Relatives grieve as Spanair crash probe begins

By Martin Roberts

MADRID, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Grieving relatives and medical staff on Thursday tried to identify the badly-burned bodies of victims of the crash of a Spanish jet in which 153 people were killed as it took off on a holiday flight from Madrid airport.

The investigation into the crash, Spain's worst aviation disaster since 1983, also got underway on Thursday with officials seeking to find out why the Spanair MD-82 jet aborted an initial take-off attempt shortly before the accident.

"The causes will have to be provided not only by the company but also by the black boxes, which compile all the flight data," Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said on Wednesday night.

Relatives gathered at an improvised morgue in a convention centre to identify the bodies, many of which were badly burned.

Only 19 people of the 166 passengers and nine crew aboard survived. Rescue officials said many passengers were children.

"I'd kill the bastard who did this," a driver shouted at Spanish state television cameras outside the convention centre.

Another passenger said: "Knowing the plane was bad, it took off with my seven-year-old niece."

The plane was 15-years-old and passed its annual inspection last year, Alvarez said.

Spanair Flight JK5022, bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, was originally due to take off at 1 p.m. But after moving away from the terminal and approaching the runway it returned because of a mechanical problem, a source close to the situation told Reuters.

On its second take-off attempt, it shot off the runway, broke into piece and burst into flames. Survivors were flung from the plane by the force of the impact and landed in a stream, saving them from more severe burns, a rescue official said.

Alvarez said the cause of the accident seemed to be "an error in take-off". But Spanish media and a source close to the situation said the plane's left engine, made by Pratt & Whitney, had caught fire.

The flight was a code-sharing operation with Lufthansa serving the Canary Islands, a popular holiday destination for tourists from throughout Europe.

A passenger list published by Spanair, which is owned by Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS), showed mostly Spanish names but officials said there were also passengers from Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Chile.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his holidays in southern Spain to fly to the scene.

The Spanish Olympic Committee said the Spanish flag would fly at half mast in the Olympic village in Beijing. Spain's national soccer team wore black armbands and stood for a minute's silence at a friendly match with Denmark on Wednesday night.

Spanair has been struggling with high fuel prices and tough competition. It announced it was laying off 1,062 staff and cutting routes after losing $81 million in the first half of the year.

Hours before the crash, Spanair's pilots threatened to strike. SAS has been trying to sell Spanair since last year.

The MD-82 is a medium-range single-aisle plane, popular with regional airlines. It is a member of the MD-80 family of planes made by U.S. manufacturer Boeing Co.

The crash appeared to be Spain's worst since 1983, when an Avianca Boeing 747 crashed approaching the same airport, killing 181. (Reporting by Martin Roberts; Editing by Angus MacSwan)