Well, Let's Find Out ...

Lame coverage of the MD80 crash in Madrid continues in the media. We learn nothing useful about airline safety from weepy relatives, dramatic (often inaccurate) eyewitness accounts, assurances that the Authorities Are Investigating (ask me about Brazil), and pointless photos of ambulances.

Instead, before everybody in Spain takes their usual August Friday off, let's look at the mechanicals on that particular MD80-series plane, and on Spanair's fleet in general.

From the Guardian today:

"...Spanair confirmed an MD-82 was forced to make an emergency landing last Saturday on a flight from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to Madrid because of problems with both of its engines. The plane landed in the nearby island of Gran Canaria, the destination of yesterday's flight.

A company official said he did not know if the same plane was involved in both cases."

Hmmm, could we maybe ask him to LOOK IT UP?

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