Spanair plane skids off runway in Madrid

[InterAvia]

El País kopt: "Al menos 150 muertos tras estrellarse en el despegue un avión que salía de Barajas"

150 doden dus...

[Ramon Berk]

By now 146 people killed. confirmed.

[Le Addeur noir]

Latest death toll is 153 from a total of 172 persons on board.

The highest number of fatalities in a Spanish air crash for some 25 years.

RIP those who lost their lives.

[laurens lindhout]

It was a big hell....

Jan, Kees and I are at Madrid for 3 days spotting (18-21).
After our visit at Cuatro Vientos we went back to Barajas.
After a few of minutes we saw smoke. We don't know what's happened.
Was it Barajas or was it something else?
When we arrived at Barajas we saw the smoke came of end of runway 36L. Many Police, Firecars and other help came with big noise from all over Madrid.
After some minutes I took a picture of a Iberia DHC-8 with the smoke at the background. I want to show the picture, but the Police asked us not to publish. (I'm Sorry).
But I took a picture of the EC-HFP, 22 hours before the crash:



Spanish people (from Madrid) told us there were 9 people killed. But when we came back at our Hotel, we read that 140 people killed.
It's true, but I won't and can believe it. At the moment are 153 people died.

Thanks for your attention.

[FISHER01]

in Dutch:

MADRID (ANP) - Het vliegtuig van Spanair dat woensdag op het vliegveld van Madrid neerstortte, had problemen met de luchttoevoer in het verwarmingssysteem. Het toestel keerde voor dit euvel terug naar de pier waar technici het probleem routinematig verholpen.

Dat zegt Javier Mendoza, onderdirecteur van Spanair. Daarna steeg het vliegtuig alsnog op. Volgens Mendoza was de piloot voor het opstijgen teruggereden naar de pier met een melding van het defect. Het probleem zat onder een raam in de cockpit.

Het onderhoudspersoneel ,,isoleerde het technische mankement'' en de vlucht werd volgens de standaardregels terug de baan op gestuurd. Er was niets abnormaals aan het gebrek en evenmin met het verhelpen ervan, aldus de onderdirecteur.

small translation: the plane had problems with the air supply of the heating, the plane taxied back to fix the problems (wich was under a window from the cockpit)
after they fixed the plane, it taxied back to the runway for take off (completely according the standard rules)

[InterAvia]

Pax. list:

http://www.spanair.com/web/es-es/DSite/ ... pasajeros/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MainPower]

Didn't read this news anywhere else but seems engine failure. It's in german .. so hope you understand as I am not so good in translating.

Schwaches Triebwerk mögliche Ursache für Unglück von Madrid

Bei der Suche nach den Ursachen für das Flugzeugunglück von Madrid gehen die Ermittler laut Presseberichten inzwischen davon aus, dass ein Triebwerk zu schwach war.

Die Tatsache, dass das Flugzeug auf der Startbahn ungewöhnlich lange gerollt sei, bevor es abhob, lasse die Ermittler auf diese Möglichkeit schließen, berichtete die Zeitung "El Pais" am Montag unter Berufung auf Ermittlerkreise.

Ein unter Verschluss gehaltenes Video von Flughafenkameras zeigt dem Bericht zufolge, dass das Flugzeug eine viel zu lange Strecke auf der Rollbahn zurücklegte. Laut "El Pais" fuhr es 500 Meter über den für den Start empfohlenen Punkt hinaus.

Dem Bericht zufolge könnte sich eines der Triebwerke umgedreht haben - eine Einstellung, die bei Landungen zum Bremsen vorgenommen wird. Dadurch erkläre sich, dass sich das Flugzeug unmittelbar nach dem Abheben auf die rechte Seite geneigt habe, berichtete "El Pais" unter Berufung auf einen Luftfahrtingenieur.

Die Maschine der Fluggesellschaft Spanair mit dem Ziel Gran Canaria war am Mittwoch vergangener Woche kurz nach dem Start in Madrid verunglückt und in Flammen aufgegangen. An Bord waren 162 Passagiere und zehn Besatzungsmitglieder. Insgesamt kamen 154 Menschen ums Leben, 18 Menschen wurden verletzt. Zwei der Verletzten befanden sich am Montag in einem kritischen Zustand.

Bisher wurde mehr als die Hälfte der 154 Toten identifiziert. Bei den übrigen Opfern könne sich die Identifizierung allerdings noch bis zu zwei Wochen hinziehen, hieß es seitens des Innenministeriums. Wegen des Feuers und der Hitze bei dem Absturz seien die Proben zur Anfertigung der DNA-Analysen "in einem schlechten Zustand".

[Thermal]

Uno de los dos motores del MD-82 siniestrado en Barajas ha aparecido con la reversa desplegada, según fuentes próximas a la investigación. Este sistema actúa como un freno y sólo se puede accionar en tierra. La aparición del motor número 2 -el derecho- con el freno puesto es una de las incógnitas que los investigadores intentan resolver.

Ese freno en el motor derecho puede ayudar a explicar por qué el avión se escoró a la derecha, ya que pudo actuar como freno mientras que el izquierdo seguía acelerando. Pero a la vez, abre otros interrogantes. ¿La reversa se activó sola debido a un fallo? ¿Lo hizo el comandante al intentar frenar el aparato? ¿Se desplegó sólo uno de los dos frenos? ¿O la apertura del freno se produjo tras el accidente?

Según quienes han visto el vídeo que grabaron las cámaras de AENA, tras apurar la pista, el avión se eleva unos segundos y se escora hacia la derecha. Tras rebotar varias veces contra el suelo se incendia, probablemente debido a que alguna de las chispas producidas en el choque prende el queroseno que transporta el avión en las alas.

In short,

The thrust reverser on engine no. 2 was active during take off. Unknown at this moment if it was activated by human error or because of a technical malfunction. The plane therefor did not have enough power to climb away and stalled. It would explain the banking to the right after take off which was seen on camera´s from the airport.

And I´m no expert but this pic does show an activated thrust reverser on one of the eniges.

[Derice]

It surprises me that the media always seem to implicate that aircraft have a "reverse" (like in a car).
It's not like the fan inside the engine starts to rotate in a different direction or turns around...
It's called thrust reverser for a reason.

Dutch item:
http://www.nu.nl/news/1717002/21/rss/Mo ... eruit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[aviodromefriend]

It surprises me that the media always seem to implicate that aircraft have a "reverse" (like in a car).
It's not like the fan inside the engine starts to rotate in a different direction or turns around...
It's called thrust reverser for a reason.

Dutch item:
http://www.nu.nl/news/1717002/21/rss/Mo ... eruit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They have to take in account that not all their readers have as much knowledge about aircraft as we do. Their articles have to be readable and understandable for the average reader, and they don't care to receive all the Flak at forums like this, which most of their readers aren't hardly aware of.

[Derice]

True, but still...

Maybe if they called it something else then only 'reverse'.
For example: 'the aircraft-slowdown/break assist-mechanisme in the engine'.

Still understandable for the average reader and it's also a true fact.

But then again, if they called it as it was supposed to be called we wouldn't be special anymore.

[flying_kiwi]

The thrust reverser on engine no. 2 was active during take off. Unknown at this moment if it was activated by human error or because of a technical malfunction. The plane therefor did not have enough power to climb away and stalled. It would explain the banking to the right after take off which was seen on camera´s from the airport.

And I´m no expert but this pic does show an activated thrust reverser on one of the engines.

I doubt at this stage that they are positive that the reverser on the no. 2 engine was activated during the takeoff run. It's entirely possible that the cowls were moved by impact forces during the crash sequence, as I've seen many examples of parts of an aircraft being dislodged or moved in such a way that it looked like it could potentially have played a role in the accident, when that was not the case.
It will take a while to sift through all of the evidence to find out exactly what contributed to the accident, and what is misleading (ie. the "eye-witness" reports that the no. 1 engine was on fire prior to the crash).

Regards,
Yorden

[JS50557]

The pilots of the Spanair plane that crashed in Madrid, killing 154 people, failed to extend wing flaps needed to give the aircraft enough lift for take-off, a source familiar with the investigation said.

Investigators believe both engines on the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 jet were working properly, according to the person, who spoke anonymously because Spanish authorities had not discussed the cause of the crash.

Spanish investigators have declined to comment on the investigation into the August 20 crash.

Boeing, which bought McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney also declined to comment and referred inquiries to Spanish officials.

Flaps are moveable panels on the trailing edge of a plane’s wings and provide extra lift during take-off. The Spanair pilots should have received a warning - a loud horn in the cockpit – alerting them that the flaps were not extended before take-off.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the investigation, reported on its website that investigators have focused on the theory that an electrical problem prevented the horn from sounding.

Investigations like the one in Spain often rely heavily on data recorded by so-called black boxes. A flight data recorder can reconstruct what was happening to the plane’s mechanical systems, while a voice recorder captures cockpit conversations and other sounds that sometimes point toward the cause of an accident.

The Journal said the data recorder confirmed that the flaps were not extended.

Spanair Flight JK5022 was bound for the Canary Islands when it crashed during take-off at the Madrid airport. The plane was making its second take-off attempt after what the airline called a minor glitch with an air temperature gauge near the cockpit.

The plane rose slightly off the runway before dropping and skidding off the runway, then breaking up and catching fire.

The source familiar with the investigation said the flight-data recorder indicated that the plane continued at full throttle for some time after the plane hit the runway.

Last week Spain’s interior ministry said all 154 bodies, many of them badly burned, were identified and returned to relatives. Eighteen passengers survived.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/mhqlgbkfsnkf/rss2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Key]

Well, that would be a very, very sad cause indeed... And raising more questions of course, like about the take-off warning. Cockpit management failures after dealing with a tech problem?

Erik

[Glidepath]

was this a US or a non-US build spanair md-82?
I know they fly a mixed-sources DC-9-82-fleet, but not how to tell the difference? which cn's are non US?