SPAIN:THE FOCUS of the investigation into yesterday's Madrid air crash is likely to fall on one of the aircraft's engines.
Reports suggested the Spanair aircraft that crashed at Barajas airport was on a second attempt to take off, although it was unclear at what stage the first attempt was abandoned. The aircraft apparently managed to get airborne but some eyewitnesses reported an explosion and there was said to be a fire on the left-hand engine which caused the aircraft to crash and its fuselage to break up.
Kieran Daly, editor of Flight International, said it would be premature to speculate on the cause of the accident but in the absence of dangerous weather conditions, a likely source of the problem could be inferred, whether or not the witness reports were accurate.
"Accidents on take-off are relatively rare," he said. "The obvious suspicion is some kind of engine problem. The suspicion is that for whatever reason the aircraft had insufficient power to pull away."
The plane that crashed was a McDonnell-Douglas MD-82. Mr Daly said there had been "one or two nasty accidents" with the MD-80 series where the engines were to blame. While in general terms the most likely cause could be described as a "mechanical failure" the list of specific problems with the engine could be "endless". Mr Daly said he was puzzled because the aircraft should have been able to pull away on one engine.
It was confirmed last night that five experts from the US National Transportation Safety Board would be flying in to assist the Spanish investigation. There are 861 models of the MD-80 series still in service with a total of 57 airlines. The design first came into service in the 1980s. In March, two US carriers, American Airlines and Delta, voluntarily grounded their fleets of MD-80s while their wiring was reinspected.
Analysts stressed that the move did not indicate the aircraft were unsafe but said it raised questions about their reliability given that they were ageing. - ( Guardian service)