Crash
The aircraft, named Sunbreeze (registration EC-HFP; manufacturer's serial number 53148; Douglas line number 2142) had been delivered to Korean Air on 18 November 1993 and was acquired by Spanair in July 1999.
The flight was a Star Alliance codeshare operated on behalf of Lufthansa as LH 2554. When it took off it was carrying 166 passengers and six crew members.
The accident occurred as the aircraft attempted to take off, at 14:24 local time, because the pilots had omitted to deploy the flaps and slats ready for take-off. Without the use of these "high-lift" devices, the wings did not generate enough lift to keep the aircraft in the air. The MD-82 has a warning system (TOWS - Take-Off Warning System) that should have alerted the pilots, as they commenced their take-off run, that the plane was incorrectly configured for take-off. However, TOWS did not sound a warning, and the pilots continued with the fateful take-off attempt. The aircraft left the ground momentarily, rolled to the right, and crashed in the vicinity of the runway, breaking into at least two parts which were engulfed by the subsequent fire.
Spanair reported that the pilots had previously attempted and aborted a departure due to a sensor reporting excessive temperature in an air intake, and that the temperature sensor was de-activated on the ground (reportedly an established procedure since that sensor is redundant), delaying departure by over an hour. Another takeoff was attempted, during which the fatal accident occurred.
Read more about this topic: Spanair Flight 5022
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