Prince and Princess of Asturias visit survivors of the Madrid plane crash tragedy

Prince and Princess of Asturias visit survivors of the Madrid plane crash tragedy
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By h.b. - Aug 22, 2008 - 12:47 AM

The Prince and Princess of Asturias visiting some of the survivors of the tragedy at the La Paz Hospital in Madrid yesterday - Photo EFE

Maintainance workers at Barajas Airport have started to talk to the Spanish press about the pressure they were under.

The Prince and Princess of Asturias on Thursday visited some of the survivors of the Madrid plane crash in which 153 people lost their lives on Wednesday. They called at several hospitals in the capital to visit who they could, some six of the 19 survivors.
Prince Felipe said that all the Spanish people had felt the disaster, that it was a difficult day for everybody, and he also had words of praise for the heroic actions a surviving boy.

As the investigations into the causes of the tragedy continue, maintenance workers at Barajas Airport have said that the pressure put on them was enormous ‘as the planes had to depart’.
El Mundo reports that several workers in maintenance departments have said that there could be possible deficiencies in procedure caused by the need to make savings in costs. They claim that budgetary cut-backs have resulted in a shortage of personnel, temporary contracts and a lack of training.

The paper quotes a worker saying that before a plane used to take off a technician went round and checked everything, but now the job is carried out by an administrator with as little as two hours training. Pilots union SEPLA claims that many agreements, such as holiday entitlement, are not being adhered to, and they lament that the boom years were not used to renew the fleet.

The video below shows how poeple from across the whole of Spain have been affected by the tragedy.

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