The only confirmed facts so far:
1. A/c became airborne before crashing.
2. Witnesses reported engine fire on the runway.
3. Full pax load but well below MTOW on this sector.
4. CAVOK wx conditions.
5. Gate return due tech problem.
Based on this very few "established" facts so far it looks like loss of control due failure.
An engine fire even though dramatic can be a less contributing factor for control loss (compared to engine fail/severe damage) as the engine does not loose thrust instantly in a normal fire scenario. A turbine/compressor disc separation is another but very, very unlikely case even though to an outsider it might look as a fire. On a tail eng mount the yaw is even less pronounced than on a wing mount.
I personally have not flown this type but I presume a thrust reduction t/o must have been performed in this combination of wx/TOW conditions. Which further reduces the impact of yaw on directional control in any eng fail situation.
I would not speculate on the gate return until Spanair or the authorities release the techlog data. For sure it must have increased workload/stress for the flight crew.
So IMHO unless it has been a catastrophic compound failure e. g. an eng turbine/compressor disc separation resulting in flight controls major damage this accident should have been quite manageable.
But we would only know for sure when the FDR, CVR and trajectory data are published with the final report from the competent authorities.
