The crash of the Spanair MD-82 on the 20th of August is before all a human tragedy. As all airline accident, it carries a strong emotional wave. My thoughts go first to the survivors that fight for their lives, and to the families and relatives of the victims.

But my thoughts also go to all the Spanair staff, and particularly to the maintenance guys who released the aircraft as fit for flight. I don’t know about the exact circumstances, nor about what hapened in the hours immediately before the accident, except that the aircraft had to be inspected by maintenance.

Several media jumped on this opportunity, and rapidly concluded that because of some financial problems, the Spanair maintenance was under pressure, and released the plane despite known problems. This is pure speculation, and there is no evidence supporting this pseudo-conclusion.

This case is similar to the accident of the Air-France Concorde in Gonesse, shortly after taking-off from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport. The landing gear had been replaced before the flight. Journalists immediately concluded that the new wheel was defective, or that the team who mounted it was under pressure and did not worked correctly.

Even if they knew they did they job well, these guys probably had a couple of sleepless nights. When the investigation report got published, it concluded that a piece of metal left on the runway by a previous flight was the cause of the accident. Nothing to do with the previous maintenance operation.

Needless to say, no media ever corrected nor apologized for publishing wrong “conclusions” in the days after the accidents. Never forget that media business is to sell as many copies as possible. Dot.

As after any accident, the sole responsible attitude is to wait for definitive conclusions. Yes, the plane was released by maintenance. Yes, Spanair is under financial pressure, like all airlines. BUT (noticed how large this but is ?) until a link between these facts and the accident is demonstrated, they are no contributing factors.

All what I’m saying is that we have to wait for the end of the investigation. Only at this moment, discussing the causes will be possible. Until then, I’ll add this accident to the list of investigation reports I’m waiting for. Be sure that I’ll write more when the report will be published.