Reports: Plane swerves off Madrid runway

The El Pais article clearly states the plane was taking off, and that there are at least six dead possibly 20.

You are an idiot to mock these pilots. It's their lives too. They have lives and families just the same. People like you don't think when you automatically blame the pilots. Machines can fail us. God bless the pilots and the rest on board that flight. Learn to spell moron. Better yet, go back to school and get a better education.

Sadly there may be more people that pass as I am sure injuries sustained from a plane crash are pretty severe. My heart goes out to the victims and families.

I just want to know why in hell they would use the same plane to try taking off a 2nd time after a mechanical error?! Wow. As a passenger, after the first failed attempt, I would have raised holy hell to get off that plane. How sad this had to happen. I truly hate flying. It feels so unbelieveably unsafe - you have no control. I realize more people die in car crashes, but at least you have a chance of survival in a car crash than you do in a plane crash. All those people heading off for vacation...just tragic and not fair. I know that the chance of crashing is slim, but it DOES happen, and unfortunately it did for these passengers and you just never know if you are going to suffer the same fate. :(

first attempt was aborted due to technical problems

why would you try it the second time with out checking why???

The article said it swerved off the runway DURING takeoff - later it says the left-hand engine was burning AFTER takeoff ... ???

This is a lamentable tragedy. There is no reason anyone should see it as a source of humor. We have no facts about what happened between the initial takeoff attempt and the second one. Certainly the flight crew was convinced that what needed to be done had been done. Ultimately, it is the captain's responsibility to decide whether an aircraft is fit for flight.

But there is one significant failure on the part of the person who wrote this story: The type of aircraft is not mentioned anywhere.

El Pais newspaper said the crash occurred on the plane's second attempt to take off after the first attempt was aborted due to technical problems.

I guess this means the technical problems weren't resolved?

The pilot thought he was flying at warp speed and was landing 4 seconds after takeoff.Gotta stop watching those Star Trek reruns pilots.

" Indeed, we are all belong to God and back to Him is our return............."

I am deeply saddened to learn about the crash at Madrid Airport in which many innocent people lost their lives.

My heart goes out to their family members, friends, and loved once in this hour of grief, and I extend my heartfelt condolences to their entire family on this bereavement, nevertheless as per will of God Almighty, on the appointed hour.

We paray for their soul to rest in piece, may God Almighty bestow them with a choicest dwelling in the heaven, and grant their family solace to sustain these great losses. "Aameen"

IM Curious, What rock did you crawl out from?

MD-80 (82)series, very old but supposed to be very reliable.
Aborted take-offs are not that uncommon.
Anyhow, number of victims is at 150 dead, 26 injured. Only 6 of the SURVIVORS have been identified so far. Seems like the plane broke up completely and that the crash site is full of human remains. Those that survived are very lucky.
Speculation: Engine blows up and severs hydraulic lines, the pilot looses control of the aircraft.
It is a horrible tragedy I have some family in the Canary Islands

My prayers and sympathy are with the survivors and family. My husband had been on a business flight that clearly experienced serious technical problems before the flight out of Florida. I'm so thankful the flight completed without incident, but can well remember my horror when he recounted the story to me when he got home. I don't know what else to say on this subject. It is awful, as is any tragedy. I have a great sense of humor but fail to see the laughs in a tragedy such as this.

Almost 150 people died in a most terrible way a few hours ago.
And terrible too is the fact that this can be subject of such fine and witty jokes.

Sorry about my english, I'm only a crazy Spaniard.

Too bad we couldn't switch these ignorant , disrespectful and racist comment makers for a seat on that plane instead of an innocent person. Then they'd probably realize the horrible accident this is. God bless to the crew and passengers and their families. What a horrible tragedy.

Ther should be a law: if the plane you are on has 'technical problems', they should tell you the basics of the problem and you should decide whether to stay on board or get a off and get a refund. I think we are going to discover that the technical problem directly caused this tragedy. If the plane I was on had engine worries prior to takeoff, I would want off ASAP.

should bush blame it on Rusia?

First to all the people making fun of this ( I hope that some one close to you die soon, so you can feel the pain of others) second, I f you check the History of crashes you would do anything avoid a flight on a Boeing.

From the embedded content:

Nov. 28, 1979: An Air New Zealand DC-10 crashes after takeoff into the icy slopes of Mt. Erebus, New Zealand; 257 are reported dead.

1. Mt. Erebus is in Antarctica, not New Zealand.
2. This crash did not occur after takeoff, but several hours into the flight after reaching Antarctica from New Zealand.

Terrible....you jerks do realize there were 20 children on board?

Ella, you are not a "crazy Spaniard". You are a very sensitive and astute person. I, too am saddened by the loss and am appalled at some of the responses. Your English is very good, better than many of the persons that live in the US.
Those that were lost and their families are in my prayers.

I have been on flights that have experienced technical difficulties. I was on one flight bound for Europe that had to return to the airport shortly after take off because of engine trouble. I do not know anything about plane maintenance or flying but I do know that a lot of flights do experience mechanical issues and then take off fine. Sometimes your time is up and you never know when it is going to happen. Again my heart goes out to the victims and their families.

I think many, many peoples' greatest fear is dying in a plane crash (I know mine certainly is). So, what makes plane crashes so terrible is that it's a horrific and terrifying end. Again, automobile accidents worldwide kill many, many, many more people annually, but they don't capture our attention nearly as much. A lot of it has to do with the fact we're just passengers and truly our fate is in someone else's hands. That's scary in itself. There's not much you can do but pray, and hope, as one writer put it, "your time's not up". That doesn't detract from the pain and suffering all the families are going through now. Our thoughts and prayers are with them!