08/20/2008
Spanish airliner taking 175 people to the Canary Islands crashed Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid's Barajas airport, killing all but 26 people aboard, officials said.
Spanair Flight JK5022 bound for the city of Las Palmas during the height of Spain's summer vacation season sped off the end of the runway and crashed, breaking into pieces, officials and news reports said. The plane was carrying 175 people and the cause of the crash was not immediately known, Spanair spokesman Sergio Allart told a news conference. Official representatives also said that the aircraft crashed in Paracuellos del Jarama’s (20 kilometers far from Madrid) area around 14:45 hours local time.
The plane was a MD-82 on a shared flight with Lufthansa's LH255, Spanair said. A Spanish emergency rescue official said only 26 people survived the crash and the rest are presumed dead. The official, with the SAMUR municipal rescue service, gave the toll after touring the crash site. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of department rules that barred him from giving his name. Dozens of ambulances rushed to the site as columns of smoke billowed from the wreckage.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero broke off his vacation in southern Spain to return to Madrid, heading straight for the airport. Helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4. Police and rescue crews said they saw charred bodies amid the wreckage after the mid-afternoon crash of the Spanair flight.
On the other hand, Scandianvian airline SAS said there were 166 passengers and six members of the crew on board.
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