Tenerife airport disaster
Wreckage of Flight 4805 at Los Rodeos Airport | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 27 March 1977 |
| Summary | Runway collision due to pilot and ATC error in poor visibility |
| Site | |
| Total fatalities | 583 |
| Total injuries | 61 |
| Total survivors | 61 |
| First aircraft | |
| PH-BUF, the KLM Boeing 747-206B involved in the collision | |
| Type | Boeing 747-206B |
| Name | Rijn / The Rhine |
| Operator | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on behalf of Holland International Travel Group |
| IATA flight No. | KL4805 |
| ICAO flight No. | KLM4805 |
| Call sign | KLM 4805 |
| Registration | PH-BUF |
| Flight origin | Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Destination | Gran Canaria Airport, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain |
| Occupants | 248 |
| Passengers | 234 |
| Crew | 14 |
| Fatalities | 248 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
| N736PA, the Pan Am Boeing 747-121 involved, pictured three weeks before the collision | |
| Type | Boeing 747-121 |
| Name | Clipper Victor |
| Operator | Pan American World Airways on behalf of Royal Cruise Line |
| IATA flight No. | PA1736 |
| ICAO flight No. | PAA1736 |
| Call sign | CLIPPER 1736 |
| Registration | N736PA |
| Flight origin | Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, United States |
| Stopover | John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, United States |
| Destination | Gran Canaria Airport, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain |
| Occupants | 396 |
| Passengers | 380 |
| Crew | 16 |
| Fatalities | 335 |
| Injuries | 61 |
| Survivors | 61 |
On 27 March 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on a runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife, killing 583 people and injuring 61 others in the deadliest accident in aviation history. The incident occurred at 5:06 pm GMT (UTC +0) in dense fog, when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run, colliding with the starboard side of Pan Am Flight 1736, which was on the runway. The impact and the resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with all 61 survivors being in the front section of the latter aircraft.
The two aircraft had landed at Los Rodeos earlier that Sunday and were among a number of aircraft diverted to Los Rodeos due to a bomb explosion at their intended destination of Gran Canaria Airport. Los Rodeos had become congested with parked planes blocking the only taxiway, forcing departing aircraft to taxi on the runway. Patches of thick fog were drifting across the airfield, so visibility was greatly reduced for pilots and the control tower.
An investigation by Spanish authorities concluded that the primary cause of the accident was the KLM captain's decision to take off in the mistaken belief that a takeoff clearance from air traffic control (ATC) had been issued. Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on a mutual misunderstanding in radio communications between the KLM crew and ATC, but ultimately KLM admitted that its crew was responsible for the accident and the airline agreed to financially compensate the relatives of all of the victims.
The accident had a lasting influence on the industry, highlighting in particular the vital importance of using standard phraseology in radio communications. Cockpit procedures were also reviewed, contributing to the establishment of crew resource management as a fundamental part of airline pilots' training. The captain is no longer considered infallible and combined crew input is encouraged during aircraft operations.