MADRID, SPAIN - A gauge indicating that overheated air was entering a Spanair jetliner forced pilots to abandon a takeoff about an hour before the plane crashed in flames, but airline officials refused to speculate Thursday on the cause of the accident that killed 153 people.

As investigators tried to piece together what happened, relatives crushed by grief went to a temporary morgue to identify loved ones. Officials said many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition.

One day after the crash, Spanair gave new information Thursday about the plane's initial attempt to take off. Spokesman Javier Mendoza said an air intake gauge under the cockpit had detected overheating while the jetliner was taxiing, causing the plane to turn back. Technicians corrected the problem by essentially turning the gauge off.

Mendoza said the device is not on a checklist of equipment that has to be functional for a plane to depart, and that turning off such a device is an accepted procedure. The plane was eventually cleared by technicians, but it crashed on its second attempt to take off, burning and breaking into pieces.

The company said it did not know whether the gauge problem had anything to do with the accident, but two aviation experts interviewed by The Associated Press said it was not likely that such a seemingly minor problem could bring down a modern plane.

Alvaro Gammicchia, a pilot for the Spanish airline Iberia who has flown MD-82s for seven years, said that even without the gauge "the plane would not fail to the point of causing a tragedy."

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