Sister plane made emergency landing five days ago

A SISTER plane of the jet that crashed in Madrid yesterday had to make an emergency landing five days ago after suffering suspected engine problems.

The plane in question diverted to Gran Canaria after losing power in mid-air.

Rosario Calvo Mancebo, whose relatives were on the flight from Lanzarote to Madrid, revealed how his family noticed something was wrong shortly after takeoff.

“My parents and my two sisters left around 4pm local time and shortly after takeoff they noticed that the plane lost power and they were informed that it was being diverted to Gran Canaria.

“They arrived to find the emergency protocol in place, with firefighters, paramedics and Civil Guard waiting for them.

“They were asked to collect their hand language and leave by the back door.

“They were kept in the terminal without any explanation. They took more than five hours to reach their destination.”

No one was available from Spanair for comment.

However, Spanair’s spokesman Sergio Allard did confirm that the plane that crashed yesterday passed its annual test in January.

He said the 15-year-old airplane was in its ninth year of service.

Three days of mourning have been declared in Spain following the air disaster.

Spain’s national flag at the Olympic Games in Beijing will fly at half-mast during the period of mourning.

Meanwhile, it appears that just hours before yesterday’s horrific crash Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told the Reuters news agency that he was looking forward to picking up Spanair landing slots at Madrid’s Barajas airport in what he said was the likely event of the company going bust.

Mr O’Leary was reacting to news that Spanair pilots had threatened to strike in protest that the loss-making airline, owned by Nordic carrier SAS, lacked a plan to save itself.

SAS put Spanair up for sale in 2007, but beset by high fuel costs, falling demand and overcapacity in the Spanish market, both Iberia and former owners, Spanish travel company Marsans, pulled out of the bidding.

Spanair remains the main drag on SAS, losing 515 million Swedish crowns (€54.8m) in the first half of 2008. SAS has announced plans to cut 25% of Spanair’s capacity and shed 1,062 jobs.

For the first quarter of 2008, Spanair reported a net loss of €40.8 million.

“This union believes the organised chaos in which the company exists can’t continue, and... it will take the necessary steps to issue a strike call,” said Spanish airline pilot union Sepla in a statement.

The Palma de Mallorca- based airline was not available to comment on the strike threat.

Management have said they intend to turn the airline around in the next two to three years before restarting the sale process.