Some 150 people were feared killed on Wednesday when a packed passenger jet caught fire and overshot the runway as it tried to take off from Madrid airport, official sources said.
Spanair jet bursts into flames after overrunning the runway at Barajas airport
MADRID: Some 150 people were feared killed on Wednesday when a packed passenger jet caught fire and overshot the runway as it tried to take off from Madrid airport, official sources said.
The Spanair plane, with 173 passengers and crew aboard, crashed and broke apart as it tried to take off from Terminal 4 at the Barajas airport. It was heading for Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria.
The Reuters news agency quoted sources in the emergency services as saying that all but about 25 of those aboard had been killed—far ahead of initial death tolls given by officials.
The Spanish Cabinet was convened for an emergency session to discuss the catastrophe.
Relatives of those aboard the plane soon began arriving at the airport, where a spokesman said that a room had been set aside for them and psychological counselling was on offer.
The airport, Spain’s main hub, was closed as firefighters aboard 11 engines tried to tackle a blaze on the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82.
According to the El Mundo newspaper website, the initial speculation was 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, wooded area near the terminal building. The smoke could be seen several kilometres away.
El Pais reported that the aircraft had already attempted one take-off but had had unspecified difficulties. Another newspaper, La Vanguardia, said that the pilot had been unable to lift the plane’s nose.
Flight JKK 5022 was reported to be operating on a codeshare with Lufthansa flight LH 255. There was no indication as to the nationalities of those aboard.
In the last ten years 42 people have been killed in plane accidents in Spain.
Wednesday’s crash was the most costly since one at Bilbao in February 1985, in which 148 people were killed.
Spanair is a subsidiary of the Scandinavian airline SAS, which said in a statement: “Spanair is doing everything possible to assist the Spanish authorities at this difficult time. Spanair will provide further information.”
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