The Spanish government installed a ground radar system at Tenerife North Airport following the accident.[14][65]. The tower instructed the KLM to taxi down the entire length of the runway and then make a 180-degree turn to get into takeoff position. The two Boeing 747s were … Tenerife plane collision caused partly by language barrier. What was described as the deadliest air crash in history happened on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife North Airport), on the island of Tenerife, Spain. KLM paid the victims' families compensation ranging between $58,000 and $600,000 (or $245,000 to $2.5 million today, adjusted for inflation). Runway collision at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, 1977-03-27; 583 fatalities, "Tenerife crash" redirects here. On March 27, 1977, two 747 jumbo jets crash into each other on the runway at an airport in the Canary Islands, killing 582 passengers and crew members. Slaton, who was a flight surgeon attached to the 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron, worked with the local medical staff and remained on scene until the last survivor was air lifted to awaiting medical facilities. Many survivors escaped from a hole near the plane’s left wing. Some back-and-forth occurs initially about what Air Traffic Control considers the best way to get the KLM plane into position for takeoff, but ultimately the controllers decide to send it taxiing straight down the runway. A terrorist incident at Gran Canaria Airport had caused many flights to be diverted to Los Rodeos, including the two aircraft involved in the accident. Los Rodeos, renamed Tenerife North Airport (TFN), was then used only for domestic and inter-island flights until 2002, when a new terminal was opened and Tenerife North began to carry international traffic again. [10][38] KLM had suggested initially that Veldhuyzen van Zanten should help with the investigation, not realising that he was the KLM captain who had perished in the accident. In 1978, a second airport was opened on the island of Tenerife – the new Tenerife South Airport (TFS) – which now serves the majority of international tourist flights. While waiting for Gran Canaria airport to reopen, the diverted airplanes took up so much space that they were having to park on the long taxiway, making it unavailable for the purpose of taxiing. 27 March 1977, at 13:15, a bomb exploded on the Las Palmas Airport. Veldhuyzen van Zanten emphatically replied "Oh, yes" and continued with the takeoff.[35]. While the events in Tenerife on March 27, 1977, left the bloodiest mark in aviation's history, it also left a long-standing legacy that improved the safety of everyone onboard an aircraft. [2][3] Resulting in 583 fatalities, this accident is the deadliest in aviation history. March 27, 1977. The airport at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands is overflowing with airplanes. Within three hours, 583 people would be dead. Neither of the doomed planes should have been on Tenerife island on March 27, 1977 but as fate had it, they were. This caused the KLM crew to miss the crucial latter portion of the tower's response. indicated that captain Grubbs and first officer Bragg had recognized the ambiguity (this message was not audible to the control tower or KLM crew due to simultaneous cross-communication); The Pan Am had taxied beyond the third exit. Patches of thick fog were drifting across the airfield, hence visibility was greatly reduced for pilots and the control tower. [16] While the KLM was backtaxiing on the runway, the controller asked the flight crew to report when it was ready to copy the ATC clearance. Analysis of the CVR transcript showed that the KLM pilot thought that he had been cleared for takeoff, while the Tenerife control tower believed that the KLM 747 was stationary at the end of the runway, awaiting takeoff clearance. Mar 29, 2017 at 12:33 PM . 747 jumbo jet crash scene. Taxiway C-4 would have required two 35-degree-turns. It remains the worlds deadliest air disaster. These include the Survival in the Sky episode "Blaming the Pilot", the Seconds From Disaster episode "Collision on the Runway", PBS's NOVA episode "The Deadliest Plane Crash" in 2006, the PBS special Surviving Disaster: How the Brain Works Under Extreme Duress (based on Amanda Ripley's book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why) in 2011, Destroyed in Seconds and an episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday (known by different names in different countries), namely the season 16 standard length episode "Disaster at Tenerife" with the earlier more in-depth 90-minute "Crash of the Century" being a spin-off. "[4], The controller, who could not see the runway due to the fog, initially responded with "OK" (terminology that is nonstandard), which reinforced the KLM captain's misinterpretation that they had takeoff clearance. The top part of the cockpit, where the engine switches were located, had been destroyed in the collision, and all control lines were severed, leaving no method for the flight crew to control the aircraft's systems. March 27, 1977 is a date permanently etched in aviation history. Only two controllers were on duty that day. At 4:58 p.m. on March 27, 1977, when this transcript begins, the KLM and Pan Am 747s are both in queue to taxi down the runway and turn around for takeoff. Drifting clouds of different densities cause wildly varying visibilities, from unhindered at one moment to below the minimums the next. (Originally published by the Daily News on March 29, 1977.) Most of the survivors on the Pan Am walked out onto the intact left wing, the side away from the collision, through holes in the fuselage structure. Go ahead, ask." [22], Los Rodeos airport is at 633 meters (2,077 ft) above sea level, which gives rise to cloud behavior that differs from that at many other airports. March 27, 1977. [8] Its cockpit crew consisted of Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten (age 50),[9] First Officer Klaas Meurs (42), and Flight Engineer Willem Schreuder (48). "cleared for takeoff" or "cancel takeoff clearance"). This portion of the transcript comes from the KLM cockpit voice recor… On 27 March 1977, a Boeing 747-200 (PH-BUF) being operated by KLM on a passenger charter flight from Amsterdam to Las Palmas as KLM4805 and a Boeing 747-100 (N73PA) being operated by Pan American Airways on a passenger flight from Los Angeles to Las Palmas via New York as Clipper 1736 both diverted to Tenerife Los Rodeos when Las Palmas was unexpectedly and temporarily closed. A Dutch national memorial and final resting place for the victims of the KLM plane is located in Amsterdam, at Westgaarde cemetery. Previously, the Pan Am had been called "Clipper one seven three six", using its proper callsign. … Because of that, parking area in Los Rodeos was filled with other planes, diverted from Las Palmas. y Aeronave Boeing 747, matrícula N736PA de PANAM en el Aeropuerto de los Rodeos, Tenerife (Islas Canarias), Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission, Human Factors Report on the Tenerife Accident, 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster, December 1958 Aviaco SNCASE Languedoc crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tenerife_airport_disaster&oldid=1006894863, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747, Airliner accidents and incidents involving ground collisions, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error, Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. One of the inbound passengers, who lived on the island with her boyfriend, chose not to re-board the 747, leaving 234 passengers on board.[10][11]. [4] Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on a mutual misunderstanding in radio communications between the KLM crew and ATC,[5] but ultimately KLM admitted that their crew was responsible for the accident and the airline agreed to financially compensate the relatives of all of the victims. Eh?" KLM Flight 4805 was a charter flight for Holland International Travel Group and had arrived from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands. Clouds at 600 m (2,000 ft) above ground level at the nearby coast are at ground level at Los Rodeos. The airport quickly became congested with parked airplanes blocking the only taxiway and forcing departing aircraft to taxi on the runway instead. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In particular, the Dutch response pointed out that: Although the Dutch authorities were initially reluctant to blame captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten and his crew,[5][50] the airline ultimately accepted responsibility for the accident. Tenerife airline disaster, runway collision of two Boeing 747 passenger airplanes in the Canary Islands on March 27, 1977, that killed more than 580 people. The year was 1977, and the Boeing 747 was only in its eighth year of service with the world’s airlines, yet it was already the most glamourous commercial airliner ever built. A study carried out by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) after the accident concluded that making the second 148-degree turn at the end of taxiway C-3 would have been "a practical impossibility". The Pan Am crew replied: "OK, will report when we're clear." However, a terrorist bombing there earlier in the day caused the planes to be diverted to the small Los Rodeos Airport on the island of Tenerife. According to the ALPA report, as the Pan Am aircraft taxied to the runway, the visibility was about 500 m (1,600 ft). Tenerife Airport, Canary Island. [41] The first aircraft that was able to land was a United States Air Force C-130 transport, which landed on the airport's main taxiway at 12:50 on March 29. The KLM plane remained briefly airborne, but the impact had sheared off the outer left engine, caused significant amounts of shredded materials to be ingested by the inner left engine, and damaged the wings. The aircraft completed its 180-degree turn in relatively clear weather and lined up on Runway 30. On that case, everybody from the terminal was evacuated. All 248 passengers and crew aboard the KLM plane died, as did 335 passengers and crew aboard the Pan Am plane,[37] primarily due to the fire and explosions resulting from the fuel spilled and ignited in the impact. [6] The sum of settlements for property and damages was $110 million (or $464 million today),[51] an average of $189,000 (or $797,000 today) per victim, due to limitations imposed by European Compensation Conventions in effect at the time. Additionally, an ATC clearance given to an aircraft already lined-up on the runway must be prefixed with the instruction "hold position". Initially, the crew was unclear as to whether the controller had told them to take the first or third exit. The Pan Am crew's transmission was "We're still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736!" Had the plane turned at the third exit as instructed, the collision would not have occurred. Interference from simultaneous radio transmissions, with the result that it was difficult to hear the message. [18], The crew successfully identified the first two taxiways (C-1 and C-2), but their discussion in the cockpit indicated that they had not sighted the third taxiway (C-3), which they had been instructed to use. [2][3], The collision occurred when the KLM airliner initiated its takeoff run while the Pan Am airliner, shrouded in fog, was still on the runway and about to turn off onto the taxiway. The accident was investigated by Spain's Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil (CIAIAC). 18 May 1920, d. 13 Mar 1995) was an American captain of Boeing 747 aircrafts. [24], Meanwhile, the KLM plane was still in good visibility, but with clouds blowing down the runway towards them. [6], The disaster had a lasting influence on the industry, highlighting in particular the vital importance of using standardized phraseology in radio communications. [20], The angle of the third taxiway would have required the plane to perform a 148-degree turn, which would lead back toward the still-crowded main apron. This terrible crash came just three years after another even deadlier accident at the Canary Islands airport. [32] First officer Meurs advised him that ATC clearance had not yet been given, and captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten responded: "No, I know that. Both planes involved in the crash had been scheduled to depart from Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. The new crew consisted of Captain Victor Grubbs (age 56), First Officer Robert Bragg (39), Flight Engineer George Warns (46) and 13 flight attendants. "[4] Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten interrupted the co-pilot's read-back with the comment, "We're going. Both planes involved in the crash had been scheduled to depart from Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets, operating KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport[1] (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. [12], Both flights had been routine until they approached the islands. [66][67], In 2007, the 30th anniversary marked the first time that Dutch and American next-of-kin and aid helpers from Tenerife joined an international commemoration service, held at the Auditorio de Tenerife in Santa Cruz. [34], Due to the fog, neither crew was able to see the other plane on the runway ahead of them. Never was it imagined that two giant aircraft could ever collide with each other, yet it still happened. The flight engineer was the only member of the KLM's flight crew to react to the control tower's instruction to "report when runway clear"; this might have been due to him having completed his pre-flight checks, whereas his colleagues were experiencing an increased workload, just as the visibility worsened. After the aircraft landed at Tenerife, the passengers were transported to the airport terminal. There were two aircraft involved in the accident – KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, aircraft from the United States and the Netherlands respectively. [4], After the KLM plane had started its takeoff roll, the tower instructed the Pan Am crew to "report when runway clear." Bragg had 10,800 flight hours, of which 2,796 hours were on the 747. The controller's response of "OK" to the co-pilot's nonstandard statement that they were "now at takeoff" was likely due to his misinterpretation that they were in takeoff position and ready to begin the roll when takeoff clearance was received, but not in the process of taking off. The transmission from the tower in which the controller passed KLM their ATC clearance was ambiguous and could have been interpreted as also giving take-off clearance. ", while first officer Robert Bragg yelled, "Get off! Tenerife Jumbo disaster - Our picture of June 04, 1977 shows twisted wreckage of KLM Jumbo in which all passengers and crew died Sunday, Mar. Get off! On hearing this, the KLM flight engineer expressed his concern about the Pan Am not being clear of the runway by asking the pilots in his own cockpit, "Is he not clear, that Pan American?" For other crashes, see, Wreckage of the KLM aircraft on the runway, Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (, CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 2 page 6, CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 4, page 6, paragraph 1.7.10, Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil, International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, International Tenerife Memorial March 27, 1977, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, "580 killed in history's worst air disaster", "How KLM accepted their responsibility for the accident", "The Cockpit, the Cabin, and Social Psychology", "Wreck of 747's Sets Back Cause Of Insurgents on Canary Islands", "The Tenerife Airport Disaster – the worst in aviation history", "Cockpit Voice Recorders: Transcripts: KLM 4805", "Advertisement: KLM. The right-side engines crashed through the Pan Am's upper deck immediately behind the cockpit. At the time of the accident, Veldhuyzen van Zanten was KLM's chief flight instructor, with 11,700 flight hours, of which 1,545 hours were on the 747. This film reconstructs the moments leading up to the tragedy. This was one of the first accident investigations to include a study into the contribution of "human factors". The Pan Am aircraft was unable to maneuver around the refueling KLM in order to reach the runway for takeoff, due to a lack of safe clearance between the two planes, which was just 3.7 meters (12 ft). and "We are still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736!" In addition, neither of the aircraft could be seen from the control tower, and the airport was not equipped with ground radar. In 1977, a cross in Rancho Bernardo was dedicated to nineteen area residents who died during the disaster. Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten, a KLM training captain and instructor for over ten years, had not flown on regular routes during the twelve weeks prior to the accident. It appears that KLM's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the captain. The ALPA study group concluded that the KLM crew did not realize that the transmission "Papa Alpha one seven three six, report when runway clear" was directed at the Pan Am, because this was the first and only time the Pan Am was referred to by that name. Legacy of the deadliest aviation crash in 1977 Because of the awareness of second bomb, the airport was closed, and every flight with destination GCLP were diverted on small airport of Los Rodeos on Tenerife. Its nose landing gear cleared the Pan Am, but its left-side engines, lower fuselage, and main landing gear struck the upper right side of the Pan Am's fuselage,[10] ripping apart the center of the Pan Am jet almost directly above the wing. [14], Air traffic instruction must not be acknowledged solely with a colloquial phrase such as "OK" or even "Roger" (which simply means the last transmission was received),[61] but with a readback of the key parts of the instruction, to show mutual understanding. The other 61 passengers and crew aboard the Pan Am aircraft survived, including the captain, first officer, and flight engineer. On March 27th, 1977, a Boeing 747 of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines collided fatally with a 747 of Pan American Airlines on the runway of Los Rodeos International Airport on the Canary island of Tenerife. Up until that point, aircrew and controllers should use the word "departure" in its place (e.g. One of the 61 survivors of the Pan Am flight said that sitting in the nose of the plane probably saved his life: "We all settled back, and the next thing an explosion took place and the whole port side, left side of the plane, was just torn wide open. The crew asked for clarification and the controller responded emphatically by replying: "The third one, sir; one, two, three; third, third one." The official investigation suggested that this might have been due not only to the captain's seniority in rank, but also to his being one of the most respected pilots working for the airline. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Slaton was dispatched from Torrejon Air Base just outside of Madrid, Spain. [citation needed] Facts showed that there had been misinterpretations and false assumptions before the accident. This page was last edited on 15 February 2021, at 11:18. The Pan Am's engines were still running for a few minutes after the accident despite first officer Bragg's intention to turn them off. The disaster has been featured in many TV shows and documentaries. On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 planes collided on the runway on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Both planes, the KLM flight … This course of action was later expanded into what is known today as crew resource management (CRM), training which is now mandatory for all airline pilots.[63][64]. Ziomek spoke with Air & Space senior associate editor Diane Tedeschi in April. 27, 1977. The increased severity of the fire caused by the crash led ultimately to the deaths of all those on board. The authorities reopened Gran Canaria airport once the bomb threat had been contained. The C-130 transport was arranged by Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton, who arrived before the crash investigators and started triaging surviving passengers. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The aircraft was a Boeing 747-121, registration N736PA, named Clipper Victor. Pan Am Flight 1736 had originated at Los Angeles International Airport, with an intermediate stop at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). In March 1977, two jumbo jets collided at Tenerife Airport killing 583 people. The Pan Am crew appeared to remain unsure of their position on the runway until the collision, which occurred near the intersection with the fourth taxiway (C-4). "Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster," by Jon Ziomek (Post Hill Press, 2018). [2][3], The subsequent investigation by Spanish authorities concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the KLM captain's decision to take off in the mistaken belief that a takeoff clearance from air traffic control (ATC) had been issued. Tenerife Memorial. Documentaries Crash of the Century - Victor F. Grubbs was portrayed by Randall Holden. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Other major factors contributing to the accident were: The following factors were considered contributing but not critical: The Dutch authorities were reluctant to accept the Spanish report blaming the KLM captain for the accident. Captain Grubbs applied full power to the throttles and made a sharp left turn towards the grass in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. Takeoff was delayed by an extra 35 minutes, allowing time for the fog to settle in; Over forty tons of additional weight was added to the aircraft. … [4] By the time the KLM pilots saw the Pan Am aircraft, they were already traveling too fast to stop. Schreuder had 17,031 flight hours, of which 543 hours were on the 747. The sudden fog greatly limited visibility. The Pan Am aircraft had not left the runway at the third intersection. The apparent hesitation of the flight engineer and the first officer to challenge Veldhuyzen van Zanten further. [10] The refueling took about 35 minutes, after which the passengers were brought back to the aircraft. It is thought to be the world's worst disaster involving aircraft on the ground. Corrections? The Tenerife Airport Disaster occurred at just before 5:07pm on 27 March 1977. [17], Shortly afterward, the Pan Am was instructed to follow the KLM down the same runway, exit it by taking the third exit on their left and then use the parallel taxiway. The monument was designed by Dutch sculptor Rudi van de Wint.[68]. This message was also blocked by the interference and inaudible to the KLM crew. It happened more than four decades ago, but the Tenerife airport disaster in Spain is still the deadliest plane crash of all time. Omissions? At the time of the accident, Grubbs had 21,043 hours of flight time, of which 564 hours were on the 747. Survivors waited for rescue, but it did not come promptly, as the firefighters were initially unaware that there were two aircraft involved and were concentrating on the KLM wreck hundreds of meters away in the thick fog and smoke. From the people who made punctuality possible", "Canary Island Separatist Says Group Planted Bomb But Did Not Cause Crash", "Experts converge on Canaries to probe plane crash", "Desert Sun 29 March 1977 — California Digital Newspaper Collection", "30 Mar 1977, Page 4 - The Naples Daily News", "The Deadliest Plane Crash - The Final Eight Minutes", "Final report and comments of the Netherlands Aviation Safety Board", "The Vulnerable System: An Analysis of the Tenerife Air Disaster", "World's deadliest airline disaster occurred 36 years ago today", "Tenerife Disaster – 27 March 1977: The Utility of the Swiss Cheese Model & other Accident Causation Frameworks", "The Evolution of Crew Resource Management Training in Commercial Aviation", "Tenerife North airport will get a new control tower, more than 30 years after world's biggest air disaster", "Around the Ranch: All about Battle Mountain", "Rancho Bernardo cross undergoes repairs", "COMUNICADO: Monumento International Tenerife Memorial donado al Cabildo; avanzan los trabajos de cimentación en la Mesa Mota", "San Jose Inside – Dutch Hamann – Part 2", "Incident: China Eastern A333 at Shanghai on Oct 11th 2016, runway incursion forces departure to rotate early and climb over A333", Survivor remembers deadliest aviation disaster in Tenerife, Official Spanish and Dutch accident reports, A-102/1977 y A-103/1977 Accidente Ocurrido el 27 de Marzo de 1977 a las Aeronaves Boeing 747, Matrícula PH-BUF de K.L.M. Some 583 people died or were mortally injured on March 27th 1977 after two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided on a runway at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, making this the world's worst civil aviation disaster.
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