National
Preliminary official report confirms that Spanair plane tried to take off with the wing slats not extended
By h.b.
Oct 10, 2008 - 6:50 AM

The preliminary report on the Spanair plane crash at Barajas Airport in Madrid on August 20 in which 154 people lost their lives, has confirmed that the slats on the front of the wings were in the incorrect position and not extended at take off, and that the pilots simply did not know as an alarm system failed to work.

The same plane had suffered from the same problem with a failing of the slats just two days before on August 18, according to the El Mundo newspaper, but were later deemed as working correctly after maintenance.

The co-pilot said ‘flaps and slats’ and the pilot said OK. This key detail was curiously omitted from the first draft of the report released yesterday, leading some to speculate that there had been pilot error, but the nearly 40 minutes of conversations recovered from the black box across the two attempted take offs that day show that the crew followed correct procedures, and that no alarm sounded until after the plane had reached the velocity of no return.
The plane’s engines have been confirmed to have been working correctly.

The report has now been placed on the web page of the Commission for the Investigation of Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents, CIAIAC - here