151 dead in Madrid jet crash

Spanair Flight JK5022 - bound for the popular Canary Islands off the West African coast during the height of Europe’s summer vacation season - sped off the end of the runway, crashed and broke into pieces, reports said.
Spanair spokesman Sergio Allard told a news conference the plane was carrying 175 people and the cause of the crash was not immediately known.
El Pais said the plane’s takeoff had been an hour late due to technical problems. It eventually managed to get slightly off the ground but crashed near the end of the runway, El Pais said, quoting an employee of the national airport authority AENA.
Helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4.
A makeshift morgue was set up at the city’s main convention centre, officials said.
The plane was a Boeing MD-82 on a codeshare flight to Las Palmas with Lufthansa’s LH255, Spanair said. Departures from Madrid’s airport were suspended for several hours but later resumed.
Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said the company would send at least one person to assist in the investigation of the crash as soon as it receives an invitation from Spanish authorities.
“We stand ready to provide technical assistance,” he said, reading from a prepared statement.