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Charges expected over SAS-owned Spanair jet crash

The investigative judge looking into what caused a plane operated by SAS-subsidiary Spanair to crash in Madrid in August has instigated legal proceedings against three technicians.

Published: 16 October 2008 15:09 CEST
Charges expected over SAS-owned Spanair jet crash

The head of Spanair’s maintenance and two technicians responsible for verifying the plane’s condition before takeoff have been summoned to appear at court hearing to take place on November 3rd.

The three risk being charged with involuntary manslaughter. The crash claimed the lives of 154 people.

A report made public last week confirmed that the plane’s wing flaps didn’t tilt open properly prior to take off, and that no alarms sounded to warn pilots of the problem.

The aircraft, an MD-82 on its way to the Canary Islands, crashed shortly after take-off from the Madrid airport.

Only 18 of the 172 passengers and crew on board survived Spain’s worst plane accident in 25 years.

One Swedish woman died in the crash, while the other woman from Sweden was among the survivors.

SAS also estimates the accident will cost the firm 500 million kronor ($67.1 million).

SAS

‘We agree to disagree’: Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

By lunchtime on Friday, talks between the Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing striking pilots were still stuck on "difficult issues".

Published: 15 July 2022 15:37 CEST
'We agree to disagree': Still no progress in marathon SAS strike talks

“We agree that we disagree,” Roger Klokset, from the Norwegian pilots’ union, said at lunchtime outside the headquarters of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise in Stockholm, where talks are taking place. “We are still working to find a solution, and so long as there is still some point in continuing negotiations, we will do that.” 

Mats Ruland, a mediator for the Norwegian government, said that there were “still several difficult issues which need to be solved”. 

At 1pm on Friday, the two sides took a short break from the talks for lunch, after starting at 9am. On Thursday, they negotiated for 15 hours, breaking off at 1am on Friday morning. 

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on the SAS plane strike?

Marianne Hernæs, SAS’s negotiator on Friday told journalists she was tired after sitting at the negotiating table long into the night. 

“We need to find a model where we can meet in the middle and which can ensure that we pull in the income that we are dependent on,” she said. 

Klokset said that there was “a good atmosphere” in the talks, and that the unions were sticking together to represent their members.

“I think we’ve been extremely flexible so far. It’s ‘out of this world’,’ said Henrik Thyregod, with the Danish pilots’ union. 

“This could have been solved back in December if SAS had not made unreasonable demands on the pilots,” Klokset added. 

The strike, which is now in its 12th day, has cost SAS up to 130m kronor a day, with 2,550 flights cancelled by Thursday, affecting 270,000 passengers. 

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