Spantax - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

• On 30 September 1972, Douglas C-47B EC-AQE crashed on take-off from Madrid-Barajas Airport. The aircraft was being used for training duties and the student pilot over-rotated and stalled. One of the six people on board was killed.
• January 5, 1970 — A Spantax Convair 990 crashed near Stockholm-Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden while taking off on a three-engine ferry flight to Zürich, Switzerland, killing five crew.
• In 1972 a DC-3 on training flight stalled on Madrid airport runway. Three of the five onboard were killed.
• December 3, 1972 — A Spantax Convair 990 crashed at Los Rodeos Airport on the island of Tenerife while taking off in almost zero visibility, killing all seven crew and 148 passengers.
• March 5, 1973 — A Spantax Convair 990 on a flight from Madrid to London was involved in a mid-air collision with an Iberia McDonnell Douglas DC-9 over Nantes. The Spantax aircraft lost part of its left wing, but its pilots managed to land safely at Nantes Airport. However, the Iberia DC-9 crashed killing all 68 passengers and crew on board.
• In 1974 an epidemic of typhoid set out on a flight from Tenerife to Helsinki. The epidemic was due to poorly cooked food on board.
• In 1980 a Learjet 35 of the company crashed at approaching the Mallorca old airport. The airplane approached too low and hit the hills. Four persons onboard were killed.
• In 1982 a Spantax DC-10 was preparing for takeoff at Malaga to New York when the pilot attempted to abort the takeoff. Their fully fueled airplane overshot the runway and hit the ILS equipment. The plane stopped at 450 m after the threshold of the runway and ignited. The cause of the abortion was a burst nose gear wheel.