150 Dead In Madrid Plane Crash On Way To The Canary Islands

[LaoPo]

I post this because it could be that family/friends/relatives could be involved:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle4573696.ece

excerpts:

As many as 150 people were feared killed today when a packed passenger jet caught fire and overshot the runway as it tried to take off from Madrid's main international airport.

The Spanair plane crashed and broke apart after failing to lift off from runway No 6 at the Barajas airport. It was headed for Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria.

Reuters news agency quoted sources in the emergency services as saying that all but 25 of the 173 people aboard - 164 passengers and nine crew - had been killed. That was far ahead of the official death toll of around 45.

Flight JK 5022 was on a codeshare with Lufthansa flight LH 2554, which prompted speculation that some of the passengers may have been Germans.

LaoPo

[Jahil]

can be helpful

http://www.spanair.com/web/en-gb/DSite/Last-official-notice/

[LaoPo]

At the time of writing the number of casualties is not yet -completely- determined.

However:

More than 140 people are feared dead after a passenger plane swerved off the runway at Madrid's Barajas airport.

A spokesman for the Spanish emergency services, Herbigio Corral, said only 28 people survived the crash.

The Spanair flight had just taken off for the Canary Islands at about 1420 local time with 172 people on board. It is thought the left engine caught fire.

From:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7572643.stm

Note:

Other -UNCONFIRMED- news reports said that it is possible that there were German, Dutch, Danish and Swedish tourists on board of the crashed plane but authorities will not publish names and details because they, obviously, wish to contact family members first.

LaoPo

[LaoPo]

Latest news:

High death toll in Madrid air crash

Published: Wednesday 20 August 2008 19:15 UTC

Last updated: Wednesday 20 August 2008 20:22 UTC

In a major accident at Madrid's Barajas airport at least 150 people have died. The numbers have been confirmed by Spanish state radio. Auhtorities in Spain say 20 people were injured, some of them are in serious condition. The nationality of the passengers is unclear. Apart from passengers from Spain, the names of four German tourists appear on the passenger list.

The accident involved a passenger jet from the Spanish airline Spanair, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, with 164 passengers and nine crewmembers on board. The aircraft was destined for Gran Canaria.

According to Spanish newspaper El País the plane had technical difficulties and took off two hours behind schedule. One of the engines caught fire just after take-off. The pilots tried to make an emergency landing, but the airplane crashed and turned into a ball of fire.

---Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Update:

APNewsAlert

16 minutes ago (around 23.00PM Madrid/European mainland time)

MADRID, Spain (AP) — Spanish government minister says death toll in Madrid plane crash has risen to 153

LaoPo

[taxexile]

very sad.

The US National Transportation Safety Board lists 16 accidents involving the MD-82 in the past five years, three of which were fatal.

In September last year a Thai Orient MD-82 crashed at the side of the runway at Phuket International Airport in Thailand, killing 89 of the 130 people on board.

In 2005, an MD-82 operated by West Caribbean Airways crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela killing all 152 passengers and eight crew.

And in 2004, one operated by Lion Air overran the runway in Solo City, Indonesia, killing 25.

Others in the MD-80 series have also suffered problems. Last November an Atlasjet MD-83 crashed coming into Isparta airport in Turkey, leaving 57 dead.

[NotNew2You]

I post this because it could be that family/friends/relatives could be involved:

Very tenuous link to anything to do with Thailand. It was a Spanish Air flight from Madrid to the Canary Islands. Humm, I wonder what the statistics are for Thais holidaying in the Canary Islands per year! Maybe you want to inform all the Euro retirees in LOS of the possibility that a relative back home may have died while taking this flight to the Canaries?

In fact, I would say between zero and none

Will kick up your post count another notch, however

[cloudhopper]

sad indeed. Yet another budget airline disaster.

[Who, me ?]

sad indeed. Yet another budget airline disaster.

involving again a MD 82

[R123]

I happened to be switching round TV channels here in Thailand when the news came through about this air crash. The commentary on CNN was trying at first to say a plane skidded off the run way and not sure re casualties yet it was obvious to anyone with any sense seeing the massive balls of smoke etc this was a major disaster and as we are now told over 150 poor souls were in effect fried to death.

The truth is wherever one is in the world air travel is dangerous and more should be done to protect passengers and give us the truth about air safety and what really goes on.