Pilot reported faulty valve before Madrid plane crash

It was not immediately clear whether the defect was a factor in the tragedy, the worst air disaster in Spain for almost 25 years.

The airline said the pilot had been taxiing for takeoff at Barajas airport when the gauge detected overheating in the air intake valve.

Company technicians were alerted, the gauge was turned off and the plane was cleared for takeoff.

During a second takeoff attempt an hour later, the US-built MD-82 momentarily took to the air before plunging to the ground and bursting into flames.

Only 19 on the 172 passengers and crew on board the flight, which had been heading for the Canary Islands, survived the disaster.

Air accident investigators have recovered two black box flight recorders and will begin attempting to discover how one of the world's safest aircraft was destroyed on takeoff.

The Spanish development minister, Magdalana Alvarez, said the cause of the accident appeared to be "an error in take-off".

Others have said the failure of one engine should not have caused a disaster because the MD-82 is designed to be able to take off and fly with one engine if the other fails.

Four are in a "very serious" condition, with another listed as "serious", Spanish media reported. But five of six people classed as "serious" overnight have shown signs of improvement, the Efe news agency said.

Eight remain under observation with one only slightly injured, the newspaper said.

The body of a baby and an adult, the two final victims of the crash, were pulled from the burnt-out wreckage of the plane on Thursday.

At a temporary mortuary at a conference centre close to Madrid's Barajas airport, emotions among those waiting for confirmation of their loss were running high.

The BBC's Steve Kingstone, in Madrid, says many of the relatives have expressed anger and disgust at Spanair, blaming the company for the accident.

She was waiting for her 13-year-old and 14-year-old children at Las Palmas airport when she heard about the crash in Madrid.

With scores of dead, the woman, identified only as Lilit, feared the worst and became one of the many people anxiously gathering for news of their relatives, hoping they would be among the reported survivors. But then, as details became clearer, she was told by journalists that her daughter and son, Clara and Enrique, had not been on the flight and had taken another plane. Overcome with relief that they had survived, she broke down in tears.

A couple from the Canary Islands told a similar story: their lives were saved because they missed the flight by just three minutes. The man, identified as Héctor, said that he and his girlfriend were heading home at the end of their holidays. He said that when they arrived at the check-in desk, they were told that the flight had closed. Annoyance turned to overwhelming relief on realising what had happened.