Seven people were slightly injured and taken to hospital after heavy smoke developed inside a Spanish passenger plane shortly before it was due to take off Friday. After initially reporting a fire on the plane, an airport spokeswoman said that smoke had developed inside the cabin after damage to the hydraulic system leaked oil onto a jet engine while the aircraft was heading towards the runway. The aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD83, and was operated by Spanair. Passengers were evacuated by sliding down emergency chutes from the plane's exits. The spokeswoman said 168 passengers were on board the plane, which was destined for Palma de Mallorca. "Due to damage to the hydraulics, oil leaked onto the hot jet engine. This led to the creation of heavy smoke," she said. Most of the seven people injured were crew members since much of the smoke was in the cockpit of the plane, she added. The spokeswoman said that the passengers were to fly to Palma de Mallorca on another Spanair plane.
