AD Issued in Wake of Spanair Crash

Effective, Nov. 12, flight deck crews of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80 family of jetliners will be required to conduct a take-off warning (TOW) system check before each flight to comply with a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Airworthiness Directive (AD) issued Oct. 29. The TOW system provides warning in the case of the flaps and slats not being correctly set, thus alerting the crew of an improper take-off configuration. This action is being taken as a precautionary measure to improve the consistency of pre-flight safety drills. This past August, a Spanair MD-82 crashed while attempting to take off from Runway 36L at Madrid's Barajas International Airport.The jetliner, operated by a subsidiary of SAS, was bound for Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, Canary Islands. A total of 154 people died in the accident, Spain's worst air disaster in 25 years. Eighteen people survived. The Spanish Comision de Investigacion de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviacion Civil, or CIAIAC, issued its preliminary report into the Aug. 20 fatal crash, saying the aircraft’s wing flaps were in the incorrect position for takeoff, but cockpit alarms did not sound.