Advertisement

Madrid air crash families hunt down 'real culprits'

Alex Dunham
Alex Dunham - [email protected]
Madrid air crash families hunt down 'real culprits'
Events being held in both Madrid and the Canary Islands are being overshadowed by mourners’ calls for the “real” culprits to be brought to justice. Photo: Pedro Armestre/AFP

Tuesday 20th of August 2013 marks the fifth anniversary of Spain’s deadliest air crash in 25 years, a Spanair flight which crashed as it was trying to take off from Barajas airport in Madrid, killing 154 people.

Advertisement

Five years on, the families of the victims of flight JK5022 are paying tribute to those who lost their lives as they were setting off for the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.

But events being held in both Madrid and the Canary Islands are being overshadowed by mourners’ calls for the “real” culprits to be brought to justice.

Madrid’s Constitutional Court filed the case in September of 2012, limiting responsibility to the pilots, who also died in the crash.

But the Association of People Affected by Flight JK5022 claims the judges should have summoned an oral trial as two of the flight technicians were charged with reckless homicide for carrying out a “careless and clumsy maintenance check” before the flight took off.

“When there’s evidence of reckless homicide the court has to carry out oral proceedings, something they failed to do,” Pilar Vera, spokesperson for the group, told Spanish broadcasting corporation TVE.

“The culprits have to be brought to justice, I’m not going to forgive that my daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren died in the prime of their lives.”

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also