Oops, didn't mean to come across like I was saying you were wrong. It's too early to really know what happened, so the runway conditions could very well have been a factor. Your article was an interesting read.

It was reported that the bird was about 2000' down the runway.

The man, the legend, the "expert" known as Mike Boyd was asked how fast the airplane would be travelling at that point on the runway. His reply:

"About 220-230 mph."

Words FAIL me.

Man, I wish our 737's went that fast in 2000 feet

I hope everyone makes it out of this with nothing more than bumps and bruises. Sounds like the crew did a good job of getting everyone out before the fire got into the cabin.

Mike Boyd... Right. He's the Nancy Grace of aviation.

Yahoo's latest says the plane veered off 2000' from the END of the runway. I'm not sure what the V speeds are for a 737, and I'm not saying Mike Boyd has anything worthwhile to say -- just wanted to correct that part.

Passengers escape burning jet in Denver; 38 hurt - Yahoo! News

We put our lives on the line everyday and our executives and the general public deem we earn way to much money. I call bullsh_ _! I am happy to hear no one perished in this accident. I cannot imagine the chaos.

Damn straight Cottonmouth.

I couldn't agree more. It's not just lives, but livelihood. I can't think of another profession where the line between being employed and having to find another line of work is so thin. We, and the travelling public think it's easy because things so rarely go wrong. However, if you stop to think about it, the decisions we're asked to make, sometimes in an instant travelling 160 knots down a rapidly decreasing runway, can literally be the difference between life and death. It's time to start getting paid what we deserve again. I'm tired of subsidizing cheap tickets and management bonuses.

Concur. Hopefully the flight crew wasn't at fault. In any event, it sounds like the entire crew did a great job in the evacuation. Kind of reminds me of the flight attendant saying: "I'm here to save your a**, not kiss it."

I second these comments,
I love how people always say that Pilot Error is the leading cause of all aviation incidents and accidents. My answer to this out-lived statistic is simply this,
How many incidents and accidents have occured due to mechanical, meteorological, or other unknown factors?
Not many, because there is usually a highly qualified and capable flight crew there to prevent the disaster.
Give credit where it's due.