TIMELINE - Spanish air crashes

(Reuters) - Grieving relatives and medical staff on Thursday tried to identify the bodies of victims of the crash of a Spanish jet in which 153 people were killed as it took off on a holiday flight from Madrid airport.

Here are some details of some previous major crashes in Spain.

March 27, 1977 - Two Boeing 747 airliners, a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines plane and a Pan American jet, collided and burst into flames on the runway at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. 583 were killed out of a total of 644 on board both aircraft.

April 25, 1980 - A Danair Boeing 727-64 crashes at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing all 146 passengers and crew aboard.

September 13, 1982 - A Spantax McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 crashes while attempting takeoff in Malaga.

November 27, 1983 - An Avianca Boeing 747 crashes during the approach to Madrid, killing 181 of 192 aboard.

December 7, 1983 - An Iberian Airways Boeing 727 collides with an Aviaco DC-9 at Madrid. At least 93 people are killed.

February 19, 1985 - An Iberian Boeing 727-256 crashes while approaching Bilbao. All 148 aboard are killed.

May 13, 1994 - A Piper 44 light aircraft, flying from Malaga to the island of Ibiza with four people on board, slams into a mountain in the Granada region. All four die.