Spanair had considered transferring passengers to another aircraft after detecting a fault in the plane that crashed this month, but ultimately decided against it, the government said Friday.

"The company informed the airport of the possibility of replacing the aircraft but eventually decided ... to stick with the aircraft" which later crashed, Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez said.

The Spanair McDonnell Douglas-82 crashed moments after taking off from Madrid-Barajas airport on a flight to the Canary Islands on August 20, killing 154 of the 172 people on board.

A total of 149 of the bodies have now been identified, many through DNA analysis or dental records, an interior ministry spokeswoman said Friday.

The Spanish team investigating the accident has said the plane slammed into the ground tail-first to the right of the runway before bursting into flames.

Appearing before a parliamentary commission on the accident Friday, Alvarez detailed the sequence of events that led up to the crash.

She said the Spanair flight was scheduled to leave at 1:00 pm.

The plane had begun taxiing to the runway at 1:10 pm, but the pilot decided at 1:25 pm to return to the gate, where mechanics fixed a fault with the aircraft.

The airline then informed airport authorities it was considering putting the passengers on another aircraft, a move it later decided against.

The control tower authorized the takeoff at 2:23 pm and two minutes later the plane crashed, she said.

Spanair said last week that the pilot had indicated a fault with the heating system on an air intake valve when he was taxiing to the runway, which was fixed before take-off.

A Spanair spokeswoman said Friday that the airline routinely considers replacing an aircraft when there is any kind of problem "to minimise the inconvenience" to passengers.

The investigation team has said a preliminary report would be issued within a month, but has warned the media not speculate on the possible causes in the meantime.

However, Spanish newspapers have reported that the left engine was discovered in the wreckage with its reverse thrust, used to slow down the plane during landing, activated.

They said the pilot may have put the engine in reverse in an effort to abort the take-off because he noticed the plane lacked the power to get off the ground.

Several of the 18 survivors have said the plane appeared to lack the necessary power on the runway.

Spanish newspapers have also said that a fault with the right engine's thrust reverser forced mechanics to deactivate it a "few days" before the accident.

But they said the service manual of the twin-engine McDonnell Douglas-82 allows the plane to fly temporarily with just one thrust reverser.

Alvarez also rejected suggestions that financial problems and cost-cutting measures at Spanair may have led to the crash.

Spanair's economic situation "has not affected its safety of its operations," she said.

The airline, which is wholly owned by Stockholm-based Scandinavian Airline Systems (SAS), announced in July it would shed 1,100 of its 4,000 employees and cut its fleet by 15 aircraft from its total of 65 in September as part of a viability plan.