TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Survivor Describes Flight's Last Seconds

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 22, 2008

MADRID, Spain - A gauge indicating that overheated air was entering a Spanair jetliner forced pilots to abandon a takeoff about an hour before the plane crashed in flames, but airline officials refused to speculate Thursday on the cause of the accident that killed 153 people.

As investigators tried to piece together what happened, one survivor told of the heaving, hellish final minutes of the MD-82's flight, saying she feared she was going to die.

"The plane was rocking back and forth, until I suspected it was going to fall," Ligia Palomino, a 41-year-old emergency rescue worker who happened to be on board, told Spain's Cadena Ser radio station. "I saw people, smoke, explosions. I think that is what woke me up because I had lost consciousness."

"I thought that if help did not arrive soon I would die," said Palomino, who suffered leg injuries and a broken rib.

Many of the victims in Wednesday's flight were families traveling to the Canary Islands, a Spanish beach resort site off Africa's West Coast.

Compounding the tragedy was news that at least 22 of those on board were children, including two infants. Only three youngsters were believed to be among the 19 survivors.

Amid the horror were several stories of hope, and others of sheer luck.

The three children who survived - boys ages 6 and 8, and an 11-year-old girl - all suffered relatively minor injuries. The older boy had nothing more than a broken leg, extraordinary considering the devastation at the crash site.

And then there was the Spanish couple who were three minutes late and missed the flight altogether. Ertoma Bolanos said he and his girlfriend, Almudena, checked in but did not make it to the gate in time. They learned of the crash when Almudena's family called to say they had seen footage of it on TV.

"Today is another birthday," Bolanos said.

One day after the crash, Spanair gave new information about the plane's initial attempt to take off. Spokesman Javier Mendoza said an air intake gauge under the cockpit had detected overheating while the jetliner was taxiing, causing the plane to turn back. Technicians corrected the problem by essentially turning the gauge off.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT