Spanair plane skids off runway in Madrid, Barajas

[Airbus330lover]

on parle de plus de 100 morts
http://www.20minutes.fr/article/245650/ ... Madrid.php

[stefanel]

Was it indeed on RWY 36L as the map on El Mundo shows?

The METAR was 240 06KT gusting 19KT, how come the take off's were not on RWYs 15?

I never understood the layout at Barajas, as the prevailing winds are from SW?
Look at all the other Madrid's airport layout, they are 070-250, esp. the airport just next to Barajas, with its huge runway (Torrejon).

[Bralo20]

Latest Update by El Mundo:

140 death, 27 critical injured

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/08/2 ... 37335.html

[Devon Rex]

EC-HFP involved... seen it not so long ago in BCN on a spottingtrip... Sad news.

[brussels airlines]

According to VRT Nieuws: 65 death

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie ... 20_Spanair

[Acid-drop]

stupid journalist, why dont they wait the final count.
They'll go as low as FOX one day

[LX-LGX]

TVE, 17h45 : 45 fatalities and 62 injured, most of them seriously.

TVE, 18h26 : amended into about 100 fatalities and 26 injured.

http://www.rtve.es

[ElcoB]

It looks like a major disaster:
News is still fragmented and changes very fast.
Latest from Spanish news agencies:Over 100 dead, less than 30 survivors in hospital....

Also the latest message from SAS Group indicates there are many deaths:

Regarding flight number JK 5022

Spanair regrets to confirm that 164 passengers and 9 crew were on board its flight JK5022, which was involved in an accident in Madrid today.

The accident occurred at 14:45 local time during take off, aircraft type MD-82.

The names of the passengers and crew on board the aircraft will not be released until all family have been notified, and a special help-line number has been established for relatives and friends seeking information about those who may have been on board. The number is +34 800 400 200. A team of specially trained Spanair personnel is being assembled in Palma de Mallorca, and will fly to Madrid later today to provide support and assistance at the scene.

Information on the number of people involved is not yet available, but Spanair is doing everything possible to help the Spanish authorities at this difficult time.

[Bralo20]

Belgian television "VTM" has the crash in his headlines. At least 100 deads, probably even 150 found death in the crash.

Belgian newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" also states that 150 people could have found death in the crash (based on reports from the emergency services).

[js51672]

Hereby a picture of the aicraft in better times


http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6019570

[Bralo20]

Confirmed numbers by the emergency services in Madrid:

146 death
26 injured
3 missing

Total on board: 175 persons of wich 166 passengers and 9 crewmembers.


http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20080820/av ... 0810.shtml

[LX-LGX]

Belgian television "VTM" has the crash in his headlines. At least 100 deads, probably even 150 found death in the crash.

Belgian newspaper "Het Laatste Nieuws" also states that 150 people could have found death in the crash (based on reports from the emergency services).

VTM-guest was Peter Denruyter, senior VTM-journalist and co-writer of a book on Sabena's bankruptcy. He said that the structural design from the MD-82 caused the high number of casualties in this crash - where apparently an engine caught fire just before or during take off. Denruyter said that's why almost no planes with engines at the back of the plane, very close to the cabin, are built anymore.

[regi]

same plane as in the Phuket crash.

I start to doubt about using Kulula from Johannesburg to Cape Town because the use also the MD-80 left overs from Europe.

[LX-LGX]

same plane as in the Phuket crash.

I start to doubt about using Kulula from Johannesburg to Cape Town because the use also the MD-80 left overs from Europe.

(off topic):

Their MD-80's are parked at Safair, at JNB

From kulula.com: We now operate a fleet of Boeing 737s 'cause we have worked the MD82's out, as the 737 is not only more fuel efficient with more legroom, but also less harmful on the environment. In fact, they burn 26% less fuel than the MD82s. That is a load of carbon emissions we're saving, which ties in with our efforts to go greener – 'cause we haven't quite cracked bio-fuel for planes yet! Plus our planes are quite unique because they are painted in their very own paint schemes, making your flight experience uniquely memorable. Some of these include the ‘cow' plane, ‘camo' plane and ‘the jetsetter' plane (watch this space for more wacky planes...)

http://www.kulula.com/info/flightinfo.aspx

They now operate 1 x 732 and 3 x 734. One of their 400's is the ex EBA OO-LTR. The others are ex-BA (I'm sure you know kulula.com is owned by Comair South Africa, a franchisee from British Airways)

[bits44]

The MD80 is probably one of the safest aircraft currently operating, most incidents have occurred due to pilot error, or ATC errors.

Good reporting available here.: http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/douglas.htm

[Bralo20]

The MD80 is probably one of the safest aircraft currently operating, most incidents have occurred due to pilot error, or ATC errors.

Good reporting available here.: http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/douglas.htm

2 accidents due engine failure:

6 July 1996; Delta MD88; Pensacola, FL: During the takeoff, the left engine sustained an uncontained failure, causing pieces of the engine to penetrate the cabin, killing two of the 137 passengers.

Rather similar then the unconfirmed reports of this crash: left engine failure, although the above mentioned accident has not such a worse result.

16 August 2005; West Caribbean Airways MD82; near Machiques, Venezuela: The aircraft was on an international flight from Panama City, Panama to Martinique when the crew reported to air traffic control that the aircraft was experiencing some kind of engine problem and requested a descent from cruising altitude of 33,000 feet down to 14,000 feet. The crew later reported that both engines were experiencing problems and that the aircraft was not controllable. All eight crew members and 152 passengers were killed.

Another crash due an engine failure.


When you look at all the accidents it seems that these have a rather high fatallity rate... Few accidents occure but when they happen there are a lot of casulties...

[galaxy]

Spanish plane had technical problems before crash

It was disclosed that shortly before the crash, the plane had been forced to return to its gate at Madrid's Barajas airport after its first attempt at take off failed. Passengers were warned they could have to disembark and change planes, it was claimed.

However, only an hour after arriving back at the gate the plane, an MD-82, then attempted another take off which proved fatal. According to one report it was seen coming out of a maintenance shed just moments before its second attempt.

It was also disclosed that a sister plane of the one that crashed in Madrid had to make an emergency landing only five days ago after suffering suspected engine problems. That plane diverted to an airport in Gran Canaria after losing power in mid-air.

Full article can be read here :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... eople.html

[Duke]

VTM-guest was Peter Denruyter, senior VTM-journalist and co-writer of a book on Sabena's bankruptcy. He said that the structural design from the MD-82 caused the high number of casualties in this crash - where apparently an engine caught fire just before or during take off. Denruyter said that's why almost no planes with engines at the back of the plane, very close to the cabin, are built anymore.

Sorry, I'm not a specialist at all, but I think this is a wrong conclusion.
If the MD is unsafe because of the engines being so close to the cabin, then the CRJ is unsafe, and the EMB 135-145, and almost all the the business jets...
The B-727 would have been an unsafe plane, as well as the TU-134, the TU 154, the IL-62, the VC-10...
This doesn't make sense at all...
The reason why the engines are not placed in the rear of the plane anymore is because of the higher by-pass engines, chich makes them bigger and more difficult to place at the rear of the cabin... It's easier to place them under the wing...
Just my opinion,

Duke

[Bralo20]

The most recent toll is 153 confirmed death, 19 injured including several life threatning.

162 passengers, 6 crew members on duty, 4 crewmembers off duty.


On the CNN website there is a story published from one of the survivors aboard of the plane.


A survivor told a reporter from Spain's ABC newspaper that she and other passengers heard a loud explosion as the plane was taking off.

"She said they could see the fire ... and then it was not even a minute or so they heard [something] blow up," the reporter, Carlota Fomina, told CNN. "They were about 200 meters in the air and then they were landing but not crashing. They were landing, like, little by little -- it was not like they [fell] down suddenly."

[luchtzak]

Accidents with aircrafts are less frequent than let's say road accidents but the impact and the severity is much higher in case something goes wrong