Accident Overview

On August 20, 2008 at 2:45 GMT, Spanair flight number JK5022 crashed while taking off from Madrid’s Barajas Airport. The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 registration number EC-HFP was bound for Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and using runway 36L. Initial reports indicate that 153 people perished in the crash.

Passengers and Crew

The jet was carrying approximately 172 passengers and 6 crew members bound for Las Palmas during the height of Europe’s summer vacation season. Twenty-two children and infants were listed on the passenger manifest. Nineteen people are reported to have survived the crash. Lufthansa reported that it had issued codeshare tickets to seven people and that four of them were from Germany. Canary Islands official said passengers included Swedes and Dutch. Sweden’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Swedes were onboard the aircraft.

Preliminary Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board will be sending a team of investigators to Madrid, Spain, to assist the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority in the investigation of the accident in which a Spanair MD-80 (Spanish Reg. EC-HFP) crashed on take-off. The U.S. team will also include technical advisors from the FAA, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney. NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker has designated senior air safety investigator John Lovell as the U.S. Accredited Representative; four other NTSB technical specialists will accompany him.

Aircraft Information

The airplane involved in the accident in Madrid was a 15-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-82. The MD-80 family was designed by McDonnell Douglas in the 1970s as the successor to its DC-9 line and entered service in 1980. The engines on the plane were manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of U.S. conglomerate United Technologies Corp. Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas in 1997, and the last of the MD-80 family rolled off its production line in 1999.

Operator Information

The McDonnell Douglas MD-82 was operated Spanair S.A. The Airline is based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and is subsidiary of Scandinavian Airlines Systems. It provides a scheduled passenger network within Spain and Europe, with an extension to West Africa. Its main base is Son Sant Joan Airport (PMI), with hubs at Barajas International Airport (MAD), Madrid and El Prat International Airport (BCN), Barcelona.