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Dear Readers,
We make a special effort here to record the facts as we receive them. At times, there may be error but we do try to use our best judgement at the time of posting, and will be glad to amend any details which are proved incorrect. Furthermore, even though we do not here discuss the human cost, we realize that losing anyone in an air accident is insurmountable tragedy to individuals, families and communities. We do extend our heartfelt sympathy to those whose loss we record here. "...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for..." us all.
Meditation XVII - (with apologies to) John Donne


2008/08/23

Spanair Quotes



Ligia Palomino Riveros: The plane "was moving very slowly" but eventually it became airborne. "But then it made a turn, as if the wing dropped abruptly, We were still very low, very close to the ground. As the plane got higher, it began to wobble from side to side." She lost consciousness, then woke disoriented and thinking a nearby dead man was her husband, yelling "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" at him. "And then the wind shifted and I felt how the smoke was burning me."

Amalia Filloy told the firefighter Francisco Martinez to "save my daughter Maria" instead of her.

Francisco Martinez:“Her mother handed her to us... and the woman stayed behind. There were too few firefighters at the beginning, The girl was totally disoriented, she did not complain or talk despite the great number of serious injuries which she had,” and a six year old “kept asking me if it was true what was happening. He thought it was a film and he kept asking where was his father and when the film would end.”

Manuel Bautista, the Civil Aviation Director General:“A fault in a motor does not cause an accident. Together with other causes it could be what brought down the plane. We have to determine the combination of causes that contributed to it."

There are 19 survivors of the Spanair MD-82 jet crash at the Madrid-Barajas airport. At least 80 of the bodies would have to be identified through DNA testing.

The Facts As We Know Them



  • What: Spanair Flight JK5022, a 15-year-old MD-82 jet bound bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

  • Where: Madrid airport Terminal Four

  • When: Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 2:45pm

  • Who: Carrying 166 passengers and nine crew, at the time of this writing, the number of fatalities had mounted to 145 people.

  • Why: The jet swerved off the runway and caught fire during takeoff. Spanish Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil (CIAIAC) is investigating


Have you wondered about the MD-82? See the database of MD-82 Accidents and Incidents for Yourself

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spanair 2052: If high temp bleed air indication was valid this would signify impending Compressor stall and should have been taken seriously. probe should have been shop tested to verify its condition. Was engine Run up done to confirm all engine parameters normal prior to second attempt? Engine would cool down in hour or so and may not heat up until near rotation on second take off attempt. Before second attempt, were Turbine & Compressor blades visually inspected for possible damage. aircraft may have suffered previous bird strike?

Anonymous said...

i don't know the details, or anything about planes, but it seems to me that if the plane has an indicator that indicates excessive hit, and then the gauge is turned off and the engine catches on fire...that the gauge was right in the first place.