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Survivor tells of hellish final minutes in plane crash
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-22 09:28 The company said it did not know if the gauge problem had anything to do with the accident, but two aviation experts interviewed by The Associated Press said it was not likely that such a seemingly minor problem could bring down a modern plane. Alvaro Gammicchia, a pilot for the Spanish airline Iberia who has flown MD-82's for seven years, said that even without the gauge "the plane would not fail to the point of causing a tragedy." The MD-80 series aircraft have a number of static ports or pitot tubes -- tiny holes -- near the nose of the aircraft, with different functions. They provide data on air speed, air pressure, and outside temperature to the cockpit instruments. If the pitot tube or the static ports were somehow physically blocked, cockpit instruments like the airspeed and climb indicators would be unable to function because they would not be receiving outside data. In contrast, probes for the engine instruments are located around the engines themselves. Patrick Smith, a US-based MD-80 pilot and aviation author, said by telephone that the gauge -- also known as a probe -- was not likely to have been involved. "Most likely, whatever the malfunction of the probe was, it is probably not related to what happened," he said by telephone. As investigators headed for the crash scene -- including a team from the US National Transportation Safety Board and representatives of airplane manufacturer Boeing -- attention was also focusing on the plane's two black box recorders, which might provide further clues into the accident. Mendoza, the Spanair spokesman, said both had been recovered, and one had been damaged. The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that one of the two engines failed and may have caught fire during takeoff. La Vanguardia said witnesses saw the plane's left engine explode and catch fire before the aircraft went down. The government today released a list of the nationalities of 19 foreigners from at least 11 countries who were on the plane. Of the 19, only one survived, a Swedish citizen. The other 10 countries are: Germany with 5 citizens among the dead, France with 2, and one each from Mauritania, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Italy, Colombia and Gambia. The nationalities of three other foreign victims had yet to determined. The list did not name the foreigners. As the shock of the tragedy began to sink in, Spain began three days of mourning today. Flags in Madrid flew at half-staff and silent vigils were held at noon around the country. The king and queen visited the morgue, consoling relatives of those who died. |
