The NTSB’s report on a Dec. 20 Continental Airlines flight that swerved off the runway at Denver International Airport as it tried to take off provides few clues into what might have happened. The one-paragraph preliminary report indicates that winds were 24 knots with gusts to 32 knots and that the Boeing 737 would have been taking off with a crosswind of about 60 degrees. But no other planes had difficulty taking off from the same runway with that crosswind before the Continental crashed, and the crosswind component was within the limits for the Boeing 737-500. There were no deaths and just 37 injuries in the crash; the plane careened off the runway as it reached takeoff speed, sliding into a gully. One engine and the landing gear separated; the other engine caught fire and scorched the right side of the fuselage after the crash. The NTSB’s preliminary report provided no information on cockpit communications during the takeoff roll and no details on the plane’s mechanical condition.