Several failures suspected in Spain air crash

More than one failure is likely to have caused the airliner crash in Madrid, according to Spain's civil aviation chief.

Civil Aviation Director General Manuel Batista said the plane could not have crashed just because of trouble in one of the engines.

In a report in El Pais newspaper today, a video taken by the Spanish airport authority AENA does not show any engine explosion while the Spanair MD-82 was taking off, contrary to some witness accounts.

The crash on Wednesday killed 153 of the 172 people on the plane bound for the Canary Islands.

Mr Batista said engine failure alone would not be enough to bring the plane down because modern aircraft are designed to fly on just one engine in an emergency, and pilots practice for it.

"I am not so sure that the engine failed," Batista said.

The plane abandoned one takeoff attempt because of a mechanical problem with an air intake valve near the cockpit. But experts have said this, too, was unlikely to have caused the crash, Spain's worst air disaster in 25 years.

The investigation into what brought down the plane is likely to take months, although information could come from the two recovered black boxes before then. The government says it has a wealth of information to work with, including video footage of the plane's take-off from airport cameras.

Today relatives of the victims continued with the ordeal of identifying bodies. Many were burned beyond recognition and forensic teams are taking DNA samples from relatives. Around 50 sets of remains have been identified

An official funeral presided over by Madrid Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco has been set for September 1.