Tenerife airport disaster

The **Tenerife airport disaster** happened on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747s collided on the ground of Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport), killing 583 people.

The crash killed all 248 in the KLM aboard and 335 of the 396 people in the Pan Am aboard.

## Accident

The KLM captain wanted to takeoff quickly so that he could return to Amsterdam as soon as possible. Because of a radio heterodyne, this made him misunderstand a partly garbled transmission into thinking that he was cleared by the Air Traffic Controller to takeoff, and so he began his takeoff roll, not knowing that the Pan American 747 was still on the runway. At that time, the Tenerife North Airport did not have ground radar, so the controllers could not know that the KLM flight was taking off.

Another reason was the fog surrounding the airport. The bad weather reduced the visibility, meaning both pilots and the controllers could not see. Because of the fog, the pilots only saw each other at the last minute, when prevention of the crash was impossible. If there was no fog, the KLM crew would have seen the Pan Am plane on the runway and would not have taken off.

During the takeoff roll of KLM 4805, the crew of the Pan Am radioed that they were still taxiing down the runway. The KLM flight crew heard this and asked themselves if the Pan American was still on the runway, to which the captain then replied "oh yes".

A few seconds later, the crew of both aircraft spot each other, the captain of the Pan Am exclaiming, "there he is, that goddamn son of a bitch is coming, he's coming", and "get off, get off, get off", said the co-pilot, as full thrust was applied in an attempt to get his aircraft off the runway out of the way of the oncoming KLM.

In an attempt to leave the ground before collision, the captain rotates his aircraft, causing a tailstrike that lasts a few hundred feet. Just as the KLM leaves the ground, both 747s collide and explode, dealing major damage to the almost stationary Pan Am airplane. The KLM, without engines and main landing gear, descends back down to the runway and crashes, skidding along the pavement exploding, and engulfed in flames, killing all 248 people on KLM aboard whilst 335 of 396 people on Pan American aboard. Most of the survivors were in the front section of the latter aircraft, including all 3 pilots.

It was the deadliest aviation accident in history within more than 500 deaths whilst Japan Airlines Flight 123, a 1985 single airplane crash also with more than 500 deaths, as the deadliest aviation accident in a single aircraft history.

## Infobox (aircraft occurrence)

- **occurrence type**: Accident
- **name**: Tenerife airport disaster

- **image**: Het verongelukte KLM-toestel De Rijn, Bestanddeelnr 929-1005 - cropped.jpg
- **image upright**: 1.2
- **caption**: Wreckage on the runway
- **date**: March 27, 1977
- **summary**: Runway collision due to miscommunication and pilot error on KLM board and fog, dense fog
- **site**: Tenerife, Canary Islands
- **total survivors**: 61
- **total fatalities**: 583
- **total injuries**: 61
- **plane1 type**: Boeing 747-206B
- **plane1 name**: _Rijn_ ("Rhine")
- **plane1 image**: KLM Boeing 747-200 PH-BUF (7491686916).jpg
- **plane1 image upright**: 1.2
- **plane1 caption**: PH-BUF, the KLM Boeing 747-206B
involved in the accident, seen at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in May 1975.
- **plane1 operator**: KLM, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- **plane1 tailnum**: PH-BUF
- **plane1 iata**: KL4805
- **plane1 icao**: KLM4805
- **plane1 callsign**: KLM 4805
- **plane1 origin**: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Netherlands
- **plane1 destination**: Gran Canaria Airport
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
- **plane1 passengers**: 234
- **plane1 crew**: 14
- **plane1 fatalities**: 248 (all)
- **injuries**: 0
- **plane1 survivors**: 0
- **plane2 type**: Boeing 747#747-100, Boeing 747-121
- **plane2 name**: _Clipper Victor_
- **plane2 image**: N736PA Clipper Victor Pan Am Boeing 747-121, London Heathrow.jpg
- **plane2 image upright**: 1.2
- **plane2 caption**: N736PA, the Pan Am Boeing 747-121 involved, 22 days before the accident.
- **plane2 operator**: Pan American World Airways
- **plane2 tailnum**: N736PA
- **plane2 iata**: PA1736
- **plane2 icao**: PAA1736
- **plane2 callsign**: CLIPPER 1736
- **plane2 origin**:
Los Angeles, United States
- **plane2 stopover**: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, U.S.
- **plane2 destination**: Gran Canaria Airport
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
- **plane2 passengers**: 380
- **plane2 crew**: 16
- **plane2 injuries**: 61
- **plane2 fatalities**: 335
- **plane2 survivors**: 61