews, the first emergency responders actually drove right past the accident, couldn't see it with all the smoke. And they'd been given wrong directions and they had to turn around and come back. So there are two main things that the National Transportation Safety Board will look at. First is the mechanical performance of the plane. What caused this to happen. But secondly, they're also going to look at the response by the fire crew, but also the performance of the flight crew. You know, Randi, we fly quite a bit, of course, at CNN, lots of people to. This is just one of those little diagrams that they give you, the proper way to get off of an airplane. This is actually a manual from a Boeing 737 about how you're supposed to follow crew instructions and follow the lighted pathway and make an orderly exit down those emergency chutes. That did not happen. We have passengers telling us there was pushing, shoving, people even yelling there's the plane is going to blow up, the plane is going to blow up. A very chaotic scene. And we talked to one couple who were very concerned about themselves and their one-year-old child.
[Unidentified Male:] We hit the ground and the plane kind of buckled towards the middle. And I saw the seats kind of buckling in towards each other. And I braced my knees up in front of me because the chairs were kind of closing in. And I didn't want him to get crushed, you know, by the seat in front of me. And it just seemed like it took forever for the plane to stop.
[Maria Trejos, Passenger:] I was just worried about my son, just making sure that he was OK. We I looked to the side and I saw my husband and there was this big fireball out the window. And it was for real. I didn't know what to do, you know. And then somebody said get out of the plane, so I took my seat belt off and I grabbed my son from my husband because I was the first one out and I can remember we were in the aisle, and i didn't want to leave without my husband. But I knew I needed to get the baby out.
[Roesgen:] And now add to go all of that, Randi, inside that plane, the fire was so intense that it was starting to melt the luggage bins, the luggage racks above the seats. And part of those bins were actually melting on to the passenger seats. So it is remarkable that there were no reported burn injuries. No reports of anybody burned. Those many people with broken bones and bruised and probably terribly traumatized by what happened on that plane, Randi.
[Kaye:] Absolutely, Susan, I'm sure. What is the status of the passengers? You mentioned some had gone to the hospital. Where are those that are injured at this point?
[Roesgen:] Well, we know there were about half a dozen that were taken to hospitals with some serious injuries. Two in critical condition last night, but today one is in fair condition and the other is in serious condition. We don't know what sorts of injuries they have, but, again, people were falling on each other, shoving each other. And, in fact, that couple that you just heard from also said that the seats were starting to collapse on to each other on that plane. So it's amazing that nobody was killed in that.
[Kaye:] Certainly those of us who have never been in that situation can only imagine what it must be like. Susan Roesgen for us in Denver, thank you so much. Federal investigators are now on the scene to figure out what went wrong. Joining me on the phone is Mary Schiavo, former inspector general at the U.S. Transportation Department and. She's now in private practice as an aviation attorney. And represents flight accident victims. Mary, thanks so much for your time this evening.
[Mary Schiavo, Former Transportation Department Official:] Thank you. My pleasure.
[Kaye:] Tell me first, what is the most important bit of information that you have heard come out about this accident so far?
[Schiavo:] I've worked at a great number of plane crashes, but here there was one report from a passenger that said that before they board the plane and before takeoff, they were told that there was a problem or the engine or the turbine. That coupled with what we saw what happened, there was obviously plenty of runway left, this is the longest public used runway in America, and they went off the runway at about 2,000 feet. These clues suggest that perhaps the pilot was actually trying to abort the takeoff and with the crosswinds, 36 to 41-mile-per-hour crosswind, the tail of the plane acts like a big weather vane. And if there was any problem breaking that plane and trying to abort the takeoff, that would explain why they went off the left side of the runway. There are, of course, other possibilities.
[Kaye:] Now we understand obviously just listening to Susan Roesgen's report, there was a little bit of chaos on board and understandably. But there were definitely some quick thinking flight attendants and crew members there to get these people off the plane with no deaths reported. What did they do right?
[Schiavo:] Well, they did in this and many other accidents where people have survived, for example, the Toronto one a couple years ago, they have the orders down quick and they know what they're supposed to do. United States flight crews are the best in the world at evacuations because it's the law and they train for this. They get those doors open, open all the doors, here most of them were usable except of course where the fire was. And we have to be able to evacuate our planes in the United States on U.S. carriers in about a minute and a half. You have a little bit longer under the law book, but that is done. But they can do it and they did it again in this case.
[Kaye:] And we learned just a short time ago that the first full on- scene investigation by the NTSB will take place beginning at daybreak. Beginning at daybreak tomorrow. You can tell us what they'll be looking for in.
[Schiavo:] Well, they'll be looking at the mechanical parts of the plane to backup what they already know. They have already interviewed the pilot, the air traffic controllers, other pilots in the area. And I'm sure the pilots have already told them what they experienced. And we still haven't heard from them so I expect the pilots either told them A, they were trying to abort the takeoff or B, they hit a cross wind, they couldn't brake and control the plane, or it's possible uncontained engine failure on takeoff roll or a tire blow out. But with those interviews of the pilot, the pilots have a pretty good idea what wept wrong about that that will be the best evidence, pilot one and pilot two.
[Kaye:] All right. That is certainly some key information coming from those pilots. Mary Schiavo, thank you very much. Good to talk with you tonight.
[Schiavo:] Thanks.
[Kaye:] Winter weather apparently not a factor in that Denver mishap, but much of the country is facing bitter conditions on this first official day of the season. A Massachusetts man has died after he was struck by a falling tree branch loaded down with days of heavy snow. Farther north, blizzard warnings are posted for northern and eastern Maine where up to two feet of snow could fall. Temperatures well below zero there. It's a similar story in Wisconsin where the icy roads are making travel extremely difficult. Multiple crashes are reported on interstates across the region. And in Washington State, the main eastwest highway remains closed with no sign of when it might reopen. Seattle is expecting up to four more inches of snow. And Bonnie Schneider is in the weather center for us. And Bonnie I read today that in Minnesota where you know there used to be cold there, they actually pulled the plows off the road because of visibility, poor visibility. They couldn't even follow the roads. All right, Bonnie, it sure is cold out there. Thanks so much. Barack Obama's job creation goal. It was lofty to begin with. Now it's getting even lot loftier. That's because the unemployment lines are getting even longer. Plus, they're not related to her, they didn't even know her. But they were touched by her too short life and all too tragic death. Remembering Caylee Anthony.