I just recieved the following email
Madrid crash: sparks caused explosion
Friday, August 22, 2008
Martin Ferguson
The explosion which killed 153 passengers in Wednesday’s Madrid air catastrophe was caused when the plane’s fuselage hit the runway, according to reports in Spain.
The latest information from the Spanish capital suggests that sparks created by the aircraft skidding on the concrete caused the blast by igniting kerosene in the fuel tank, rather than an overheated engine as initially reported.
The Spanair flight 5022 – a code-shared flight with Lufthansa 255 – was en route to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. The McDonald Douglas MD-80 aircraft had 172 passengers and crew onboard.
DNA tests are being carried out to identity most of the casualties, according to government officials. Deputy prime minister Maria Fernandez de la Vega last night said 59 bodies had already been identified.
Foreign forensic experts have flown to the Spanish capital to assist with autopsies.
Families of the dead are demanding an investigation be launched to establish why the aircraft was allowed to take off only two hours after being grounded with technical problems.
Pilots had reported a problem with a temperature gauge, but it was thought to have been fixed. An independent commission has been established to lead the inquiry.
Politicians yesterday declared a day of national mourning, and vigils were held across Spain to remember those who died.
Some of the survivors remain in “critical” conditions in Madrid hospitals, while others, according to Spanish reports, have showed signs of improvement.
The casualties, who were mostly Spanish, came from 19 countries, including Germany, France and Italy.
It is the worst air disaster to hit mainland Spain since 1983, when a Boeing 747 operated by Colombian airline Avianca crashed near Madrid on landing, killing 181 people.
In 1977, 583 people died when two aircraft collided at Tenerife airport.
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Taken from TTG (Travel Trade Gazette)