Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain - Three families which lost seven of their members in the August 20 crash that killed 154 people at Madrid airport are suing Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, their legal representative said Thursday.

McDonnell Douglas subsidiary Boeing made the MD-82 jetliner that crashed off the runway after take-off.

The legal complaint lodged in Illinois in the United States was based on electrical and handbook errors detected in analyses of 15 planes in the MD-80 series that had crashed, said Manuel von Ribbeck of the US firm Ribbeck Law.

The claimants were two Spanish and one Swedish citizen.

Von Ribbeck said he was meeting with more victims' families, and that more lawsuits could follow. (dpa)