MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spain suffers worst air accident in 25 years: 153 killed

A Spanair MD-82 jetliner broke up and caught fire after skidding off the runway at Madrid's Barajas International airport, killing 153 people in Spain's worst aviation accident in 25 years.

The single-aisle plane manufactured by McDonnell Douglas, crashed while attempting to take off for the Canary Islands with 172 passengers and crew on board, according to a statement from Spanair, a unit of Scandinavian carrier SAS Group. The left engine caught fire and dragged the plane off the runway, where it crashed, according to Spanish press reports. Television pictures showed a column of smoke billowing from the runway and a helicopter dropping water on the crash site. Dozens of fire engines and police vehicles attended the scene following the accident on Wednesday at 2:45 p.m. local time. The flight bore the number JK5022 and carried 162 passengers, six working crew members and four other airline employees, Spanair said in a statement. The service was also operating as a code-share with Deutsche Lufthansa AG under the flight number LH255. The Cologne, Germany-based carrier said seven passengers checked in with Lufthansa tickets for the flight, including four from Germany. The MD-82 ''broke apart'' after crashing on takeoff, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement, adding that it will assist in the accident probe. The plane was 15 years old and had an annual maintenance check on January 24, Spanair Commercial Director Sergio Allard said at a press conference in the capital. "SAS is doing everything possible to help passengers and next-of-kin and to assist Spanish authorities at this difficult time" the Stockholm-based company said in a statement. Spanair has 36 MD-80 series aircraft in its fleet, according to the Palma de Majorca-based company's Web site. McDonnell Douglas was bought by Boeing in 1997, with MD-80 production ended in 2000, according to Airliners of the World. A probe will be carried out by the Spanish Comision de Investigacion de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviacion Civil, or CIAIAC, Boeing said. The last fatal civilian crash in Spain was in February 1985, when a Boeing 727 crashed on approach to Bilbao airport, according to the Aviation Safety Network. All 148 people on board the aircraft were killed, it said. In 1983 a Boeing 747 operated by the Colombian airline Avianca crashed near Madrid on landing approach, killing 181 people. The deadliest disaster in aviation history occurred in Spain in 1977. Two fully loaded Boeing 747s collided on a runway in the Canary Islands and a total of 583 people died.