Spantax Flight 995

Spantax Flight 995

File:Spantax McDonnell Douglas DC-10 EC-DEG.jpg The aircraft involved at Zurich Airport in 1981.
Accident summary
Date	13 September 1982
Summary	Aborted take-off
Site	Malaga Airport
Passengers	381
Crew	13
Injuries (non-fatal)	110
Fatalities	50
Survivors	344
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF
Operator	Spantax
Registration	EC-DEG

Spantax Flight 995 was a charter flight from Madrid-Barajas Airport to New York via Malaga Airport. When the aircraft was rolling for take-off, the pilot felt a strong vibration and aborted the take-off. The flightcrew lost control of the aircraft and were unable to stop in the runway available and the aircraft overran the runway, hit an airfield aerial installation, losing an engine, then crossed the Malaga–Torremolinos Highway, hitting a number of vehicles before finally hitting a railway embankment and bursting into flames. An emergency evacuation of the aircraft was carried out but 50 on board died of both burns and other injuries. A further 110 persons were hospitalized.

The cause of the accident was the detachment of fragments from a recapped tread on the right wheel of the nose gear, creating a strong vibration. Not knowing the cause of the vibration, the pilot aborted the takeoff, even though he was past the Vr speed (the speed of rotation). This was not the standard procedure, but it was considered reasonable under the abnormal circumstances. It was noted that pilot training only covered engine failures on take-off and there was a lack of training on wheel failures.

Passenger Carlton Maloney, an audio-visual specialist at Pace University, was recording audiotape during the accident as part of a series of recordings of airplane takeoffs and landings. As it became clear that something was going wrong, he began to report on the incident and its immediate aftermath. Chicago DJ Steve Dahl played Maloney's tape on his 26 March 2010 podcast.

External links

• Accident Report (Archive)
• Accident report (Archive) (Spanish)
• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network