Madrid plane crash: Pilot's union warned months before that cut-backs placing passengers at risk

Flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, off the West African coast, and was carrying mostly Spanish and German tourists, as well as nationals from another 10 countries.

Witnesses said the left engine burst into flames seconds after the plane left the ground. It got a short distance into the air before veering suddenly to one side and splitting in half at the end of the runway. The survivors were flung into the air and landed in a nearby stream, which saved them from being burned alive in the huge fireball that erupted.

Dozens of emergency vehicles were prevented from immediately accessing the site because the whole area was in flames. The situation was made worse by the field of dry grass that caught fire.

One emergency services worker said, Its the closest thing to Hell Ive seen. The corpses were boiling, everything was burning. There was nothing left that resembled a plane, it was in pieces. Its a miracle anyone survived.

A woman said, I saw it take off and it climbed to about 200 metres when flames appeared in the engine. It then crashed to the ground and disappeared from view in a hollow past the end of the runway.