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March 27, 1977: The Worst Aviation Accident in History

| March 27, 2017 @ 6:30 pm

An unbelievable series of events led to the deadliest commercial aviation accident in history on the island of Tenerife on this date in 1977. 

KLM flight 4805, a chartered Boeing 747, was enroute from Amsterdam to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.  Pan AM flight 1736 had originated in Los Angeles, and was enroute to Las Palmas after stopping in New York.  Terrorists had planted bombs at the Las Palmas Airport.  One of the bombs had already exploded in the passenger terminal. 

Both flights were diverted to the Los Rodeos Airport on the island of Tenerife, Spain.  The weather at Tenerife was highly variable, with the runway beautiful one moment, shrouded in fog the next.  The runway lights were not working.  The controllers had no ground radar at their disposal and communication was hindered by the thick Spanish accents. 

The KLM flight arrived at 1:30 p.m, unloading its passengers into the terminal.  The Pan Am flight arrived about 30 minutes later, but there was no gate available.  Meanwhile, the all-clear was given for the diverted planes to depart to Las Palmas.  The KLM plane was blocking the path of the Pan Am flight, preventing it from departing immediately. 

As time ticked by, the weather began to deteriorate, with dense fog obscuring visibilities and preventing the tower from being able to see the aircraft.  The KLM pilot was under pressure to leave soon because of flying time restrictions. Both planes were instructed to taxi down Runway 12. 

The Pan Am plane was to exit the active runway onto a taxiway, but missed the exit.   The KLM jet was given clearance for takeoff.  As the KLM crew read back their instructions to the tower, the Pan Am crew became concerned that the two planes were facing each other on the runway. 

The tower instructed KLM 4805 to hold, but the command was not heard because of simultaneous transmissions on the radio.  The tower told Pam Am 1736 to report when they had cleared the runway.  Hearing this, one of the KLM crew members asked the pilot and co-pilot if the Pam Am flight was off the runway.  They both answered yes as the KLM jet began rolling down the runway.  The Pam Am crew saw the KLM plane’s light as it gathered speed.  They tried to take evasive action and the KLM pilot tried to take off sooner when he saw the other plane on the runway. 

The KLM jet struck the upper part of the Pan Am plane and slammed back onto the runway, sliding several thousand feet and exploding in flame.  No one escaped the burning plane.  Seventy people did manage to escape the Pan Am flight, including seven of the sixteen crew members.  Rescue efforts were hampered by the foggy conditions. 

The fiery crash is still the worst commercial aviation accident in history with 583 fatalities.

Category: ALL POSTS, Met 101/Weather History

About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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