National
Three Spanair technicians questioned under suspicion of negligent manslaughter after Madrid crash
By h.b.
Oct 16, 2008 - 8:36 AM

Two Spanair mechanics and a maintenance technician have been questioned under suspicion of 154 counts of negligent homicide for the tragic MD-82 crash at Barajas Airport on August 20 in which 154 people lost their lives.

He is also charging the three people most closely involved in the repair of the plane after an earlier aborted take-off that morning, with the additional charge of ‘negligent injury’.

The case is being investigated by judge Javier Pérez, who is now taking witness statements in the case, and is reported to be following the thesis from the preliminary report of the official investigation which indicated that the wing flaps and slats were not properly configured for take off. He considers that the maintenance crew failed to detect the wing flap alarm system was not working correctly, and notes reports that the same plane was reported to have an error in the flaps just two days previously.

Meanwhile two of the survivors of the crash were finally allowed home from hospital in Madrid yesterday.