The 20 August crash of a Spanair Boeing MD-82 occurred in hot and high conditions that would have reduced aircraft performance margins.

Persistent reports from multiple sources suggest its left engine failed and caught fire, but this nor any other information had by 22 August been confirmed by the Spanish authorities.

Madrid’s main airport has an elevation of 2,000ft (610m), and the weather was fairly hot at 28°C (82°F) or 29°C (see box).

Heat and altitude both markedly reduce the power a jet engine can produce, although this is taken into account in take-off performance calculations.

Barajas’s Runway 36L is very long to accommodate take-offs in summer conditions, which at the time included a very light wind that was varying between southerly and south-westerly.

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