154 lives were lost when Spanair Flight 5022 crashed moments after taking off from Madrid-Barajas International Airport in 2008. Now documents from an investigation into the incident are showing that a malware infection may have been to blame.
According to the investigation, the computer system used to monitor technical problems on the plane was infected with a trojan. As a result, there were no alerts or warnings for three technical issues which "if detected, may have prevented the plane from taking off."
The investigation is still not complete and authorities are trying to determine just how the malware got onto the computer system in question. [MSNBC]
Photo by Andy Mitchell
Update: To clarify, the computer system in question is described as being on the ground—not on the plane itself—and used to monitor the state of critical systems prior to take off.