For other crashes, see, Wreckage of the KLM aircraft on the runway at Los Rodeos, Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain, (now Tenerife North Ciudad de La Laguna Airport), CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 2 page 6, CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 4, page 6, paragraph 1.7.10, Comisin de Investigacin de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviacin Civil, International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, International Tenerife Memorial March 27, 1977, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, "580 killed in history's worst air disaster", "How KLM accepted their responsibility for the accident", "The Cockpit, the Cabin, and Social Psychology", "The Tenerife Airport Disaster the worst in aviation history", "List of Dead and Survivors on Pan American Plane", "Wreck of 747's Sets Back Cause Of Insurgents on Canary Islands", "Enige overlevende KLM-toestel vliegramp Tenerife blikt na veertig jaar terug", "Cockpit Voice Recorders: Transcripts: KLM 4805", "Advertisement: KLM. There were initially 70 survivors, but 9 passengers later died of their injuries. Get off! Human performance has evolved as a valuable incident prevention strategy in the utility and contractor industry. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. I seem to be more resilient and able to recover more quickly if something bad happens. Both aircraft were completed destroyed. The ritual significance of the location is of prime importance. Los Rodeos, renamed Tenerife North Airport (TFN), was then used only for domestic and inter-island flights until 2002, when a new terminal was opened and Tenerife North began to carry international traffic again. KLM flight 4805 take-off without clearance and collide with the Pan American Boeing 747 in the same runway, this is the major air disaster in 1970's. 583 passengers and crew lost their lives. Six of the Leisure World survivors--Herbert and Lura Waldrip, Mario Tyzbir, Byron and Grace Ellerbrock and Olson--still live there. 583 lives were lost when a KLM 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 at Tenerifes Los Rodeos Airport (TFN). [23], The angle of the third taxiway would have required the plane to perform a 148 turn, which would lead back toward the still-crowded main apron. A commemorative booklet has been published as a keepsake of the international commemoration and the unveiling of the International Tenerife Memorial on 27th March 2007. Survivors recall the event. I looked over; it was like looking out of a second floor window about 25 feet down, and I was really scared because my feet were bare and you saw nothing but jagged metal down there and I said to myself Oh, my God, weve survived this and we are going to kill ourselves jumping down on that stuff. SURVIVED: Only 61 People Made It Out Alive (Tenerife Airport Disaster) - YouTube Get MagellanTV here: https://try.magellantv.com/brookemakenna & get an exclusive offer extended to my viewers:. The full load of fuel, which had caused the earlier delay, ignited immediately into a fireball that could not be subdued for several hours. Whatever life brings all you can do is take precautions. Video, 00:00:36Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. Wow. Hierarchical relations among crew members were played down, and greater emphasis was placed on team decision-making by mutual agreement. John Beardmore was among 131 passengers who boarded the ill-fated British Airtours flight 28M scheduled to leave for Corfu on 22 August 1985. The investigators suggested the reason for this was a desire to leave as soon as possible in order to comply with KLM's duty-time regulations (which went in place earlier that year) and before the weather deteriorated further. 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. On the 27 th of March 1977, two 747s collided in Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife. At 17h06 GMT the KLM 747 began its take off roll. [17] The airport had only one runway and one major taxiway running parallel to it, with four short taxiways connecting the two. She now relied solely on her instincts. It remains the worlds deadliest air disaster. Something terrible happened at Los Rodeos on 27 March 1977, which may have lain hidden for 30 years. Her colleagues yelled at her: Dorothy, dont go back. On this day in 1977, a pair of fully loaded Boeing 747s collided on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport on the island of Tenerife. Difficulties with communications also meant the pilots were unsure whether the controller had told them to take the first or the third taxiway. 1977 runway collision in Spain and deadliest crash in aviation history, "Tenerife crash" redirects here. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Fire and accumulated metal wreckage prevented escape from the center and rear sections of the cabin. But the staircase, high up on the mountain, also makes minimal contact with the sky above, with the infinite star-spangled heavens which it appears to touch ever so briefly. [39] Among the survivors were the captain, first officer, and flight engineer. [44][45], Spanish Army soldiers were tasked with clearing crash wreckage from the runways and taxiways. The Pan Am crew replied: "OK, will report when we're clear." Jon Ziomek is a former Chicago newspaper reporter and retired Northwestern University journalism teacher and assistant dean. 02:32 PM. Just 61 people survived, all from the Pan Am jumbo jet. Of all of the 61 survivors of Pan Am Flight 1736 (the flight that had survivors come out), only 16 people came out without injuries. The monument for the victims of Tenerife is a sculpture which is a spiral staircase, and a spiral staircase which is a sculpture. March 27, 1977 is a date permanently etched in aviation history. Things were flying around the airplane and everything moved in slow motion. [22] There were no markings or signs to identify the runway exits and they were in conditions of poor visibility. The remains of the KLM jumbo jet that collided with a Pan Am Jumbo at Los Rodeos airport, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Mar. Why did 918 people die because of this man? tenthpin management consultants salary . This particular aircraft had operated the inaugural 747 commercial flight on January 22, 1970. Had the plane turned at the third exit as instructed, the collision would not have occurred. It remains the worlds deadliest air disaster. At 17.06, the exact time of the disaster, those attending the unveiling of the monument observed two minutes of silence. Dorothy was taken off roster and sent to help the grieving relatives and other flight attendants. Tenerife survivor and author of "Never Wait For The Fire Truck" About the Author. The taxiways were congested by other aircraft however. indicated that captain Grubbs and first officer Bragg had recognized the ambiguity (this message was not audible to the control tower or KLM crew due to simultaneous cross-communication); The Pan Am had taxied beyond the third exit. Survivors waited for rescue, but it did not come promptly, as the firefighters were . [49] Facts showed that there had been misinterpretations and false assumptions before the accident. First officer Meurs advised that ATC had not yet given clearance, to which Van Zanten abruptly replied:I know that. The monumental art work by renowned Dutch artist Rudi van de Wint, who suddenly died in May 2006, is an 18-metre spiral stair case, named Stairway to Heaven, of which the steps appear to move endlessly upward into infinity, but are cut off suddenly. Tenerife airport disaster survivors. Feathers, who now lives in Dayton Beach and works for the News-Journal said she kept repeating No. Get off! The search for a missing Dutch family of four, who had not returned to the waiting KLM plane, delayed the flight even further. Japan Airlines Flight 123 (1985) 3. [55] These included: The extra fuel taken on by the KLM added several factors: As a consequence of the accident, sweeping changes were made to international airline regulations and to aircraft. None of the passengers of KLM survived the crash. Its nose landing gear cleared the Pan Am, but its left-side engines, lower fuselage, and main landing gear struck the upper right side of the Pan Am's fuselage,[11] ripping apart the center of the Pan Am jet almost directly above the wing. My shoes came off. But as the Jumbo Jets neared their destination, reports came in that a bomb had exploded at Las Palmas Airport (LPA). Passengers and crew from the Pan Am aircraft escaped onto the intact left wing and jumped to the ground. 02 Marion Andersen. (LogOut/ Video, 00:04:59The worst crash in aviation history, Up Next. [11], The following day, the Canary Islands Independence Movement, responsible for the bombing at Gran Canaria that started the chain of events that led to the disaster, denied responsibility for the accident. 56 passengers and 5 crew from this flight survived. Shortly after they turned onto the runway it decreased to less than 100m (330ft). The ground staff wouldnt let the passengers disembark because there were so many aircraft at this tiny airport and the terminal was packed. She added: The plane went up like an atom bomb.. [11][36] 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.[37]. Write by: . The disaster claimed the lives of all 346 people onboard, still the worst single-plane crash to have no survivors. At 13:15, a bomb planted by the separatist Canary Islands Independence Movement exploded in the terminal of Gran Canaria Airport, injuring eight people. [46] Los Rodeos was fully reopened on April 3rd, after wreckage had been fully removed and engineers had repaired the airport's runway.[47]. Airline officials withheld a death count pending notification of relatives. To read more incredible stories of heroism from our aviation family click here. Kelly declined as she wanted to spend time with her family in New York. Instead, departing aircraft needed to taxi along the runway to position themselves for takeoff, a procedure known as a backtaxi or backtrack.[4]. Everything just changed in a moment.. In March 1977, two jumbo jets collided at Tenerife Airport killing 583 people. 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. - Fastapn News, The Tenerife airport disaster. [31] First officer Meurs advised him that ATC clearance had not yet been given, and captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten responded: "No, I know that. On December 3, 1972, the plane crashed while taking off from Tenerife-Norte Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, killing everyone aboard. The ex-cop credits her law enforcement training for making her one of just 61 people who survived the disaster, as she knew not to wait to help, and to keep a constant check on her surroundings. The airport quickly became congested with parked airplanes blocking the only taxiway and forcing departing aircraft to taxi on the runway instead. The Dutch crew tried in vain to rotate their aircraft early, causing a severe tail strike. It appears that KLM's co-pilot was not as certain about take-off clearance as the captain. The taxiways hastily developed congestion as aircrafts, as large as the 747, crammed in. There, on March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747s one belonging to KLM, the other to Pan Am collided on a foggy runway. Hes alright. Video, 00:01:38, WATCH: Huge fire burns after Indonesia depot explosion, Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine. 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). The Pan Am Podcast. Airline Disaster: Crash of the Century. Investigations, books, news reports, academic studies, and even movies have chronicled what's known as the Tenerife. Warns had 15,210 flight hours, of which 559 hours were on the 747. The co-pilot who survived the Tenerife aircraft disaster In March 1977, two jumbo jets collided at Tenerife Airport killing 583 people. She then came across a woman lying under the wing. van Staveren-Marchal, J.H.M. The subsequent investigations by Spanish, Dutch and American teams revealed that the primary cause of the accident was the KLM captain taking off without clearance from Air Traffic Control. Veldhuyzen van Zanten emphatically replied "Oh, yes" and continued with the takeoff. There were no survivors on the KLM flight while 61 of the 396 on the Pan Am survived. None of the passengers of KLM survived the crash. On March 27th, 2007, 30 years after the disaster, a first time ever official international memorial service for the largest aviation disaster in history was held on the initiative of the Foundation for the Surviving Relatives of the Tenerife Disaster. Video, 00:04:17, Why did 918 people die because of this man? 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][53] the airline ultimately accepted responsibility for the accident. Assisting in the flight deck was First Officer Klass Meurs and Flight Engineer Willem Schreuder; while in the cabin, 11 crew were on hand for the 235 passengers. After the aircraft landed at Tenerife, the passengers were transported to the airport terminal. From the people who made punctuality possible", "San Jose Inside Dutch Hamann Part 2", "Canary Island Separatist Says Group Planted Bomb But Did Not Cause Crash", "Experts converge on Canaries to probe plane crash", "Desert Sun 29 March 1977 California Digital Newspaper Collection", "30 Mar 1977, Page 4 - The Naples Daily News", "The Deadliest Plane Crash - The Final Eight Minutes", "B742 / B741, Tenerife Canary Islands Spain, 1977 - SKYbrary Aviation Safety", "Final report and comments of the Netherlands Aviation Safety Board", "The Vulnerable System: An Analysis of the Tenerife Air Disaster", "CIAIAC | Publications | Relevant reports | A-102/1977 and A-103/1977 2.1 Analysis", "World's deadliest airline disaster occurred 36 years ago today", "Tenerife Disaster 27 March 1977: The Utility of the Swiss Cheese Model & other Accident Causation Frameworks", "The Evolution of Crew Resource Management Training in Commercial Aviation", "Tenerife North airport will get a new control tower, more than 30 years after world's biggest air disaster", "Around the Ranch: All about Battle Mountain", "Rancho Bernardo cross undergoes repairs", "COMUNICADO: Monumento International Tenerife Memorial donado al Cabildo; avanzan los trabajos de cimentacin en la Mesa Mota", "Monumento Conmemorativo Internacional March 2, 2007 + Foto-Video", Survivor remembers deadliest aviation disaster in Tenerife, Official Spanish and Dutch accident reports, English translation of Spanish report and Dutch response, A-102/1977 y A-103/1977 Accidente Ocurrido el 27 de Marzo de 1977 a las Aeronaves Boeing 747, Matrcula PH-BUF de K.L.M. The collision occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run while Pan Am Flight 1736 was still on the runway. Cockpit procedures were also reviewed, contributing to the establishment of crew resource management as a fundamental part of airline pilots' training. 27 March 1977 on Tenerife : H Home @ Contact $ Search: i Help: 1 Sitemap: e Translate : Nederlands: . At this point, her training kicked in, and she started to yell:WEVE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE. Youre getting too close. Worst Air Disaster in History (02:01) 583 people died when two airplanes crashed in the Canary Islands. 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted to take off and collided with a taxiing Pan Am 747 at Los Rodeos Airport on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Spain. Most of the survivors on the Pan Am walked out onto the intact left wing, the side away from the collision, through holes in the fuselage structure. The 18-metre-high sculpture is not what it seems, which is emphasized by the 12-metre-high fence that has been placed around it. Once they confirmed the wound was superficial, she continued her rescue efforts. 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. 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". For a split second, they thought they had missed their turnoff and reached the end of the runway. When it became clear that the KLM aircraft was approaching at takeoff speed, Captain Grubbs exclaimed, "Goddamn, that son-of-a-bitch is coming! A Dan-Air Boeing 727 carrying British tourists to the Canary Islands crashes and kills all 146 on board on April 25, 1980. Dont go back!. Her bravery, heroism, courage and skills saved the lives of countless passengers. The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Time and time again, we see first-hand passengers who fail to remember the main reason why cabin crew are on board an aircraft. [19] While the KLM was backtaxiing on the runway, the controller asked the flight crew to report when it was ready to copy the ATC clearance. The collision took place in a high-density cloud. [21], The crew successfully identified the first two taxiways (C-1 and C-2), but their discussion in the cockpit indicated that they had not sighted the third taxiway (C-3), which they had been instructed to use. . This meant the PanAm crew had to backtrack on runway 12 for takeoff on runway 30. Picture: Wikimedia Commons Another factor was use of ambiguous phrases by the pilots. The KLM 747 went first, followed by the Pan Am. Read about our approach to external linking. [29], According to the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the Pan Am captain said, "There he is!" One lady decided to stay as she lived in Tenerife, meaning 234 passengers would eventually re-board the aircraft. Keulen, J.M.L. Drifting clouds of different densities cause wildly varying visibilities, from unhindered at one moment to below the legal minimum the next. They knew what was about to happen so pulled off the runway as much as they could the . This course of action was later expanded into what is known today as crew resource management (CRM), which states that all pilots, no matter how experienced they are, are allowed to contradict each other. [27], Meanwhile, the KLM plane was still in good visibility, but with clouds blowing down the runway towards them. There were 61 survivors who included four flight attendants, three cockpit crew members, and two cockpit observers who weren't injured at all. The collision resulted in the deaths of 583 of the 644 passengers. Crash of the Century: Directed by Chantal Hebert, Phil Comeau. Spantax Flight 275, registration number EC-BZR, was a Convair 990 Coronado charter flight operated by Spantax from Tenerife to Munich with 148 passengers and 7 crew. International Monument for those who died in the Tenerife aviation disaster on March 27th 1977. Fleur-Toby, A.C. Bouvy, B.M. The instructions used the word "takeoff," but did not include an explicit statement that they were cleared for takeoff. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board KLM 4805 and most of the occupants of Pan Am 1736, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the aircraft. One of those survivors was Purser Dorothy Kelly. [7] The captain is no longer considered infallible, and combined crew input is encouraged during aircraft operations.[8]. Joani Feathers also saw another woman in curlers set alight after the Pan Am Boeing 747 she was traveling in collided with a KLM 747 on the runway at fog-bound Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife. Describing the terrifying scene, Kelly said: At that point the front part of the plane where we had just been under started to move, there was a groaning and moaning and all of a sudden it just sort of settled over on its side, just like a great beached whale that had given up the will to live because it couldnt get back in the water and had put its head over and died. Tenerife was an unscheduled stop for both flights. In 1977, a cross in Rancho Bernardo was dedicated to nineteen area residents who died in the disaster. The entrance to runway 12 however, was blocked by the KLM Boeing. The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport[1] (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Many former employees were laid off, including Kelly. At the time of the accident, Grubbs had 21,043 hours of flight time, of which 564 hours were on the 747. 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. Dorothy Kelly was hit over the head by a piece of aircraft and forced through the cabin floor into the Cargo bay. The creeping TikTok bans. The Tenerife Airport Disaster is the deadliest aviation crash in history Credit: AP E xperts . Arriving at the hospital, she refused treatment, instead volunteering to help the medical team. Due to an earlier terrorist attack (influenced by the Canary Islands Independence Movement) in Las Palmas, many flights were re-directed to the domestically used airport. 27 . It was the worst crash in aviation history. One of those survivors was Purser Dorothy Kelly. If he hits us, you wont feel a thing.. AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS: TENERIFE AIRPORT DISASTER, THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST PLANE CRASH EVER . Whilst preparing for the transatlantic flight, Dorothy Kelly had been approached in the crew-briefing lounge at JFK by Senior Purser Francoise Colbert de Beaulieu. The loss of life from the Tenerife Airport disaster was horrendous. One of the 61 survivors of the Pan Am flight said that sitting in the nose of the plane probably saved his life: "We all settled back, and the next thing an explosion took place and the whole port side, left side of the plane, was just torn wide open. You dont stop to think about how this is affecting you, theres a job there and you have to do it. "I was one of the people who survived," Joani said. Of the 380 passengers (mostly of retirement age, but including two children), 14 had boarded in New York, where the crew was also changed. Monuments are often places of yearning; they are projections of impotence, of the brokenness of the human spirit and of the universal drama. Go ahead, ask." I recently released a book about my experience that day and more titled Never Wait for the Fire Truck by David Yeager Alexander. I have no idea to this day what it was like inside the plane, obviously the damage was so great that not everyone could get to that opening in the wing. [24] The official report from the Spanish authorities explained that the controller instructed the Pan Am aircraft to use the third taxiway because this was the earliest exit that they could take to reach the unobstructed section of the parallel taxiway. [11] The refueling took about 35 minutes, after which the passengers were brought back to the aircraft. Art can only provide a subtle hint. When they refused, she pushed them before jumping herself. Grubbs yelled:Goddamn, that son-of-a-bitch is coming straight at us. 2. CRM training has been mandatory for all airline pilots since 2006.[66][67]. Previously, the Pan Am had been called "Clipper One Seven Three Six", using its proper call-sign. Read about our approach to external linking. [9] 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. Analysis of the CVR transcript showed that the KLM pilot thought that he had been cleared for takeoff, while the Tenerife control tower believed that the KLM 747 was stationary at the end of the runway, awaiting takeoff clearance. The flight engineer was the only member of the KLM's flight crew to react to the control tower's instruction to "report when runway clear"; this might have been due to his having completed his pre-flight checks, whereas his colleagues were experiencing an increased workload, just as the visibility worsened. But whilst preparing the aircraft for departure, a thick fog began to develop and visibility deteriorated, only complicating the situation further. The Tenerife airport disaster was a fatal collision between two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft on Sunday, March 27, 1977, on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife North Airport), on the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. This was one of the first accident investigations to include a study into the contribution of "human factors". The next cloud was 900m (3,000ft) down the runway and moving towards the aircraft at about 12 knots (14mph; 22km/h).[28]. A memorial to the victims at Tenerife North Airport, which was called Los Rodeos Airport at the time of the crash. Less experienced flight crew members were encouraged to challenge their captains when they believed something to be incorrect, and captains were instructed to listen to their crew and evaluate all decisions in light of crew concerns. "[34] 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.[4]. 583: The Tenerife airport disaster, which occurred on March 27, 1977, remains the accident with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. Divers search for survivors of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft operated by Lion Air. "[4] Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten interrupted the co-pilot's readback with the comment, "We're going. Viergever-Drent and M.M. The C-130 was arranged by Lt. Col Dr. James K. Slaton, who arrived before the crash investigators and started a triage of surviving passengers. The sudden influx of airliners at the small airport had caused chaos. and "We are still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736!" Aviation authorities around the world introduced requirements for standard phrases and a greater emphasis on English as a common working language. Video, 00:00:51Australia's 'biggest drug bust' nets $700m of cocaine, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off. All 234 passengers and 14 crew of the KLM aircraft died and 61 of the 396 passengers . Eh?" Go ahead, askand pulled back the throttles. 2. Pan Am Flight 1736 had originated at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and was taking tourists to Gran Canaria, where they would begin a 12 day Mediterranean cruise. She woke up in total darkness, dazed and disoriented, completely unaware of what had happened. Most of the passengers onboard the flight were senior citizens and many injured themselves as they jumped from an opening above the wing. It happened more than four decades ago, but the Tenerife airport disaster in Spain is still the deadliest plane crash of all time. You just heard a clip from ABC News on . [26], The Pan Am crew found themselves in poor and rapidly deteriorating visibility almost as soon as they entered the runway. Because the flight crew was performing the checklist, copying the clearance was postponed until the aircraft was in takeoff position. All of a sudden things were not right. E xactly 40 years ago, at Tenerife-North Airport (formerly Los Rodeos), two Boeing 747s - one belonging to KLM, the other to Pan Am - collided on a foggy runway. In memory of the 583 victims of the air crash on March 27th, 1977. He has been a freelance writer for more . Both flights to the Canaries had been uneventful. [4] The Pan Am crew indicated that they would prefer to circle in a holding pattern until landing clearance was given (they had enough fuel to safely stay in the air for two more hours), but they were ordered to divert to Tenerife. The co pilot who survived the Tenerife aircraft disaster DnV news 455 subscribers Subscribe 2K Share 274K views 6 years ago In March 1977, two jumbo jets collided at Tenerife Airport. The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Five hundred and eighty-three . [4] About 70 personnel were involved in the investigation, including representatives from the United States, the Netherlands[48] and the two airline companies. Robert Bragg, 2004 TENERIFE AIRPORT DISASTER. It remains one of the worst disasters in aviation history. Recalling the near-death experience to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Feathers told of how she was nervous about the presence of the KLM 747 that crashed into her plane moments before it happened. 583 lives were lost when a KLM 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 at Tenerife's Los Rodeos Airport (TFN). Trapped when flooring had given way beneath them, Donovan and Jackson crawled upwards to exit with passengers by working their way forward and down along the exterior of the twisted and constantly shifting fuselage. You just said to yourself, Ok. The Pan Am's engines were still running for a few minutes after the accident despite first officer Bragg's intention to turn them off. Seeing something so horrible I find that anything bad that happens to me is nothing compared with the big picture.