March 27, 1977 is
remembered as the date of the deadliest plane crash ever recorded. It took
place at the Tenerife North Airport in the Canary Islands. Back then, the
airport was known as Los Rodeos. Two airplanes were involved in a crash from
the runaway with deadly consequences.
About the Crash
Gran Canaria Airport
could not function due to a bomb that had exploded on its premises. As a
result, many flights had been diverted to other airports including Tenerife.
A dense fog had covered
Tenerife, reducing visibility. Moreover, the airport was overwhelmed by
airplanes.
The airplanes involved in
the crash were Flight 4805 from KLM and Flight 1736 from Pan Am. The two
airplanes collided on the runway at Tenerife. There were 583 victims as a
result of the crash and 61 survivors.
What Had Happened?
When the Gran CanariaAirport was reopened, the Tenerife airport was overcrowded and the visibility
was seriously reduced. Moreover, there was no ground radar available. This
means that the controller could only know the location of the airplanes from
reports received over the radio. Misunderstandings and communication-based
issues were the causes of the accident.
The KLM flight was
preparing for take-off. On the same runway, the Pan Am flight was stationed. As
a result of the first flight trying to take-off, it collided with the Pan Am
airplane. Both airplanes were Boeing 747 and were destroyed as a result of the
collision.
All the 248 passengers
and crew members from the KLM flight died in the crash.
The Pan Am flight had 396
passengers. The crash left 61 survivors and 335 victims. Both the pilot and
flight engineer escaped from the disaster.
The investigation had
shown that the collision took place as the result of the KLM flight captain’s
decision to take-off without approval from the traffic control of the Tenerife
airport.
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