Article

2008-08-20 -Short Attention Span Theater-

747 crash in Spain - Google translation (spainish -> english)

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Posted by 3dc 2008-08-20 10:24|| || Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 one source said 747 - but not this article.
Don't bank on the plane type.

Posted by 3dc 2008-08-20 10:27|| 2008-08-20 10:27|| Front Page Top

#2 Plane swerves at Madrid airport, 20 reported dead
An airliner bound for the Canary Islands swerved off the runway during takeoff from the Madrid airport Wednesday and caught fire, Spain's national airport authority said. Local media reported at least 20 people dead.

Thick, white smoke billowed from the scene at Barajas airport.

Spanair flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a popular vacation spot off West Africa, the company said.

The airport authority AENA gave no information about the number of passengers or possible casualties. But the newspaper El Pais quoted sources at the Spanish Interior Ministry as saying at least 20 people died in the accident and 57 were injured. The paper said 166 people were on the plane. ...

From the number of passengers, an Airbus A320.

Posted by ed 2008-08-20 10:41|| 2008-08-20 10:41|| Front Page Top

#3 It could be either MD or Airbus. Their fleet lists no 747s.

Posted by bombay">bombay 2008-08-20 10:50|| 2008-08-20 10:50|| Front Page Top

#4 Yeah. I just looked up Spanair. They operate both the MD-80 series and A320. 166 passengers is really packing them in tight for an MD-80, but not out the question for a discount airline hauling tourists.

Posted by ed 2008-08-20 10:52|| 2008-08-20 10:52|| Front Page Top

#5 Yeah, same here, looked them up.

Until we get pics, will be tough to say although the reporting seems to be solidifying around an MD.

Posted by bombay">bombay 2008-08-20 10:53|| 2008-08-20 10:53|| Front Page Top

#6 last report on fox said MD-82

Posted by 3dc 2008-08-20 11:32|| 2008-08-20 11:32|| Front Page Top

#7 The airport was immediately closed as firefighters aboard 11 engines tried to tackle a blaze on the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82. Forty-five ambulances were sent to the scene.
Initial reports suggested that an engine on the left hand side of the aircraft caught fire as the plane headed down the runway, impeding its take-off and sending it careening off onto a grassy area near the terminal building.
From Times Online.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2008-08-20 11:40|| 2008-08-20 11:40|| Front Page Top

#8 At least 45 people were killed when a Spanair jet crashed on takeoff at Madrid airport on Wednesday, the government said, but an emergency services source reported about 150 fatalities.
...
The national government's office in Madrid said 45 were confirmed killed and another 19 were seriously hurt while 35 were unharmed. But a source at the emergency services said the deathtoll was much higher and that only about 25 people had survived.

Posted by ed 2008-08-20 11:46|| 2008-08-20 11:46|| Front Page Top

#9 It is an MD-82. From the Spanair web site.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2008-08-20 11:48|| 2008-08-20 11:48|| Front Page Top

#10 Only 25 survivors? How awful. :(

Posted by Seafarious 2008-08-20 11:58|| 2008-08-20 11:58|| Front Page Top

#11 IIRC some years ago there WAS a horrible 747 crash in the Canary Islands.

Posted by Glenmore 2008-08-20 12:47|| 2008-08-20 12:47|| Front Page Top

#12 The worst one in history...

The Tenerife disaster took place on March 27, 1977 at 17:06:56 local time (also UTC) when two Boeing 747 airliners collided at Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife North Airport) on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spain. 583 people were killed, making it the worst accident in aviation history.

The aircraft involved were the 747s of Pan American World Airways Flight 1736 (the Clipper Victor) under the command of Captain Victor Grubbs, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 4805 (the Rijn) under the command of Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten. Taking off on the only runway of the airport, the KLM flight crashed into the Pan Am aircraft taxiing in the opposite direction on the same runway.

The former Los Rodeos Airport (TCI), now Tenerife North Airport (TFN), is situated in the northern part of Tenerife and is now used mainly for flights within the Canary Islands and to and from the Spanish mainland.

Posted by tu3031 2008-08-20 13:01|| 2008-08-20 13:01|| Front Page Top

#13 Jerusalem Post says 153 killed, 22 survivors. Confirms the crash of an MD-82. Aircraft barely left the runway before veering hard right and crashing on the infield between runways.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2008-08-20 17:56|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2008-08-20 17:56|| Front Page Top

#14 :(
Dramatic loss of engine on takeoff and maybe heavy. ;(

Posted by .5MT 2008-08-20 19:11|| www.cybernations.net]">[www.cybernations.net] 2008-08-20 19:11|| Front Page Top

#15 Spanair pilots threatened strike an hour before crash

Pilots at Spanair had threatened to go on strike only an hour before yesterdays crash.

Threatened with job cuts, they had accused the carrier which has run up large losses for its parent, the Scandinavian airline SAS of organised chaos and failing to have a proper business plan.

The airline, which has a fleet of 63 aircraft and employs more than 3,500 staff, is leaking money, labouring under the huge cost of jet fuel. The burden of owning Spanair cost SAS a loss of £43 million in the first half of the year.

SAS put Spanair up for sale last year, but drew only tentative interest from Iberia, the Spanish national carrier. In June the Scandinavian owners scrapped the sale plan and a week ago announced plans to make more than 1,000 workers redundant and cut Spanairs capacity by 24 per cent. The recovery plan involved cancelling nine Spanair routes and reducing its opera-tional bases from seven Spanish air-ports to two: Barcelona and Madrid.

Posted by 3dc 2008-08-20 20:53|| 2008-08-20 20:53|| Front Page Top

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