They Took Off With One Simple Mistake, 154 People Never Came Home

Описание: ✈️ Spanair Flight 5022, The Takeoff That Turned Deadly in 10 Seconds

On August 20, 2008, Spanair Flight 5022 lined up for what should have been a routine afternoon departure from Madrid Barajas Airport, headed for the Canary Islands.

The aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82.
The route was common.
The crew was experienced.
The weather was normal.

Then a small technical issue triggered a delay, pressure started building, and the cockpit slipped into a rushed rhythm.

Minutes later, right after liftoff, the plane entered a stall so low that there was almost no time to react.

In about 10 seconds, it became one of Spain’s deadliest aviation disasters.
154 people never made it home.

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📊 Key Facts

Date: August 20, 2008
Aircraft: McDonnell Douglas MD-82
Operator: Spanair
Route: Madrid to Las Palmas (Canary Islands)
Onboard: 172 total (166 passengers, 6 crew)
Primary Cause: Takeoff with flaps and slats retracted, plus takeoff warning system did not activate
Outcome: Crash moments after liftoff, 154 fatalities, 18 survivors

🛠️ The Delay That Changed Everything

Before the first departure attempt, the crew noticed an abnormal outside air temperature reading, showing an impossible value.
Maintenance was called, troubleshooting began, and the aircraft was moved to a remote stand.

Cabin heat rose.
Time pressure grew.
Everyone wanted to get moving again.

To manage the fault, a circuit breaker was pulled, and the decision was made to continue without autothrottle.

The flight was now departing under stress, with systems altered, and with the crew trying to “catch up” on lost time.

✅ The Checklist Trap

After restarting, the crew began the after-start checklist, but it did not unfold normally.

Key steps were rushed.
The flow was interrupted.
And the most critical action never happened.

Flaps and slats were not set for takeoff.

Then another layer of protection failed too.

The takeoff briefing, a final chance to catch the configuration mistake, was skipped.

By the time the aircraft reached the runway, the cockpit had mentally moved on, even though the aircraft configuration had not.

👁️ “Looking Without Seeing”

During the final items callouts, the crew stated the flap setting as if it were correctly configured.

But the indicators did not actually show that setting.

This is a real human factors problem, expectation bias under stress.
The brain sees what it expects to see, not what is actually there.

And because both pilots accepted the callouts, the error passed through the last barrier.

🚨 The Warning That Never Came

The MD-82 had a Takeoff Warning System designed for this exact situation.
If thrust is set for takeoff while flaps and slats are not configured, it should sound.

On this flight, it stayed silent.

No horn.
No “flaps, slats” warning.
No last-second save.

The aircraft accelerated, rotated, and lifted off.

Then the stick shaker activated almost immediately, signaling an aerodynamic stall.

📉 The Stall Close to the Ground

With flaps retracted, stall speed is higher.
The aircraft lifted off near the edge of what it could sustain, then began losing lift almost instantly.

At that altitude, the margin was measured in seconds.

The aircraft rolled, descended, struck the ground, broke apart, and ignited.
A small forward section ended up in water, and that is where the survivors were found.

🔍 What Investigators Found

This was not “just pilot error.”
It was a chain of failures that reached far beyond the cockpit:

Poor checklist design, with critical items placed at the end, making them easier to miss after interruptions
No “checklist complete” confirmation built into the flow
A takeoff warning system treated as non-critical, with no direct alert if it failed
Maintenance gaps, including missing troubleshooting guidance for a known fault pattern
A likely hidden electrical issue involving the R25 relay, potentially linking the temperature fault and the silent warning system

One missed step can be survived.
Multiple missed opportunities, combined with a safety system that fails quietly, can be catastrophic.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This documentary is based on publicly available investigation findings, aviation data, and verified reporting. It is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It does not assign legal fault or personal blame to any crew member, airline, manufacturer, or authority.

🔎 Keywords

Spanair Flight 5022, Spanair crash 2008, Madrid Barajas accident, MD-82 takeoff crash, flaps not set takeoff, takeoff warning system failure, aviation checklist failure, expectation bias cockpit, stall after takeoff, aviation disaster documentary, Spanish air crash investigation, human factors aviation