Some 583 people died or were mortally injured on March 27th 1977 after two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided on a runway at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, making this the world's worst civil aviation disaster.
The Canary Islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Western coast of Africa, between 27 and 29 degrees north latitude, and between 13 and 18 degrees west longitude. They are volcanic islands. Tenerife is the archipelago's middle island and is 81 km long and 45 km wide.
The PanAm Boeing 747-121, on a charter passenger flight from Los Angeles to Las Palmas, had been in the air for eight hours. Some 396 people, including 16 crew, were onboard. Its captain was annoyed as he had not obtained clearance to land at Las Palmas. A bomb had exploded there two hours previously and the airport was closed for repair. The 747 was requested to divert to Tenerife, 70 km west of Las Palmas. The Captain and his passengers were unhappy about this arrangement, but they had no other choice.
At 14h15 GMT, PanAm flight 1736 made its final approach on runway 30. The landing at Los Rodeos airport (Tenerife) was a smooth one, but the captain noticed the larger than usual number of aircraft at the airport. Many aircraft, including a 747-206B from KLM, had landed there following the closure of Las Palmas airport. The small Tenerife airport was saturated.
The PanAm 747 was requested to park in fourth position, behind the KLM 747. The KLM aircraft was also a charter flight (KLM 4805). It had landed 45 minutes previously, with 248 people onboard, including 14 crew. Its captain was nervous: very strict Dutch regulation forbid the crew to exceed their quota of flying hours. Should the plane not take-off soon, its captain and KLM could be in serious trouble.
At 14h30 GMT, good news: the Tenerife control tower informed all grounded aircraft that Las Palmas airport had just re-opened. The controller informed the Panam Captain that in order to speed up take-off he could taxi right behind the KLM 747. The Panam captain agreed.
Weather deteriorated: a heavy fog would soon cover the airport. The visibility rapidly dropped to a few hundred meters (300 feet). At 16h51, the KLM 747 was cleared to start its engines. At 16h52, the Panam 747 requested clearance to start its engines. The control tower's answer was as follows:
16:52 (Tenerife control tower) - PanAm 1736, you are cleared to start. Report ready for taxi. For your information, you will have to backtrack behind the other 747 and leave the runway third taxiway to your left.
Both 747s would therefore backtrack the length of the 3,400-meter (11,000 feet) runway at low speed. The KLM aircraft would backtrack to the end of the runway, make a u-turn and report ready for take-off. The PanAm plane would exit the runway into the third taxiway in order to free the way for the KLM aircraft to take off. This was deemed the simplest solution in view of heavy traffic at the airport.
Both 747s would therefore backtrack the length of the 3,400-meter (11,000 feet) runway at low speed. The KLM aircraft would backtrack to the end of the runway, make a u-turn and report ready for take-off. The PanAm plane would exit the runway into the third taxiway in order to free the way for the KLM aircraft to take off. This was deemed the simplest solution in view of heavy traffic at the airport.
At 16h55, the Dutch 747 reached the runway, the American 747 a few hundred meters behind it. The fog was becoming denser: the 747s could not see each other, and neither aircraft could be seen from the control tower. The visibility was less than 200 meters.
(PanAm first officer) Tenerife the Clipper one seven three six.
17 :02 :01 (Tenerife control tower) Clipper one seven three six Tenerife.
17 :02 :03 (PanAm first officer) Ah. We were instructed to contact you and also to taxi down the runway, is that correct?
17 :02 :08 (Tenerife control tower) Affirmative, taxi into the runway and -ah leave the runway third, third to your left.
17 :02 :16 (PanAm first officer) Third to the left, OK.
Background conversation in the control tower made it difficult for the crew to hear the instructions.
17 :02 :18 (Mecanician) Third he said?
17 :02 :19 (Captain) Three?
17 :02 :21 (Tenerife control tower) -ird one to your left.
17 :02 :22 (Captain) I think he said first.
<17 :02 :26 (First officer) I'll ask him again.
17 :02 :32 (First officer) Left turn.
17 :02 :33 (Captain) I don't think they have take-off minimums anywhere right now.
17 :02 :39 (Captain) What really happened over there today?
17 :02 :41 (PanAm employee) They put a bomb (in) the terminal, Sir, right where the check-in counters are.
17 :02 :46 (Captain) Well we asked them if we could hold and -uh- I guess you got the word, we landed here.
The controller was next heard talking to the KLM jumbo crew.
17 :02 :50 (Tenerife control tower to KLM 747) KLM four eight zero five how many taxiway -ah- did you pass ?
17 :02 :55 (KLM 4805) I think we just passed charlie four (fourth one) now.
17 :02 :59 (Tenerife control tower) O.K. ... at the end of the runway make one eighty and report -ah- ready -ah- for ATC clearance.
Both aircraft were still backtracking down the runway, but the PanAm 747 was lost in the fog, the latter making it very difficult to spot the exit taxiways. The control tower had confirmed earlier that the aircraft must exit the runway into the third taxiway.
17 :03 :48 (Tenerife control tower) ...er seven one three six report leaving the runway.
17 :04 :59 (Tenerife control tower) -m eight seven zero five and clipper one seven ... three six, for your information, the centre line lighting is out of service.
Yet more bad news. In addition, the crew of the PanAm 747 had just passed the third taxiway without seeing it. They had seen the first one, missed the second one, and were now passing the third one thinking it was the second one. They were now headed for the fourth one.
Meanwhile, the Dutch 747 had finished backtracking the runway and was now making a u-turn. The fog dissipated slightly and the visibility increased to 700 meters. This was an opportunity that the KLM captain wasn't about to miss.
17 :05 :45 (First officer to the control tower) Uh, the KLM ... four eight zero five is now ready for take-off ... uh and we're waiting for our ATC clearance.
17 :05 :53 (Tenerife control tower) KLM eight seven zero five uh you are cleared to the Papa Beacon climb to and maintain flight level nine zero right turn after take-off proceed with heading zero four zero until intercepting the three two five radial from Las Palmas VOR.
17 :06 :09 (KLM first officer) Ah roger, sir, we're cleared to the Papa Beacon flight level nine zero, right turn out zero four zero until intercepting the three two five and we're now (at take-off ??).
The 747 obtained clearance, but was not allowed to take off as yet. However, its captain, in a hurry, started advancing the throttle, having forgotten that another aircraft was still taxiing down the runway. The stressful situation was probably to blame.
7 :06 :13 (Captain) : We gaan. (We're going)
17 :06 :19 (Tenerife control tower) : OK
The Panam first officer was talking simultaneously :
17 :06 :19 (PanAm first officer) : No .. eh...
The controller was struck by a sudden doubt. He reminded the KLM captain that he had not been cleared for take-off.
17 :06 :20 (Tenerife control tower) : Stand by for take-off, I will call you.
17 :06 :20 (PanAm first officer) : And we're still taxiing down the runway, the clipper one seven three six.
The last two messages were radioed simultaneously and were therefore heard as a long four-second high-pitched sound. The KLM 747 speed increased. Some 1,500 meters further on, the PanAm 747 was still taxiing down the runway.
25 (Tenerife control tower to the PanAm 747) - Roger alpha one seven three six report when runway clear
17 :06 :29 (PanAm first officer) - OK, we'll report when we're clear
17 :06 :30 (Tenerife control tower) - Thank you
The KLM captain did not react. He may have misunderstood and thought that the PanAm 747 had just cleared the runway
06 :32 (KLM first officer) Is hij er niet af dan? {Is he not clear then?}
17 :06 :34 (KLM captain) Wat zeg je? {What do you say?}
17 :06 :35 (KLM first officer) EstIs hij er niet af, die Pan American? {Is he not clear that Pan American?}
17 :06 :36 (Angry KLM captain) Jawel. {Oh yes. - Emphatic}
Meanwhile, the PanAm jumbo jet reached the fourth taxiway. Suddenly, the PanAm captain spotted the landing lights of the KLM Boeing approximatively 700 meters away in the fog.
PanAm captain) (screaming) Hes coming look this son of b**** is coming
17 :06 :41 (PanAm first officer) - (screaming)
The PanAm crew set full throttle to leave the runway as quickly as possible, but it was too late. The KLM captain spotted the PanAm jumbo jet on the runway:
17 :06 :47 (KLM captain) Oh shit
The speed of the Dutch 747 was over 270 km/h. The captain applied full back stick pressure in order to take off and fly over the other 747. The nose climbed, the tail struck the runway, producing sparks. The aircraft climbed one meter above ground, but this wasn't enough.
The 350-tonne giants collided. The forward landing gear wheels of the Dutch 747 struck the right side of the PanAm 747, tearing the fuselage. The left wing cut the vertical stabilizer at rudder level. Passengers saw partitions open, the ceiling disappear and the floor collapse. Right wing fuel tanks were torn apart and fuel started igniting.
The KLM 747 had risen slightly but it had become completely dislocated and it crashed. There were no survivors.
In the PanAm 747, a few people escaped from the burning plane. Some 64 people, including the captain and everybody on the flight deck, survived, out of 396. The heat produced by the fire cleared the fog one kilometer around the crash scene.
Some 583 people died in the crash. 64 people survived.
With Love and regards
Reha Uzundere
Chairman
Leader of the world tourism
Citation: 1001 Crash com.
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