27 March 1977: Tenerife Airport Disaster
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands, killing 583 people in the deadliest accident in aviation history.
The disaster resulted from a chain of circumstances and miscommunications. A terrorist bomb at Las Palmas airport had diverted numerous aircraft to the smaller Tenerife facility, creating unusual congestion. Dense fog reduced visibility to near zero.
KLM Flight 4805 was cleared to taxi down the runway and turn around for takeoff. Pan Am Flight 1736 was instructed to follow partway down the same runway before turning off. In the fog and confusion, the KLM captain began his takeoff roll before receiving clearance, believing the Pan Am aircraft had cleared the runway. It had not.
The collision was catastrophic. The KLM aircraft, traveling at nearly 160 mph, struck the Pan Am jet, tearing off its top. All 248 people aboard the KLM flight perished; 335 of 380 on the Pan Am aircraft died.
The disaster led to sweeping changes in aviation safety protocols, including standardized phraseology and cockpit resource management training.
