Tenerife disaster
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | March 27, 1977 |
| Summary | Pilot error, runway incursion, heavy fog, limitations and failures in communication |
| Site |
Los Rodeos Airport
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain(now Tenerife-North Airport) |
| Total fatalities | 583 |
| Total injuries (non-fatal) | 61 |
| Total survivors | 61 |
| First aircraft | |
.jpg) PH-BUF, the KLM Boeing 747-206B involved in the accident |
|
| Type | Boeing 747-206B |
| Name | Rijn ("Rhine") |
| Operator | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines |
| Registration | PH-BUF |
| Flight origin |
Schiphol Airport Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Destination |
Gran Canaria Airport Canary Islands, Spain |
| Passengers | 234 |
| Crew | 14 |
| Fatalities | 248 (all) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
 A Pan Am Boeing 747-121 similar to the one involved |
|
| Type | Boeing 747–121 |
| Name | Clipper Victor |
| Operator | Pan American World Airways |
| Registration | N736PA |
| Flight origin |
Los Angeles Int'l Airport Los Angeles, United States |
| Stopover |
John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport New York City, United States |
| Destination | Gran Canaria Airport Canary Islands, Spain |
| Passengers | 380 |
| Crew | 16 |
| Fatalities | 335 (326 passengers, 9 crew) |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 61 |
| Survivors | 61 |
 PH-BUF (KLM 4805) - Airliners.net |
|
|
N736PA (Pan Am 1736) - Airliners.net |
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport), on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The crash killed 583 people, making it the deadliest accident in aviation history. As a result of the complex interaction of organizational influences, environmental conditions, and unsafe acts leading up to this aircraft mishap, the disaster at Tenerife has served as a textbook example for reviewing the processes and frameworks used in aviation mishap investigations and accident prevention.
A bomb explosion at Gran Canaria Airport, and the threat of a second bomb, caused many aircraft to be diverted to Los Rodeos Airport. Among them were KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 – the two aircraft involved in the accident. At Los Rodeos Airport, air traffic controllers were forced to park many of the airplanes on the taxiway, thereby blocking it. While authorities waited to reopen Gran Canaria, a dense fog had developed at Tenerife, which greatly reduced visibility and further complicated the situation.
When Gran Canaria reopened, the parked aircraft blocking the taxiway at Tenerife required both of the 747s to taxi on the only runway in order to get in position for takeoff. The fog was so thick that neither aircraft could be seen from the other, and the controller in the tower could not see the runway or the two 747s on it. As the airport did not have ground radar, the controller could only find where each airplane was by voice reports over the radio.
The disaster occurred in Spanish territory, making Spain responsible for investigating the accident. The crash involved aircraft from the United States and the Netherlands, and both of those countries appointed representatives to the investigation. The investigations revealed that the primary cause of the accident was the captain of the KLM flight taking off without clearance from air traffic control (ATC). The investigation specified that the captain did not intentionally take off without clearance; rather he fully believed he had clearance to take off due to misunderstandings between his flight crew and ATC. Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on this than their American and Spanish counterparts, but ultimately KLM admitted their crew was responsible for the accident, and the airline financially compensated the victims' relatives.
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Wikipedia