Telegraph.co.uk: Madrid plane crash: Crash history of MD-80 series - by David Millward
Madrid plane crash: Crash history of MD-80 series - by David Millward
The accident involving a Spanair aircraft which crashed at Madrid's airport on Wednesday killing at least 45, is one of the most deadly in Europe in the past 15 years. It is the worst in Spain for 23 years, when a February 1985 crash at Bilbao claimed 148 lives. Last year the Federal Aviation Authority ordered American Airlines to ground its 300-strong fleet of the aircraft to inspect a hydraulic wing. Of the 11 fatal crashes, two are understood not to have involved any potential failing of the aircraft itself – one was attributed to an air traffic control misunderstanding and the other to a passenger lighting a fire on the plane.However although the plane has been involved in a number of crashes, experts regard the MD-80 - a short-haul workhorse with a range of up to four hours – as among the safest in the sky.
Labels: Aircraft disaster, EU, Madrid, Spain
