The aircraft involved is a Boeing 737-524, MSN 27324, registration number N18611, which first flew on May 31, 1994 and in 14 years of operation, it has performed about 21511 take-off and landing cycles. It was produced in 1994 and equipped with two CFM International CFM56-3B1 engines.

On Saturday, December 20, 2008, at about 18:18. local time, after being allowed to take off on runway 34R at Denver International Airport, the Boeing 737-524 plane deflected from the runway before reaching the WC rollerway (less than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) from the rollerway threshold, skid over the taxiway and a service road, and fell into a ravine 40 feet deep (12 m) a few hundred yards from the runway.The right engine caught fire and the fire spread to the fuselage.

Despite the initial confusion about the location of Flight 1404, firefighters arrived at the scene quite quickly, when the plane stopped near one of the airport's four fire stations.When they arrived, most of the right side of the plane was on fire, while passengers were climbing out of the left side, supported by flight attendants and a Continental Airlines pilot outside working hours in the cabin, who later made many trips in and out of the wreckage to ensure everyone got out of the plane safely.The pilot after hours, Richard Lowe, was part of the crew that flew the crashed plane into Denver; an Air Force reserve soldier, Lowe was awarded the Air Force Medal for his actions.