[2][3] The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-524, MSN 27324, registered as N18611, first flew on May 31, 1994, and in its 14 years of service, it had logged approximately 21511 takeoff and landing cycles.

[5][6] Despite early confusion as to the whereabouts of Flight 1404, firefighters were on scene relatively quickly, as the aircraft came to rest near one of the airport's four fire houses.

[18] The cockpit voice recorder did not reveal any apparent problem until 41 seconds after the aircraft's brakes were released, just before takeoff.

[19][20] When interviewed, First Officer Levang told investigators that he was unaware of any problem until the plane was traveling between 87 and 90 knots (161 and 167 km/h; 100 and 104 mph), when it moved away from the runway's centerline and made a "sudden left turn.

[6][20] Wheel marks left on the ground, and initial reports from passengers and firefighters indicate that the plane was airborne briefly.

[6] Initial speculation suggested that the plane could have suffered a landing gear malfunction that might have resulted in a wheel lockup during the takeoff roll, leading to the runway excursion.

Captain David Butler stated: "My speculation is that we either got a big, nasty gust of wind or that, with the controls we had in, we hit some ice."

[25] Contrary to the "average" wind data reported to the incident pilots, the NTSB investigation found that a sensor at one end of the runway showed a crosswind of 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph), with analysis showing the airplane was hit with a peak gust crosswind of 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph).

[24] On July 13, 2010, the NTSB published that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's cessation of right rudder input, which was needed to maintain directional control of the airplane, about four seconds before the excursion, when the airplane encountered a strong and gusty crosswind – with a contributing factor of inadequate crosswind training for extreme wind gusts in the airline industry.

[24] The crash of Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was covered in "Runway Runoff" a season-19 (2019) episode of the internationally syndicated Canadian TV documentary series Mayday.