Tenerife Airport Disaster: How The Deadliest Airplane Collision Happened (Representative Image: X/@Morbidful)
The Tenerife airport disaster, which happened on March 27, 1977, was the deadliest accident in the history of aviation. The tragic accident occurred when two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided at the Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Both aircraft were completely destroyed, and the horrifying collision claimed 583 lives.
The crash involved two passenger 747s, operated by KLM and Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). The double-decker Boeing 747-100 of Pan American Airways was carrying 380 passengers and 16 crew members. The flight, which had taken off from New York, was piloted by Captain Victor Grubbs and First Officer Robert Bragg, with Flight Engineer George Warns. On the other hand, the KLM flight, a Dutch airline, was filled with 235 passengers along with 14 crew members. The Dutch Airlines Boeing 747-200 was piloted by Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten and First Officer Klaas Meurs. Flight engineer Willem Schreuder was also in the cockpit.
The destination for both passenger jets was Gran Canaria Airport. It was located in the city of Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria. Notably, it was the main port of entry for the tourists arriving from abroad. Early on the afternoon of March 27, a bomb exploded in the Gran Canaria airport terminal. Amid the rescue operations, the airport received a phone call warning about a second bomb. Officials then decided to shut down the airport and evacuate the terminal.
As the Gran Canaria airport was closed due to emergency situation, all incoming aircraft were diverted to the small, single runway Los Rodeos Airport. Also, the Los Rodeos airport has only limited aircraft parking, and it was reportedly not enough to accommodate Boeing 747s. Meanwhile, the Pan Am and KLM 747s got instructions to divert to Los Rodeos. According to Medium, the Pan Am crew explained to the air traffic controller that they had enough fuel to hold over Gran Canaria for several hours. But the controller denied the request and asked them to land on Tenerife.
Medium mentioned in one of the blogs that Los Rodeos airport also had no radar and no runway visibility measuring system. Moreover, the control tower was shortstaffed; only two air traffic controllers were on duty that day. Several flights started to arrive at Los Rodeos due to the diversion. Reports suggest that the weather conditions in Los Rodeos were not ideal on March 27. The airport frequently suffers from cloudy and foggy conditions.
The KLM flight 4805 touched down at Los Rodeos at 13:38, and the Pan Am flight arrived at 14:15. At around 14:30, the Gran Canaria Airport was reopened, and flights started preparing for takeoff. However, the departure of Boeing 747 passenger jets got delayed. At 16:56, the control tower gave the KLM aircraft clearance to taxi the length of the runway and line up for takeoff. At 17:02, the Pan Am aircraft also received instructions to start its taxi along the runway. The Pan Am aircraft was supposed to take the third exit; however, it continued to taxi along the runway towards the fourth exit.
The problem began during the departure instructions. The control tower gave departure and routing instructions to the KLM flight at 17:06. However, the takeoff clearance was not given. During the communication between air traffic control and KLM pilots, they mistakenly believed they were clear for takeoff. “Stand by for takeoff. I will call you,” said the tower to the KLM flight. Notably, at the same time, First Officer Bragg on the Pan Am flight said, “We”re still taxiing down the runway, Clipper 1736.” The simultaneous transmissions on the same frequency interrupted the communication, and the KLM crew was unable to hear the critical message.
Due to the miscommunication, KLM flight 4805 accelerated down the runway without knowing that they were heading towards the Pan Am aircraft, which was approaching the fourth taxiway. Both aircraft saw each other and attempted to avoid the collision, but it was too late. Seconds later, two planes collided. Fuel leaks occurred due to the severe collision, which caused an explosion. The KLM flight crashed and broke into three pieces. Due to the dense fog, nothing was visible in the control tower, and the controllers also attempted to contact the two 747s before getting to know that something horrible had happened.
All passengers and crew on the KLM aircraft were killed in the crash. However, there were 61 survivors on the Pan Am flight, including its pilots. Investigators later reported that KLM aircraft took off without clearance, which led to the fatal collision. A series of misunderstandings and visibility conditions were also important factors. However, the aviation industry witnessed several major changes after the Tenerife airport disaster.
