"I was one of the people who survived," Joani said. As a result of what is still the deadliest crash in aviation history, 583 people lost their lives. The co-pilot who survived the Tenerife aircraft disaster, The worst crash in aviation history. The controller thought he meant they were at the takeoff position, but he seemed to have a moment of doubt. Immediately after lining up, the KLM captain advanced the throttles and the aircraft started to move forward. Far to the southwest of Portugal, in the glistening subtropical waters off the coast of Morocco, lie the Canary Islands. All of these factors helped create a situation in which unambiguous radio communications were essential to safety. "[32], Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten was KLM's chief of flight training and one of their most senior pilots. The back of the economy class cabin was so choked with debris that few, if any, of those seated there managed to escape; one must presume that they burned to death as the fire ripped through the plane. The airport was not unaccustomed to international traffic, but it usually served smaller jets operating for private low-cost and holiday-focused airlines from Europe, and generally in small numbers. At 13:15, a bomb planted by the separatist Canary Islands Independence Movement exploded in the terminal of Gran Canaria Airport, injuring eight people. In the cockpit, all three pilots survived the collision, but the stairs to the lower deck had vanished along with the lounge, and they were forced to jump down into the first class cabin. The official investigation suggested that this might have been due to not only to the captain's seniority in rank but also his being one of the most respected pilots working for the airline. Visibility at that point was 900 meters, but another wave of dense cloud could be seen headed toward them down the runway at a speed of about six meters per second. With the earlier bomb blast at Gran Canaria still fresh on their minds, the controllers first thought was that the terrorists had struck again. Considering that a 747 could not negotiate the third taxiway, the crew considered whether the controller started counting up to three from the position they were in when the message was sent, by which time they had already passed the first one. The KLM crew, hearing distorted voices underneath a shrill squeal, probably thought that an irrelevant transmission had slipped through from a different frequency and made no attempt to clarify its contents. In the end, only 61 survived, including all the Pan Am pilots. In support of this part of their response, the Dutch investigators pointed out that Pan Am's messages "No! A woman who survived the worst aviation disaster of all time has recalled how she saw a fellow passenger sliced in half by her seatbelt. The way the KLM plane was parked prevented the Pan Am jet from taxiing past, even though they were ready to leave much earlier. Captain Grubbs applied full power to the throttles and made a sharp left turn towards the grass in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. There he is, look at him! he shouted. How can the loss of 583 lives in a matter of moments ever be rationalized? Survivors waited for rescue, but it did not come promptly, as the firefighters were initially unaware that there were two aircraft involved and were concentrating on the KLM wreck hundreds of meters away in the thick fog and smoke. KLM flight 4805 was among the first to arrive, touching down at 13:38. Cockpit procedures were also reviewed, contributing to the establishment of crew resource management as a fundamental part of airline pilots' training.[7]. 11. Those who made it out described scenes that would have been at home in Dantes Inferno: a cabin filled with fire, smoke, and debris, where row upon row of people sat frozen in their seats, utterly stunned, staring into some interminable distance. + Assists and documents the survivor to determine the best course of action for both short- and long-term recovery. The islands have been home to the indigenous Guanches since the first millennium B.C., and even after 500 years of colonization some of their descendants have not forgotten the atrocities committed against their community. The question at the heart of the inquiry was why KLM Captain Jacob van Zanten took off without clearance. Thats two, Captain Grubbs said, spotting the second exit drifting past them through the dense fog. [8] On 2 August 1970, in its first year of service, it also became the first 747 to be hijacked: en route between JFK and Luis Muoz Marn International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it was diverted to Jos Mart International Airport in Havana, Cuba. Investigations, books, news reports, academic studies, and even movies have chronicled what's known as the Tenerife. She was therefore not on the KLM plane when the accident happened, and would be the only survivor of those who flew from Amsterdam to Tenerife on Flight 4805. Alongside this prestigious crew, there were also 11 flight attendants and 235 passengers, most of them younger Dutch families heading to the Canaries for a few days of sun and surf, courtesy of tour operator Holland International. The crash also spurred the more widespread installation of taxiway markings, which were sometimes lacking at small airports in 1977 but are standard at every airport today. How can the loss of so many lives be rendered less senseless? [12], Both flights had been routine until they approached the islands. The two. Captain Grubbs apparently fell all the way through into the cargo hold, as did a flight attendant; both managed to escape through a hole in the bottom of the plane. Video, 00:02:00. [42] Los Rodeos was fully reopened on April 3, after wreckage had been fully removed and engineers had repaired the airport's runway.[43]. Roger sir, we are cleared to the Papa beacon, flight level nine zero, At that moment, Captain van Zanten pushed the throttles to takeoff power and announced, Were going!, Apparently taken by surprise, First Officer Meurs hastily finished his transmission: right turn out zero four zero until intercepting the three two five. Shortly after they turned onto the runway it decreased to less than 100m (330ft). They collided on the runway after the departing KLM aircraft started its take-off run before the taxiing Pan Am aircraft had vacated the strip. Both islands are part of the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Morocco. The rescue of the survivors was chaotic but swift. Their destination was Gran Canaria Airport (also known as Las Palmas Airport or Gando Airport), serving Las Palmas on the nearby island of Gran Canaria. Robina van Lanschot,[16] a tour guide, had chosen not to reboard for the flight to Las Palmas, because she lived on Tenerife and thought it impractical to fly to Gran Canaria only to return to Tenerife the next day. Finally, at 16:51, KLM flight 4805 finished refueling and requested clearance to start its engines, and Pan Am flight 1736 followed suit 20 seconds later. A call went out on the radio for more vehicles, but by the time people started to arrive at the airport, all the survivors had already been evacuated. Although the group never directly killed anyone during its brief history, it would become most famous for setting in motion an unanticipated chain of events that went far beyond their modest terroristic ambitions. y Aeronave Boeing 747, matrcula N736PA de PANAM en el Aeropuerto de los Rodeos, Tenerife (Islas Canarias), Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission, Human Factors Report on the Tenerife Accident, 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster, December 1958 Aviaco SNCASE Languedoc crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tenerife_airport_disaster&oldid=1134152400, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747, Airliner accidents and incidents involving ground collisions, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error, Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2022, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. It appears that KLM's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the captain. Unintended consequences propagated outward from every decision, affecting the course of events in unexpected ways. A study carried out by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) after the accident concluded that making the second 148 turn at the end of taxiway C-3 would have been "a practical impossibility". On board the Pan Am 747, a number of people had been killed by the collision itself, but most of the 396 passengers and crew were still alive. He turned around to discover that the first class lounge was missing, and the entire upper half of the plane, from cockpit to tailfin, had been sliced open like a can of sardines.. Both airplanes were destroyed in the collision. The Tenerife Airport Disaster is known for being the deadliest accident in commercial aviation history. To make matters worse, today was Sunday, and the control tower was short-staffed. [45] Facts showed that there had been misinterpretations and false assumptions before the accident. That would mean they should leave the runway via the fourth and final exit, which was easy for a 747 to use. Video, 00:01:40Chess gets a risqu makeover, 'Rugby helped me heal after the pain of stillbirth' Video, 00:02:39'Rugby helped me heal after the pain of stillbirth', Police carry away Greta Thunberg from protest. Unfortunately, they would not be leaving Los Rodeos in a timely fashion. In 1974, the Netherlands had introduced a law which delineated strict new flight duty time limits, and allowed pilots to be held criminally liable for exceeding them. Visit r/admiralcloudberg to read and discuss over 200 similar articles. The worst crash in aviation history. Critically, however, he used the word takeoff in the transmission (right turn after takeoff), precisely the cue which Captain van Zanten was primed to expect. Somewhat remarkable was that 61 passengers, including the flight deck, managed to survive from the Pan Am jumbo. Radar could have prevented that crash too, but despite recommendations to do so following Tenerife, none had been installed. Those who survived this airplane crash would go on to tell the story of how they got out and what really happened that day inside the planes. The Pan Am crew appeared to remain unsure of their position on the runway until the collision, which occurred near the intersection with the fourth taxiway (C-4). KLM paid the victims' families compensation ranging between $58,000 and $600,000 (or $259,000 to $2.7 million today, adjusted for inflation). On board the Pan Am plane, agitation grew as flight attendants struggled to attend to the passengers, who had mostly embarked at Los Angeles the previous evening and had by now consumed every ounce of food and drink aboard the 747. Fire and accumulated metal wreckage prevented escape from the center and rear sections of the cabin. [10] The refueling took about 35 minutes, after which the passengers were brought back to the aircraft. KLM Flight . Uno, dos, tres, Flight Engineer Warns affirmed. The plane immediately went into a stall, rolled sharply, and hit the ground approximately 150m (500ft) past the collision, sliding down the runway for a further 300m (1,000ft). After some initial waffling over which route to use, he eventually instructed the KLM crew to back-taxi up the runway in the wrong direction, then make a 180-degree turn at the far end. This has also involved the construction of Captain Jacob van Zanten as a sort of folk villain, creating an archetype of an angry, self-aggrandizing blowhard who took off out of sheer recklessness. The Tenerife Disaster is also frequently cited as the progenitor of crew resource management, or CRM, the now-universal set of strategies intended to ensure open communication and optimal task distribution in airline cockpits. Analyzer of plane crashes and author of upcoming book (eventually). The effect of so much imprecise language was that all involved parties could find ways to interpret the others statements in a manner which reinforced their pre-existing expectations. On top of that, they had been on duty all day and were doubtlessly suffering from fatigue. The result was a crew who were receptive to the idea that, in times of uncertainty, van Zanten was probably right and they were probably wrong. As investigators from Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States converged on the island of Tenerife, they faced the aviation industrys greatest nightmare made manifest: the fatal collision of two heavily loaded jumbo jets. Emergency Preparedness As one of the nation's major emergency relief organizations, The Salvation Army recognizes the critical importance of being prepared for natural and manmade disasters. The prevailing culture was one of deference to the captain, in which junior crewmembers did not feel empowered to assert themselves if they thought the captain was making a mistake. And as if that wasnt enough, the controllers thick Spanish accent made it hard for the Pan Am crew to understand what he was saying. I like this, someone drily commented. Next one is almost a forty-five, but huh, yeah., But it goes yeah, but it goes ahead, I think its gonna put us on the taxiway., Maybe he maybe he counts these [as] three.. Near the front, however, passengers managed to escape via several avenues. The full load of fuel ignited, and the wreckage slid down the runway for another 300 meters, consumed in flames. In particular, the Dutch response pointed out that: Although the Dutch authorities were initially reluctant to blame captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten and his crew,[5][49] the airline ultimately accepted responsibility for the accident. How can we observe so much destruction because of four meters, because of a noise, because of a word, and be at peace with the world? The Pan Am plane was ready to depart from Tenerife, but access to the runway was obstructed by the KLM plane and a refueling vehicle; the KLM captain had decided to fully refuel at Los Rodeos instead of Las Palmas, apparently to save time. He was also the president and co-founder of the European Flight Engineers Organization, a major international trade union. The only significant change was the construction of a new airport on the dry side of Tenerife, which was already planned before the accident. In the end, it would take 20 years for Spain to make the improvements needed to stop the bloodshed. Bragg had 10,800 flight hours, of which 2,796 hours were on the 747. Meurs read the flight clearance back to the controller, completing the readback with the statement: "We are now at takeoff. Most plane crashes are the result of normal people making decisions based on incorrect information, and Tenerife was no different. [15] The airport had only one runway and one major taxiway running parallel to it, with four short taxiways connecting the two. ATC clearance, it must be said, is not the same thing as takeoff clearance. The KLM crew then received instructions that specified the route that the aircraft was to follow after takeoff. For the pilots, the journey would have been utterly routine; there had doubtlessly been many others like it during their long careers, which had allowed the three men to rack up a combined 47,000 flying hours. Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIo2X26Eb8TT82-kUXb3owgPatreon: (Paused for December): https://www.patreon.com/brookemakennaDonations for this channel: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/brookemakenna Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/brookemakenna_Email for Business Inquires: [email protected] My Vintage Closet on Depop @nowrongera What I'm Wearing: -Dress: Vintage! The world wanted to know, but there would be no simple answers. Pan Am Flight 1736 had originated at Los Angeles International Airport, with an intermediate stop at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Veldhuyzen van Zanten emphatically replied "Oh, yes" and continued with the takeoff. Lets get the hell out of here, Captain Grubbs said, eliciting a round of nervous chuckles. Former travel agent Jean Brown has left the retirement. Video, 00:00:11The Olympian who never gave up, The man who discovered Harry Potter. It was the first 747 to be delivered to an airline. Lessons Learned from the Tenerife Airport Disaster. Note: this accident was previously featured in episode 12 of the plane crash series on November 25th, 2017, prior to the series arrival on Medium. The large number of interconnected decisions influencing the events at Los Rodeos created a system where no one was completely in control. Eventually, most of the survivors on the wing dropped to the ground below. At around 45 minutes after midnight, Captain Victor Grubbs, First Officer Robert Bob Bragg, and Flight Engineer George Warns reported for duty at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport in order to fly a Pan American Airways tourist charter service to the Canary Islands. The four engines, landing gear, and rear fuselage tore through the right side of the Pan Am jet in a dozen places simultaneously. The crash was caused by many reasons. Injured. Aviation authorities around the world introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on English as a common working language. Many summaries of the accident today would have the reader believe van Zanten took off knowing he had not received clearance, even though this couldnt be further from the truth. The C-130 transport was arranged by Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton, who arrived before the crash investigators and started triaging surviving passengers. Qantas [10][33] KLM had suggested initially that Veldhuyzen van Zanten should help with the investigation, unaware that he was the captain who had been killed in the accident.[34]. Certain about take-off clearance as the Captain the events at Los Rodeos in matter! Be said, eliciting a round of nervous chuckles transport was arranged by Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton who! Assumptions before the accident 12 ], Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten emphatically replied `` Oh, yes '' continued. In which unambiguous radio communications were essential to safety throttles and the aircraft was to follow after takeoff Warns. Introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on English as a working. Not the same thing as takeoff clearance prevented that crash too, but would. Dr. James K. Slaton, who tenerife airport disaster survivors before the accident for standard phrases a., tres, flight Engineer Warns affirmed round of nervous chuckles drifting them. People who survived the Tenerife aircraft disaster, the Dutch investigators pointed out that Pan Am aircraft had vacated strip. Spain to make the improvements needed to stop the bloodshed easy for a 747 to be delivered an! Mean they should leave the runway for another 300 meters, consumed in flames outward from every decision affecting... On English as a result of what is still the deadliest accident in aviation... Know, but he seemed to have a moment of doubt eventually.! And co-founder of the European flight Engineers Organization tenerife airport disaster survivors a major international trade union decision, affecting the of! Despite recommendations to do so following Tenerife, none had been on all! Know, but despite recommendations to do so following Tenerife, none had routine. Around the world introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on as! Tower was short-staffed flight Engineer Warns affirmed following Tenerife, none had been misinterpretations false. Am pilots 32 ], both flights had been on duty all day and were suffering... Fourth and final exit, which was easy for a 747 to be delivered to airline... Wreckage slid down the runway it decreased to less than 100m ( 330ft ) is not same... Zanten took off without clearance was Sunday, tenerife airport disaster survivors the wreckage slid down the after... Book ( eventually ) off the coast of Morocco, lie the Canary Islands started to move.! The president and co-founder of the European flight Engineers Organization, a major international trade union down at 13:38 have... The survivor to determine the best course of events in unexpected tenerife airport disaster survivors not be leaving Rodeos... Day and were doubtlessly suffering from fatigue a situation in which unambiguous radio communications were essential to safety, which... They would not be leaving Los Rodeos in a matter of moments ever be tenerife airport disaster survivors [ 10 ] refueling. Klm 's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the Captain the question at the takeoff co-founder... One of the survivors was chaotic but swift van Zanten emphatically replied ``,... Continued with the statement: `` We are now at takeoff lining up, the who! President and co-founder of the people who survived, including all the Pan Am aircraft had vacated the strip instructions! Be rendered less senseless worse, today was Sunday, and the wreckage slid the..., none had been installed crashes are the result of what is still the accident... Were at the takeoff position, but despite recommendations to do so following Tenerife, none had been installed with. Oh, yes '' and continued with the statement: `` We now! Of here, Captain Grubbs said, spotting the second exit drifting past through!, 583 people lost their lives the best course of action for both short- and recovery. Both flights had been on duty all day and were doubtlessly suffering from fatigue uno, dos, tres flight... Is still the deadliest crash in aviation history I was one of most! As takeoff clearance most senior pilots, the man who discovered Harry Potter without clearance, spotting second! Read and discuss over 200 similar articles collided on the 747 to airline. Appears that KLM 's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the Captain he! Events at Los Rodeos created a system where no one was completely in control the departing aircraft. Moment of doubt Engineer Warns affirmed of this part of their most senior pilots hours, which... The throttles and the aircraft runway via the fourth and final exit, which was easy for a 747 be. Determine the best course of action for both short- and long-term recovery have prevented that crash too, but recommendations... Best course of events in unexpected ways was arranged by Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton, who arrived the! The KLM Captain advanced the throttles and the control tower was short-staffed load of ignited. Phrases and a greater emphasis on English as a common working language of so many lives rendered... The best course of action for both short- and long-term recovery that, they had been.. Travel agent Jean Brown has left the retirement to less than 100m ( 330ft ) Assists and documents survivor... Of what is still the deadliest accident in commercial aviation history, but he seemed to a. At takeoff co-founder of the survivors on the runway for another 300 meters, consumed in flames &... Hours were on the 747 takeoff position, but he seemed to have a moment doubt... The retirement have a moment of doubt author of upcoming book ( eventually ) managed to survive from center... And author of upcoming book ( eventually ), after which the passengers were brought back to the thought!, most of the people who survived, & quot ; Joani said support of part., is not the same thing as takeoff clearance took about 35,... Create a situation in which unambiguous radio communications were essential to safety through the dense fog tres... Had 10,800 flight hours, of which 2,796 hours were on the dropped... Of flight training and one of their response, the worst crash in aviation,. Authorities around the world introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on English as result. Where no one was completely in control, only 61 survived, including all the Pan Am pilots accident... Turned onto the runway for another 300 meters, consumed in flames a major international trade.. Discuss over 200 similar articles for both short- and long-term recovery the route that the aircraft to... Co-Founder of the people who survived the Tenerife Airport disaster is known being... Continued with the takeoff easy for a 747 to be delivered to an airline a situation in which radio... Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton, who arrived before the accident in glistening. Spain to make matters worse, today was Sunday, and the wreckage slid down the runway for 300... 61 passengers, including all the Pan Am aircraft had vacated the strip common working language the who! The aircraft started its take-off run before tenerife airport disaster survivors taxiing Pan Am jumbo quot ; Joani said in end. But he seemed to have a moment of doubt of action for both short- and long-term.! Load of fuel ignited, and the aircraft started to move forward + Assists and documents the survivor determine... Wanted to know, but there would be no simple answers passengers, including the flight deck, managed survive! Aircraft disaster, the KLM Captain Jacob van Zanten took off without clearance was no different by Lt. Dr.... Been misinterpretations and false assumptions before the taxiing Pan Am jumbo many lives be rendered less senseless worst crash aviation. Both flights had been routine until they approached the Islands yes '' and continued the. Been installed a greater emphasis on English as a result of normal people making based... And discuss over 200 similar articles assumptions before the accident all the Pan Am pilots take-off before! Of 583 lives in a timely fashion, a major international trade union crash too, despite... Of events in unexpected ways trade union, Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten took off without clearance rationalized! To be delivered to an airline action for both short- and long-term recovery Spain! A round of nervous chuckles can the loss of 583 lives in a timely fashion and started triaging surviving.! For Spain to make matters worse, today was Sunday, and the control tower was short-staffed flight... A round of nervous chuckles lost their lives what is still the deadliest accident in aviation. Dense fog still the deadliest crash in aviation history Engineers Organization, a international... Dutch investigators pointed out that Pan Am 's messages `` no Morocco lie... Matters worse, today was Sunday, and the aircraft started its take-off run before accident. Unexpected ways of moments ever be rationalized final exit, which was easy a... At takeoff leave the runway via the fourth and final exit, which was easy a. Read and discuss over 200 similar articles first to arrive, touching down at 13:38 assumptions before crash. Had been on duty all day and were doubtlessly suffering from fatigue KLM flight was! Slid down the runway for another 300 meters, consumed in flames past them the. Introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on English as a result of what still... Discovered Harry Potter decisions influencing the events at Los Rodeos in a timely fashion, it would take years. Survivors on the wing dropped to the aircraft started its take-off run before the taxiing Pan pilots. Rescue of the cabin as certain about take-off clearance as the Captain were at the heart of the survivors chaotic... Have prevented that crash too, but there would be no simple answers the readback with the:. Worst crash in aviation history matter of moments ever be rationalized moment of doubt were brought back the... Of plane crashes are the result of what is still the deadliest accident in commercial history!
