I remember that very vividly.
The irony....
Investigators pinned most of the blame on the KLM pilot, Jacob van Zanten, who was considered such an exceptional flier he was the face of the company.
I remember this. There’s also several documentaries about it on the internet.
Deadliest? I’D classify 9-11 as an aviation disaster!
What went wrong that day:
1. A bomb exploded in the main airport in the Canary Islands, forcing all traffic to divert to Tenerife.
2. Las Rodeos wasn’t equipped to handle 747s.
3. There was only one runway at Las Rodeos.
3. it was a Sunday, so only two air traffic controllers were working.
4. The Pan Am wanted to take off first, but was blocked by the KLM plane and could almost get around it, but there was just a few feet too little of space.
5. Because all the 747s weren’t backed up, the planes couldn’t go down the taxi runway. They had to go down the main runway, turn around, and then take off.
6. The airport didn’t have ground radar.
7. The ground lights weren’t working.
8. It was the end of the month and the KLM crew was under a lot of pressure not to fly too many hours in the month.
9. A family from the KLM flight had wandered off, thereby putting even more pressure on the KLM.
9. To save time later, the KLM decided to refuel—and filled it all the way to the top, which is usually not done. It made the plane very heavy, which became a key factor later.
10. Everyone on both planes had worked a long day and was tired.
11. The Pan Am misinterpreted the order to take the third exit.
12 A heterodyne (simultaneous transmission) blocked crucial information that the
the Pan Am was still on the runway.
13. The fog rolled in and the planes couldn’t see each other.
14. The pilot of the KLM was using nonstandard terminology and there appeared to be some miscommunication about what was meant by “takeoff.”
15. The crew of the KLM was so busy with pre-takeoff checks that all but the navigator missed crucial information.
16. 747s aren’t particularly maneuverable on the ground, so the Pan Am didn’t have sufficient time to get out of the way.
17. The one way to survive when the planes saw each other was for the KLM to take off over the Pan Am. Without the added gas weight, that might even have worked.
Sad. Incredible, but sad.
I have a friend who lost his parents in this crash. Horrific event.
I have a friend who lost his parents in this crash. Horrific event.
I was reminded of this in one of Walter White’s gauche moments. (”Breaking Bad”)