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A total of 166 passengers and six crew members boarded the MD-82 aircraft, bound for Gran Canaria Airport. Most travelers were holidaymakers escaping the sweltering Madrid summer, and while the captain, 39-year-old Antonio Garcia Luna, had an extensive flying record—over 8,000 hours—his first officer, 31-year-old Francisco Javier Mulet, had only recently joined the airline and had significantly less experience, with just over 220 flight hours before the fateful day.
The aircraft had been in service for 15 years and was one of the safest passenger jets in the sky. Everything seemed routine as the flight prepared to take off, but beneath the surface, significant issues lurked.