Spantax Flight 995 was an international charter flight from Madrid–Barajas Airport to New York via Málaga Airport. On 13 September 1982, when the DC-10 aircraft was rolling for take-off from Malaga, the pilot felt a strong and worsening vibration and aborted the take-off. The aircraft was unable to stop in the runway available and overran the runway, hitting numerous structures, crossing the nearby highway, collided with several vehicles before bursting into flames. A total of 50 people were killed in the accident. Spanish investigators concluded that the crash was mainly caused by a faulty tire. A failure on one of the tires' treads created worsening vibration on the aircraft during the take-off roll. The crew decided to abort the take-off but due to the aircraft's speed at the time and the lack of remaining runway length, the aircraft eventually overran the runway and crashed. The decision to abort the take-off, however, was deemed as reasonable.
Aircraft The aircraft involved in the accident was a 5-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF. It was delivered to Overseas National Airways (ONA) on June 6, 1977. The aircraft was leased by Spantax in October 1978 and bought in December of that year. At the time of the accident the aircraft had 15,364 flight hours.
Passengers and crew The aircraft was carrying 381 passengers and 13 crew in two cabins of service. Among the 381 passengers were mostly American tourists, who had booked a trip around the Spanish coast. Officials from the United States confirmed that a total of 210 American tourists were on board, while the remainders were non-Americans. Among the non-Americans, a total of 165 Spaniards were on board, of whom 85 were U.S residents. A tour company from Canada stated that a total of 26 Canadians were booked on the flight. A Swiss national was also confirmed to be on board. Among the passengers were Francisca Salazar and Natividad Cons, the sister-in-law and niece of then-President of Spanish flag-carrier Iberia, Francis Cons. The captain was 55-year-old Juan Pérez, who had logged almost 16,129 flight hours, including 2,119 hours on the DC-10. The first officer was 33-year-old Carlos Ramírez, who had logged almost 6,489 flight hours, with 2,165 of them on the DC-10. The flight engineer was 33-year-old Teodoro Cabejas Barúque, who had logged 19,427 flight hours, including 2,116 on the DC-10.
Accident The flight had begun in Palma de Mallorca earlier in the morning, operating as Iberia Flight 4439 with 121 passengers, 13 crew members and an additional 4 Spantax employees, and made a routine stopover at Madrid–Barajas Airport. In Madrid, a total of 129 passengers boarded the aircraft, heading for Málaga as Spantax Flight 995. It arrived in Málaga at 08:20 local time. By this time, an undisclosed number of passengers had disembarked from the aircraft; however, a total of 251 additional passengers embarked on the flight. The aircraft was almost at full weight, with every seat in the aircraft being booked. The flight's final destination was New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Crash At 09:58:50 local time, the aircraft was cleared for take-off on Runway 14. The flaps were set to 8 degrees, and the slats were extended. The throttles were fully pushed forward. Just seconds from reaching V1 (162 knots), passengers and crews began to feel vibrations on the aircraft. Both pilots were initially startled by the vibration but chose to continue the takeoff. After reaching VR (169 knots), the nose was pulled, and the vibrations started to get worse. At 175 knots, Captain Pérez, believing that he would lose all control of the aircraft if he continued, decided to abandon the take-off and pushed the nose down, slamming the aircraft's nose gear down and applied full reverse thrust and brakes. As the aircraft rapidly approached the runway's end, Captain Pérez had to quickly switch his right hand from the control column to the throttle to apply the reversers. Unfortunately, during the panic, his right hand had slipped on the throttle for engine No.3, causing a slight thrust asymmetry as only the No.1 and No.2 engines were put into reverse. This eventually caused the aircraft to sway to the left. Knowing that there was not enough runway length to stop the aircraft, he ordered the engines to be shut down. An audio-visual specialist at Pace University, Carlton Maloney, was recording audiotape during the take-off as part of a series of recordings of airplane takeoffs and landings. In the recording, passengers could be heard panicking and screaming as the aircraft started to lose control.
The aircraft eventually overshot the runway, striking multiple landing lights. Its engine No.3, which was located on the right wing, then slammed onto an ILS structure, causing it to detach from the wing. The aircraft then struck the airport's metal perimeter fence, passing over the Malaga-Torremolinos Highway and striking a truck and two cars, seriously injuring the truck driver. It eventually collided with a farm building with its right wing. The collision ripped off three quarters of the right wing and the right horizontal stabilizer, sparking the overwing fuel tanks and igniting a huge explosion. The collision with the structures created gaping hole on the walls of the fuselage, specifically on the top part of the passenger compartment near the emergency door 4R. The holes enabled the fire to immediately enter the cabin, burning 8 people who were seated in the area to their deaths. The aircraft eventually came to rest in a field about 450 m (1,475 feet) past the runway threshold.
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