Spanair disaster just the latest problem for MD-80s

Just over two weeks before the Spanair MD-80 crash in Madrid, an American Airlines MD-80 was forced to make an emergency landing at JFK Airport after losing the power in one of its engines.

The New York incident did not lead to tragedy, but that was not the case across the Atlantic yesterday. At least 153 of the plane’s passengers and crew died as a result of the crash of the Spanair MD-82, which occurred shortly after the flight took off from the Madrid International Airport.

This latest incident has raised new concerns about the future of the short- and medium-haul workhorse that features prominently in the fleets of American, Delta, and numerous other carriers.

Last year, an MD-80 and a similar aircraft, an MD-84, crashed in Turkey and Thailand. Aviation experts say, however, that the aircraft, first built 28 years ago, is reliable and sturdy. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not speculated publicly on the cause of the Spanair accident.

“It’s too early to tell,” said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), on the way to Madrid to investigate the crash, was joined by an FAA representative, Brown added.

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