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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2022
- On March 27, 1977 in the Afternoon, a thick fog rolled over Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. With two full Boeing 747 Airliners from KLM and Pan Am on the runway and an explosion at a nearby airport redirecting air-traffic, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Within three hours, 583 people would be dead.
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#planecrash #documentary #tenerifeairport - บันเทิง
I know the Dutch wanna stick up for their guy, but come on. Dude took off without clearance. It's clearly the captain's fault.
Exactly! I just don’t get this guy. So snobby and impatient.
@@Armor23OnPatrol The thing is they didn't only hear "okay", what they actually heard was "okaybeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" because the aircraft issues a loud continuous beep when multiple communications are overlapping on a frequency. The pilot knew he hadn't heard 80% of the ATC message and any rational pilot would have asked for a re-read. He deliberately did not do this because he knew he didn't have clearance but wanted to take off anyway, and so chose to 'pretend' he thought okay was a take-off clearance.
(note: he had already attempted one uncleared take-off several minutes prior to this, but was prevented by the first officer. this was his second uncleared take-off.)
@@Armor23OnPatrol Nah! They messed up before the squeak by rushing and not following explicit instruction and safety policy. The radio squeak is a cop-out.
Running his mouth smh
He was arrogant.
One thing I find to be interesting is comparing the atmosphere in the two cockpits. These planes had a lot in common - they're both jumbo jets, on long flights (12+ hours), with frustrated passengers, an overworked ATC, etc. They're facing the same extremely stressful conditions.
The crew in the PanAm are clearly comfortable with each other, and are polite and professional even when they are stressed or confused. They joke around and sing while they're stuck on the runway. They work together to solve their problems and identify possible solutions (going outside to determine if they had enough room to maneuver around the KLM, consulting with each other on what taxiway to take) and in general have a good rapport.
On the KLM, things are the complete opposite. There is almost no camaraderie, and all conversation is eventually made tense by the captains negativity. He discourages and talks over his crew multiple times, and blatantly tells them that he is in charge. He does not encourage teamwork. He doesn't even communicate his intention to takeoff early with his copilot - he just does it. This unwillingness to see beyond his own ego and work as a team is what caused this disaster. That is why it takes more than one person to fly these planes...because one small, selfish, impulsive move is the difference between living or dying.
I'm curious as to how much was exaggerated or downplayed for the documentary, I wonder how close what we see is to the recordings of the black boxes.
@@Mangaka-ml6xo Since they have the transcripts from the black boxes to base their documentary on this is pretty close, if not exact, to what really happened.
@@Mangaka-ml6xoit’s a little played up, but not too drastically, I think. Granted, I think the recording of the black boxes wouldn’t cover the time before they arrived at Tenerife, so outside of the ATC messages, prior to arrival at Tenerife, the KLM conversation, is likely assumed, whereas the survivors of the Pan Am crew would be able to fill in the gaps where the black box recordings probably don’t cover.
IIRC, the documentary show Seconds From Disaster, really played up that the KLM copilot probably felt unable to assert himself, when the captain made poor choices, whereas the copilot actually did make quite a few corrections during the time.
Mentour Pilot has done a pretty good breakdown of this accident, though a bit more technical, less exaggerated, and of course, without interviews included and dramatic recreations. Definitely worth a watch if you’re interested in the accident though.
@@PGW85Productions Thanks for your input 👍
I hadn't heard that show's name in such a long time, forgot it existed (Talking of "Seconds From Disaster"), also, thank you for the suggestion of Mentour Pilot, I will go have a look as soon as I can!
If you happen to have more suggestion like this I wouldn't be against you telling us about them!
You are very right my brother, very right.
It’s heart warming Robina is still with the man who she loved so much. Their love saved her life.
Isn’t her love for the man saved her life? We have no idea how the man felt
@@ihatewhatisaw jeesh, if you had never cleared that up for us I'd have never understood the point of the message. Thanks for that insight
@Soft titty, isn't that special.
@@natebarry5553I still don’t understand what “hatewhatisaw “ means.
@@Soffity probably didn't get you. thinking you mean the mans love saved her instead of her love for that man. where you clearly means both
crazy how the worst air disaster in history happened on land.
It's actually not that crazy, in fact, most accidents happen at low altitudes whether during takeoff or landing. And in 2021 there were about 1400 runway incursions in the United States alone, most of them at small airports.
it's crazy right 💀
but according to this show every air crash is the worst air crash 💀
@@crewrangergaming9582No they don’t. They say it’s the worst crash in the country or worst of its time or worst with that type of aircraft.
There almost was something that would've surpassed it in the air but was thankfully avoided. I forget which flights they were but it would've been 600+.
As far as I am concerned the KLM pilot is at least 95% responsible for what happened,he was arrogant ,impatient and filling the plane to full capacity with fuel and not waiting for take off clearance breaks so many rules regarding passenger airliners.The Spanish got it right as far as who was at fault, the Dutch did not
Pan Am was second guessing instruction instead of playing it safe and get to any taxi lane instead of not alerting ATC they were still on the runway as the kept second guessing the obvious.
Who was the other 5%
@@coreym162 but also, keeping in mind that, the Pan Am 747 wouldn't have been able to make the two 148 turns from the runway, to Charlie 3 and then onto the parallel taxiway
@@coreym162 fyi Pan Am _was_ playing it safe - they had absolute clearance to be on that runway and no one else did. They were prudent in taking time to identify the correct turn rather than risk making an unsafe turn in extremely low visibility conditions.
If there was any possibility that there could still be another massive plane taxiing toward you, especially in crazy fog, there is absolutely no reason you should make any assumptions of clearance until it is blatantly and clearly confirmed. If I was the pilot I believe I would’ve definitely waited until I got a clear answer from PanAm that they were off the runway
I can't believe they even tried to blame anyone other than the pilot who took off without clearance
@Jay Talents , yes, I've only flown 4 times (2 return flights), and a one way flight in a small sea plane, in my life and I'm 69 yrs old now.! These HUGE jets have the fuel in the wings ensuring that the passengers are surrounded by a FIERY DEATH if the plane crashes!
@Jay Talents Safer than cars.
@Jay Talents Are you special in the head? Flying ( statistically speaking) is the safest way to travel. You're actually the fool that would rather drive, even though you have to trust others not to smash into you. You're fear of flying is irrational, an no matter how you try to spin that for your own brain, you're statistically in the wrong.
@@KaboKeboletse I'm sure he wouldn't have taken off if he had known PanAm was still on the runway. Regardless, he still took off without permission, which in my opinion makes him at fault. I still feel bad for the guy though. I just also felt bad for the air traffic controllers, I didn't think it was fair that people tried to blame them
@Jay Talents If you're gonna call people "gullible fools" for riding in airplanes, then you had better also extend that to everyone who gets in a car. "The odds of dying in a car crash as a driver are 1 in 114, and 1 in 654 as a passenger. The odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 9,821, though this accounts for both general aviation, which includes small planes, and commercial aviation."
seriously, not cool to blame the victims bc you personally think they were dumb to get on a plane
I really love what that one woman said near the end. That she wouldn’t just grieve in her apartment and hide away from the world. Because that would be like she had died too and not just her friends. It wouldn’t be fair to them for her to waste her life too. Beautiful way too see it, and go on. 💜
That woman had a heart.
yeah well it helps that they got 3 billion in compensation, probably easier to "live life" with that kind of money
@@manchesterisblue1023sad way to make money
I lost a friend of mine on the PAN AM plane that day. He worked for Carnival Cruises which is where they were going. He just celebrated his 30th birthday. His name was Beau Moss. He had a one year old son back in New York. He never saw him again. I mourn his death every year for what might have been. To see his son grow up. To experience his life the way I have. I miss you my friend........
😭😭😭😭😭
19:31 you mean him? wow
May Beau Moss rest in eternal peace. ❤
So sorry that you had a friend whose life was claimed during this awful tragedy. How dreadful. Life can be very cruel.
@fob1xxl -- Sorry about the loss of your friend, but how interesting that the producers of this show chose to call him out specifically, even using his real name, by having an actor play the role. I thought it was just a random fill-piece until I read your comment.
" as long as i occupy this seat i am in charge" its easy to see that this pilot was responsible for most if not all of the carnage that happened there.
Sure was a consenden
1 man responsible for the loss of almost 600 souls. So tragic, what ego & power can do 😢
What's scary is the people that he trained.
I lost my grandfather to this horrific crash. This documentary has accounts from some of the people who survived, telling their story. For most of my adult life, I've been obsessed with gaining as much knowledge as to what my grandpa, the passengers, and crew had gone through. There will always be an ache in my heart. Warmth takes over knowing the bravery of all. I'll always remember my grandpa as a hero, along with every person and surviving family members from that day. ❤️
I'm dearly sorry for your loss 🤍
💜
How very painful for you. Belated condolences.
Very sorry for your family's loss. May his soul have eternal peace🙏
May he rest in peace.
My grandmother was among those killed (on the Pan Am plane). She was traveling alone...she lost her husband the year prior, suddenly. 😪 I cannot even imagine what the passengers and crew must have experienced. It's been both interesting and terrifying to hear the stories of the survivors.
I'm sorry for your loss. I found old article with a bio on each person, survived or lost. Im fascinated by finding ANY thing /article/ writings, etc.
The following link to passenger bios
Oh so sorry about this. What you and your family must have suffered over the years. Your poor grandmother. Wishing you well. xxxxxx
😥😥😥💔💔💔🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
What was her name?
It goes to show that being late is better than being dead.
Honestly the most horrifying part of this is how long it took them to realize 2 planes were involved
that's how you know they should've stopped operations when it got too foggy for the controllers to see with no ground radar
Ikr
Just look at the lenate airport coalition in 2001 it took them 27 min to find the second plane involved in the coalition
@Jaquan Kelsor imagine not respecting the technology that allows you to say stupid things like this on the internet 💩🤡
@Jaquan Kelsor The irony of your comment is that these people died on the ground, due to complications caused by terrorists who also did their thing on the ground.
I've seen this story dozens of times in the past, and it still boggles me how nearly 600 people died in the worst accident in aviation
Not following instruction (Pan Am) and rushing and not following instruction (KLM) has the nasty habit of producing the same results.
The worst accident in aviation,
That too which took place on a runaway rather than up above
RIP to all the people who died
So many things had to go wrong for this to even possibly happen. It was like it was meant to happen. The bombing, the redirection, the fog, fueling up the KLM which made the fire way worse but also prevented the Pan Am from getting through, the confusion from both planes about what they were doing. It’s so crazy
@@Mommyoftt2010 yeah, I feel the same way about the mid-air collision of the DHL freight plane and the Russian Tupolev. All they had to do was not be in the exact same spot in the vastness of three-dimensional airspace, and they somehow managed to get there anyway
@@themountain3461 very true. So crazy
I feel really bad for the two controllers who have to live with that for the rest of their lives although they did nothing wrong.
The look on the controller's face when he heard that the planes crashed is another thing like he did the best he could and that look makes me sad
Not clearly depicted in this program, the KLM co-pilot said “We are now at takeoff” meaning that they are rolling down the runway. The controller said “Okay” with a long pause. Believing that the controller had finished his sentence the Pan Am co-pilot announced they were still on the runway. However the controller did not finish his sentence and was instead collecting his thoughts; he told the KLM crew “Standby for takeoff, I will call you”. But because both made these announcements at the same time the KLM crew heard neither to stay put and the Pan Am was still on the runway. Had either of these things been heard the KLM co-pilot likely would have caught that and the takeoff would have been aborted.
Another thing is that after the Pan Am co-pilot said “We’re still on the runway, Clipper 1736”, the controller said “Papa Alpha 1736 report runway clear”, instead of “Clipper 1736”. The KLM Captain and Co-pilot were not used to hearing the non-standard call sign of “Papa Alpha” and because they were focused on the take off didn’t recognize this. Also, what is the Pan Am to be clear of? Even with the use of “Papa Alpha” if the co-pilot or controller had said somewhere in their sentence “… off the runway”, the KLM pilots would have realized the Pan Am was still on the runway and aborted the takeoff.
The controller has to live with the guilt that if he had not taken that long pause after saying “Okay” and used more coherent phraseology, the collision may not have happened.
I think they actually did something wrong, ATC, they had created this situation in the first place. Why did they put both of them on the same runway in such poor visibility? It wasn't safe.
@@acr98disc Exactly, and the Pan Am captain wanted to wait for the KLM to takeoff first before going onto the runway but the controller wanted them to go. As English wasn't the controllers' first language he decided not to insist on waiting.
@@EpicJoshua314The Controllers had poor visability as well. They didnt have ground radar that detects the plane's movement on the ground. They had to rely on binoculars and radio communication with the pilots.
The Dutch pilot was 100% at fault in my opinion, not being able to wait, make the engines running before ATC controller spoke out all. Then he didn’t listen at his crew that pan am was left taxiing on runway.
Fully agree with you.
@@jaromir1942 the most stupid thing he did then, was HE ACTED SURPRISED WHEN the PAN AM 747 shown up in front of him
And who took extra fuel that wasn't needed to take another shortcut once he got to the first destination after his illegal takeoff.
@@fedoraphill8599 MR. KLM PILOT🫡
@@Aircraftsmusic dCapt. KL"M Taking Off without permission. No coment!
I realize they dramatized the KLM captain, but the fact they did not have clearance answers the question of "who is to blame"
sadly enough the behaviour of Captain Van Zanten was not dramatized , his behaviour was portrayed spot on , he was that arrogant , he was that impatient and he did have that little respect for his crew . his ivory tower that he lived on was "build" by KLM and it went to his head , in the cockpit he was god ( or so he thought) . me being dutch i have heard and read more about this captain then the news or documentaries will show because one should not speak ill of the dead , but in his case an exception should be made .
Well it wasn't too far from accurate. I've watched different documentaries on this crash and some have the actual cockpit recordings where you can hear how arrogant he was
RIGHT??
the level of human stupidity here is mind blowing, why send 2 planes into the runway with visibility so low???? just send 1 plane at a time; then these mor0ns in pan am moving at 3 mph taking for ever to find the f* exit knowing there's a plane ready to take off, and then obviously that CS of Van Zanten in the KLM...... just so sad.
@@dimievers5573 Good comment. Thank you. He should never have taken off.
Very informative documentary about the worst accident in aviation history, and I love how many survivor accounts were included, but jeez, whoever mixed the sound really did a terrible job.
The sound mixing is a bit rich but it’s okay. All they did is just find the appropriate sounds just for this whole documentary. Like for the planes, the explosions, the environment, etc. I can sympathize with what you’re saying, but at the same time, I also disagree. I think the sound mixing problem is the one where they translate what the Dutch people are saying. Because you can clearly hear them talk and the translated voice is at the same level of volume. At least Seconds From Disaster did a better job at doing that.
1:05:33 The sound starts to be so grumbled and it's impossible to understand anything. Narration even cuts and it's 3 different voices (Spanish speaking witness, translator and the narrator) talking over one another at the same volume, along with music which accompanies the narration.
I agree on this statement all the way around. There was too much narration dubbed over the re-enactment segments when the actors and actresses were talking and also, during the interpretation of one male passengers, the passenger's voice was at the same volume (or louder) as the interpreter's voice-over statements.. The volume of the passenger's voice should have much lower than that of the interpreter's voice.
I was hearing more spanish than the english translation when the runway coordinator, Roberto, was talking...smh
I have never watched such a biased documentary. The makers of this documentary have put their every effort to paint the Dutch Captain as a villain. Yes, he was a prominent figure but he was quite normal in his attitude towards others. Except this documentary, I never came through any source which described him as arrogant or rude like in this documentary. On that fateful day, he was stressed and wanted to fly as early as possible because his crew was exceeding permissible flight hours. He also wanted to keep his line from paying for accommodation of the passengers. The stress made him believe that he had got takeoff clearance which actually were the instructions for his flight once he is airborne (ATC Clearance). "stand-by call on the part of controllers was never heard in the KLM cockpit (and it is proven). He was not on suicide mission but made terrible mistake. And this mistake alone was not responsible for the crash. The PanAm did not follow controller's instructions either (for using third exit). More than all, it was a mismanagement on the part of Spanish Authorities who diverted huge traffic to a regional airport with very limited resources. Then after clearing Las Palmas Airport for security, flight operation was not started at Tenerife for hours without stating any reason. Like any accident, this too had multiple causes and human error was the major cause. While I am not convinced for acquitting Dutch Pilot entirely, I still believe it is an injustice to blame him as he was the alone who was responsible. This is also proven that accident could have been avoided despite KLM takeoff if PanAm would have used third exit as instructed. PanAm collided with KLM at the point well ahead of third exit. The only thing which goes against the Dutch Captain is that he should have been much more careful about the "runway clear" when he knew that another plane was following him.
that klm pilot is the kind of person i couldn't work for. can't tell him nothin' or offer an opinion as he knows everything and is always right and you will never know anything and will always be wrong.....kind of person.
That KLM pilot was sure in a hurry. Spending the night is better than never spending another night alive.
Better to get there late than never get there at all.
Not even spend the night. How long does it take just to wait for the Pan Am flight to finish taxiing ?
He also killed, what, nearly 600 people?
Jesus, the poor ATC. They were absolutely screwed on all fronts-- the fog too?! It's like Hell decided "lol yup today's the day" and lined up perfectly to take out as many people as possible in one go.
That KLM pilot should have stay home and I’m pretty sure every body would have been good… That was irresponsible.
the interpretation over the spanish guy is incomprehensible
I found that very irritating as well -
Every commercial pilot I’ve ever known has said never mess with fog. It’s the one thing will abort flying over.
I've seen this one many times and it still makes my eyes wet. I flue 5 days ago from London Luton to Edinburgh and our EasyJet captain told us we'll be delayed because of weather issues in Edinburgh and people got kinda mad. It's when you see such tragedies that you understand that later is better when planes are concerned.
Happy flying!
P.S: Got to love the atmosphere inside the Pan Am World class crew by all means!
I'm sorry you couldn't get out of Luton any faster.
Ikr you could see the difference between atmosphere in the pan am and the MLK
@@thara924 Let's leave the memory of Martin Luther King out of this...? 🙂
@@dexterpoindexter3583 💀💀
"If I sit in this little apartment it would be as if I'd died, and that's not fair to them" is what really got me
When my father and I went to Tenerife back in 1987, we actually made a trip to where the crash memorial was. He had a few friends on the PanAm flight who died in the disaster so he wanted to pay his respects. This was one of the first disasters I helped a friend of mine study when he was studying to get a job with the NTSB. The KLM captain made one bad decision after another. The worst one was probably fully refueling before going on to Los Palmas, which took half hour to 45 minutes to complete, and that pretty much allowed the fog to descend. Had his plane not had a full tank of fuel it might have been able to pull up and only clip the PanAm plane's top in stead of crashing through the top half. Due to the weight of the fuel tank, and the abrupt way they tried to pull up resulted in the tail strike, and the striking of the PanAm. The other fact is the flight crew of the KLM were flying with the best pilot and trainer in the company. They were scared to say dude we don't have clearance, because at that time the Captain was considered God in the cockpit. The only one who caught that the PanAm wasn't clear was the flight engineer, and the Captain swore that the Captain of the PanAm had said they were clear the runway. The Captain of the PanAm tried his best to get his plane out of the way, but he was faced with an impossible choice.
The Dutch captain probably could have been avoiding those mistakes and problems if not the strictness of the company rules that wanted him and the crew not to "overwork". Of course those who made those rules were thiinking they're doing the right thing. Instead, they made not just this ill-fated pilot, but many others to hurry up instead of calmly thinking and waiting patiently for as many hours as they had to. I think if a force majour situation happens one should not think of the stupid rules written for "normal" situation. If the Dutch captain knew for sure he won't be fined or punished for the delay that caused him and co-pilot, technically, overworking, he wouldn't make that disastrous decision and would not try to take off in a hurry.
I never get mad when I am flying and delayed happened. Sometimes you don't know what possibly in front of you of what is going to happen.
This cuts both way tho, there are ppl who were delayed and put on the next flight that crashed, but I think it’s healthy attitude to be patient if the delay was caused by safety reasons then you’ll know 100% for sure it’s for your own good.
The part where you show all those hundreds of coffins lined up in a pile, that's chilling.
the editor clearly decided to prioritize the uncut original dialogue rather than the narrators voice.
I LOVE uncut dialog people say a lot of things in an serious emergency that they ordinary wouldn't say
It's more realistic when they are allowed to swear and it's not like the passengers heard the. Cussing besides they were in an emergency situation no ones thinking about potty language
Truly baffling sound mixing happening in this documentary. Otherwise, it was pretty well done overall.
actually these are not the uncut dialogue , there are other documentaries around that actually do use the real audio tapes from ATC , cockpit voice recorders from both KLM and Pan-AM , these are not those , for one thing the language the KLM crew in cockpit and cabin would use is Dutch , not to atc though . the final last words of Van Zanten are word for word what he said before he ran into Pan-Am as per cockpit voice recorder transcripts .
@@dimievers5573 how on earth did the investigators get access to the KLM CVR if the entire plane exploded and burned after hitting Pan-Am?
Honestly the KLM thinking “we must leave now or we will get penalized” was stupid because I guarantee you they would have been understanding of the situation
I've seen so many different videos/documentaries about this accident. Each time my heart hopes that the Pan Am would get off the runway and all this would be avoided, even though i know what's about to happen. So tragic.
If only the time could unwind like the sky with victorial murder
Same...
It's like watching the Titanic try to avoid the iceberg. You already know what's going to happen, but you still can't help but hope desperately for a different outcome.
The more I watch these I see how safe planes are and MOST accidents are from human error flying the plane, or human error not repairing the plane correctly, true accidents are pretty rare.
WHAT are 'true' accidents???
@@mr.blackhawk142 good question. I'll camp here for an answer
They’re all caused by human error, either by design flaws or pilot/ATC error/intention.
@@mr.blackhawk142 Nature creating an unwinnable situation.
@@mr.blackhawk142 i think they mean either mechanical malfunction or nature influenced accidents.
Imagine not dying immediately after the crash and having to witness the last seconds of your existence.what a tragedy!
Imagine both you and your wife survive but you have to watch as she passes. That would be way worse.
Horrible accident. Brilliantly made documentary. The deeper I get (about 55% through as I write this), getting more and more filled with dread.
I wish I could agree, but the portrayal of the KLM captain is pretty absurd. There is absolutely no record of him saying "I suggest you drag them back, NOW!" They've made him into a villain based mainly on myth and a good dose of speculation.
they were lucky that can happen after takeoff no one life, who they were live
no one can see that man kept the time on the flower pot, where they (the airport security force) were, why they didn't there present when the man carries the bomb
misunderstanding & they shouldn't follow each other in bad weather, if PAN AM waiting for an hour they can avoid a collision
@ekhangel I respect your opinion; I’ve not done any comparisons, just conveyed my response to how this program built a sense of dread, impending inexorable doom. I was quite absorbed and was viscerally upset as the story advanced. Which versions of this story would you suggest? Thanks!
I included a part about Van Zanten in my senior seminar research project in college on the effects of proper teamwork as opposed to the results of actions from individuals who do not willingly work together. Van Zanten was an impetuous man who could not be bothered with so much as the slightest inconvenience and who felt everyone else was beholden to him at all times. His entire mindset was a disaster waiting to happen and the Dutch never realized exactly how dangerous of a man he was. It is quite obvious he looked down his nose at his fellow pilots and felt they were all beneath him. As a result he is responsible for the deaths of 583 people.
This is one of the incidents, which initiated better development on CRM. Remember, this happened in the 70's and the capitan was already 50 years old. So he is basically from the war and post war generation. Hierarchies among elders were a lot more common back then compared to today. Speaking up against a senior was considered rude and disrespectful to their authority. This has luckily largely changed and exists a lot less nowadays, especially among western cultures, but there still are boomers out there, who think they are unmistakable gods who won't take a younger person telling them otherwise.
Jacob Louis Veldhuyzen van Zanten (5 February 1927 - 27 March 1977
he is responsible for the deaths of 583 people for taking off without clearence, he was in a rush
@@Paralyzer true
@@LS-Moto Boomergram,that's because we're constantly thinking and not staring at our phones!
How do you know? Maybe he just had one bad day.
I love these documentaries, I've seen the other versions of this accident but they never have this many people in the interviews. Keep up the good work!
This exact same video is already uploaded.
It’s probably an actual show on Veely
I usually watch these on The Smithsonian channel.
The official accident report states, that Van Zanten was actually behaving in a kind and calm manner, but rapidly changed his attitude and behaviour when they made that 180 degree turn at the end of the runway. Apparently the guy saw that the visual conditions were changing rapidly and feared being stranded on Tenerife. The only thing on his mind was to get airborne and land at Las Palmas as soon as possible, without violating the Dutch maximum flying time. His mind became so fixated on the idea of getting airborne that he unwittingly wanted to start the takeoff run right after positioning the plane, only to be stopped by his 1st officer saying, that they have no clearance. The 1st officer did not challenge Van Zanten further, because he himself became sure that Pan Am is clear of the runway. Once again, the official report states, that when KLM flight engineer had expressed his concern over Pan Am not being clear - both Van Zanten and the 1st officer Meurs responded simultaneously, that they are sure Pan Am is clear. After spotting the american jet clipper through the fog, both reacted in desperation by starting a premature rotation - the alternative was full emergency braking, which would have resulted in collapse of the front landing gear from extreme forces (all fuel tanks were full) and they would have crashed at 260 km/h into Pan Am, which would kill everyone in a horrible inferno.
Thank you
I wonder what would have saved more people. Braking or Rotation.
@@maxfullerton5228 rotation hence we have witnesses on this documentary
But....what actually convinced the first officer that it was also safe to take off?? You make it sound like it wasn't the fault of KLM. How could it not be, though? They never actually got clearance!
I'm not saying that they didn't act correctly at the end, when the only alternative was to try to brake vs rotate early. They obviously saved lives by rotating. But they could have saved hundreds more by, ya know, not taking off in the first place... :/
The Dutch Captain Bligh developed a very bad case of get-there-itis. I doubt that condition will ever disappear.
I see that you are a man!!!
The Dutch captain developed a very bad case of being an arrogant pr*ck.
In the us we call it go fever
The Dutch Captain wanted to stay on schedule and not go over the maximum flight hours for fear of severe disciplinary action from his employer. I’m not sticking up for the guy…..just indicating an outside factor that contributed to the Captain’s frustration which distracted his attention from proper decision making. I think the airport should have been shut down until the fog cleared.
@@penelopelopez8296 definitely should have been shut down to out going for sure...but if the captain wouldn't have been blocking the other planes they could have long have fueled up and been long gone ,before his departure.
I feel bad for the air traffic controllers working by themselves when this tragedy happened. They were confronted by a situation they had never dealt with before due to circumstances beyond their control. There may have been communication issues between the air traffic controllers and bad weather that contributed to the accident but the main reason in my mind which many others seem to agree on is that the principle reason and factor this tragedy happened was because of the impatience of the KLM pilot Vanzant who was desperate to keep to a schedule despite dangerous weather conditions which complicated the normal landing and takeoff operations of the small airport that wasn’t used to such heavy traffic conditions.
Yes if terrorists hadn’t place a bomb or bombs at the other airport where a number of other planes were headed, or if weather conditions had deteriorated so badly, or any number of links in the chain of events hadn’t happened this accident probably wouldn’t have happened. Ultimately in the end primary responsibility for the Tenerife air tragedy falls squarely on KLM captain Vanzant and his apparent lack of respect for dangerous conditions and his willingness to risk passengers lives in dangerous or potentially unsafe conditions by taking off without making sure he was completely cleared for takeoff. I don’t know what kind of person Vanzant was but based on the documentary he seemed more concerned about himself and how delays or setbacks on his flights would affect him rather than be concerned with the safety of his passengers whose lives he clearly was willing risk despite the dangerous foggy conditions that obscured visibility on the ground.
It falls on the terrorists for the mayhem that led to the incident and deaths...
@@irenedemarco1354 How?? The captain made extremely obvious mistakes and blatantly disregarded air traffic control because he was in a hurry.
That is called blaming others for your mistake bud. It’s easy to blame the “most bad” people in the situation but this is a perfect example of taking “personal responsibility”.
'I certainly 👍 agree with you on this pilot.he could of delayed takeoff, cuz of very bad dangerous weather conditions and visibility. This tragedy could of certainly been prevented. May he and all his passengers rest in peace.
@@allisoncastle
The terrorists set bombs in the major airport, that led to the set of circumstances where resources were strained to the max, on the smaller island, not set up to take all the flight traffic...
Yes the pilot was freaked out over air mile restrictions and the breakdown in comms referencing the off ramp...
A massive cluster f***, all set in motion by jerks that in the end, killed all those innocent people....
@@irenedemarco1354 I guess we just have different perspectives! Either way it’s of course such a tragedy.
And by the way I do put SOME blame on the terrorists, but just less than you. No disrespect
*The sad part* is that the people waited for hours on ground just to die taking off... And that the added fuel to the KLM put more weight on the aircraft, so if he didn't refuel, the plane would have been lighter and might took off earlier missing the other plane... Instead it became explosive like a Molotov coctail.
Controller: “The fog was so bad we couldn’t see either airplane”
Pilot: “I think he had seen us go by the first exit”
I am so sorry for the the passengers on the plane. But I think the people most effected are the controllers. Imagine feeling stabbed in the heart knowing all these people died, just trying to do you job but it is impossible, seeing everything unfold. They will forever carry the weight of feeling like they failed, failed in their job and failed 100s of people and their families.
never buy a volkswagen!!!!! they break they are expensive and they scam you on warrantees
The people must affected were the people who lost their lives and their families who lost them, without comparison. And then the poor controllers who were puzzled by circumstances. It’s tragic and very sad 😢
While not a Mayday Episode, still excellent in it's own right.
This is a Mayday spinoff
This is the reason we now have “Crew Resource Management” to prevent the pilot from having absolute power in all decision making. Arrogance is ultimately what killed these people, along with the mentality that you shouldn’t question the pilot….ever!
Passengers were so patient and polite. Today, there'd be a bunch of screaming Karen's on board
Incredible how the Dutch authorities and or KLM laid blame on the air traffic controllers, although proven incorrect.The KLM captain was the poster boy in their advertising campaigns at the time but his reckless behaviour and attitude caused the loss of so many lives.
It's a High stakes game buddy, when incidents at this magnitude happen nobody wants to take responsibility for 583 deaths, So, the dutch simply put blame on the Spanish controllers. Even cpt. Jacob Vanzanten is poster boy of KLM airlines at that time, the airline also wouldn't want to have their poster boy at the blame chair,,,!!!
I am now 70 years old and this still haunts me. I was living and working in Spain and had gone to the Canary Islands on vacation. Two weeks after I returned to Spain, this crash took place. We were always convinced the air traffic controllers were distracted by the Soccer (football) game. I had no idea of the bomb and severe weather. Interesting documentary.
And I imagine the Dutch version of events is remembered a bit differently as well
Cheers
I am Dutch, and I feel very sorry for everything that happened❤
i dont usually get angry while learning about a plane crash but this one makes me livid. i cant belive how ignorant the klm pilot was. all he cared about was getting back to amsterdam in time, not the safety of his passangers. also he obviously looked down on the flight attendants, co-pilot and flight engeneer. all i wanna do is yell in his face.
You can't believe everything these docs claim. They make a caricature of KLM captain. Very little of it is confirmed fact. We can only say for sure that the KLM captain made a bad mistake. The assumption he didn't care about safety is pure speculation.
@@cchris874 The fact that he didn't wait for clearance is evidence that he didn't care about safety.
@@jenniferl6553
Speculation
@@jenniferl6553
It's speculation because you assume this couldn't have been an honest mistake. Why would you assume that?
@@cchris874 By taking off without clearance sure shows he didn’t cared.
During the clips where an interpreter was also speaking at the same time as the originator, I found it impossible to hear/understand what either was saying (even though I know both languages). Perhaps if done at alternate volumes, it would be easier to choose and focus on a singular language, and thereby understand.
HASTE IS THE ENEMY OF PERFECTION .
Imagine a fog so bad that they can't even spot a burning plane just a few 100m away from the other one💀
They should have grounded all flights.
@@Seren_ity22 it's because of accidents like this that now we do
shouldnt have took off in this much fog in the first place, cant even see half the runway for damnsake!
What a horrible accident. Mercy!🙏🏼
I am amazed that planes can take off in thick fog. To me its a pity the conrol tower had the Pan Am flight follow on the runway 😑
@@raphaelahons3479 One distributing factor is there was no ground radar at Tenerife in that era. Despite the fact there was quite often thick fog in the area around that airport.
Why the high five?
This accident happened because the pilot who took off didn’t completely listen, and air traffic control failed to call off all take offs because of the fog.
Can't blame a plane for being on the runway still when you haven't been given clearance.
Two planes trying to leave at the same time, would have been nice to make sure one was airborne before the other starts to take off. RIP to the ones who didn't survive. 🙏
The controllers were honestly handling it the best they could with the increasing difficulty of the situation. If that guy had'nt tried to rush a take off the other plane would've gotten out of the way in time and the whole thing would've been avoided.
@Cloud-dt6xb
Still, ATC created a situation like that, he shouldn't have brought 2 aircrafts on the same runway at the same time in poor visibility especially knowing they are not familiar with airport, that's a recipe for an accident.
Of course, Van Zanten played a major roll, but he is not the only one to blame. He died, you can't ask anything from him.
The passengers being dragged into the doomed plane was so heartbreaking to see. They had no idea they were being dragged to their inevitable death.
I cannot wrap my head around the fact that this tragedy took place almost 55 years ago. Airline disasters, even the old ones, always seem so recent.
1977! I was born in 1977 and I'm 45
How do you get this to 55 years??😂😂🤣
This happened 45 years ago.
@@GREGOR7711
Oh yes, you are right. 😂
@@thetechnocrat4979 lemme guess. You're as Dutch as that KLM guy :D
45 years ago not 55 lol
The one thing I type on TH-cam every day - “Wonder plane crash”. I’ve watched all but I still keep waiting! Thanks for uploading this one :)
So true....
I feel the same.
Please Keep it up ...
Same! I'm so addicted, even though it's made me paranoid about flying lol
Still gives me chills this incident. Can’t even imagine what the passengers had to go through. Absolute terror.
@@potatopiegames
ABSOLUTELY.
@@eileenpritchard9154 ROCKY!!!!!!
What happened that day is absolutely horrific! May all these people Rest in Peace.
My parents met in Tenerife. I still can't understand how they managed to communicate with a mother who could only speak English at the time and my father, just French or let alone, fall in love in one week! I admire their relationship ❤. Love can truly be wonderful and full of mystery!
Van Zanten’s hubris and ego definitely played a major role in this disaster. I can’t believe he was KLM’s “poster boy”. He definitely let it all go to his head.
No, I don't think his ego played a role. That implies he deliberately breached the take off regulations, which is unthinkable.
@@cchris874 clearly you’ve never had the displeasure of having your life completely destroyed by a narcissist then. His ego definitely played a role in his remarkable negligence during takeoff.
@@JrsBoatRocker
Let's test that. Tell me how you know his ego caused the crash. Be specific.
@@cchris874
1) ignoring orders to not take off
2) refuelling when he does not know when he will be clear to take off again
3) his subordinates being too scared to say anything against his orders
These are all mistakes a seasoned pilot should NOT be making. These are mistakes that are either hubris or just sheer utter negligence and stupidity, either way he’s not fit to be in that seat at this time
@@laurakastrup
The point I was making is that it's speculation to say ego caused the crash.
I know this accident in extreme detail, so just a few comments.
"ignoring orders to not take off'
That's unlikely though possible. More likely IMO that Van Zanten was prematurely revving his engines because this was common practice on early 747s; or, it may have been to take off even faster once the brakes were release. This is called a short field take off which I have personally experienced on a TWA flight. So Meurs warning was more likely "hey, you're doing the pre-rev prematurely."
The refueling was absolutely sound operating procedure, as Mentour Pilot states in his Tenerife video. The crew had to balance the possible weather delay at Tenerife versus a possible long queue for refueling at Las Palmas. Further, it's not standard practice to say "well, in an hour from now we might possibly be fogged in, let's take off an hour early." Especially as they did not know the history of the tendency of low clouds to form at this airport.
The scared factor is up for debate. Meurs' colleaugue, Jan Bartelski, said he was quite outspoken based on flying numerous trips with him. Not only did he check the captain to wait for their airways clearance, he also made several other comments during the taxi, answering Van Zanten's questions, who seemed to not have been processing ATC's taxi instructions. I think the reason Meurs did not speak up again is because of the "OK" they received from ATC, confirming his belief they had the proper clearance. This is also confirmed by the fact that BOTH Van Zanten and Meurs answered the FE's query simultaneously: "yes, he's cleared."
I remember when I was 12 going on holiday to Tenerife with my parents. The reckage of the crash was still at the side of the runway. It was very eeire and sad. I'm now 56 and will never forget. 😢
This accident's horror is only matched by how easy it was to avoid!
Arrive late and then tell your bosses why!
Words like "Terrorist" and "bombing" should help them understand!
You would be suprised
It's easy to say that in hindsight. But companies don't care
If only somebody told the KLM Crew and the Pan AM crew about the terrorists and the bombing.
I have a feeling there are more cocky, ego-driven pilots than the public are aware of.
This is still the deadliest airline crash in history.
@Brandy Balloon
💯
Ive had to deal with bossy arogant pilots i nearly died cause of 1 of them.
I was a taxi driver and had a contract with flybee to move flight crews around when planes got diverted to other airports.
had a call to pickup a flight crew pilot and co pilot only from Southampton airport and take them to Exeter airport at 6 in the morning and get them their by 10.
got there to pick them up on time but they decided they were not ready to go and wanted to have breakfast 1st. it was 8 before they finnaly decided to get in my car. so only had 2 hrs to do a 4 hr trip. i was getting close to my driving limit and would be well over it by the time i got them to Exeter.
They demanded i turn off the radio close the windows and turn the heating on full blast as they wanted to have a sleep. got halfway there and i was starting to fall asleep due to the heat. nearly crashed into a tree as i started to fall asleep and couldnt keep my eyes open. the pilot shouted at me to watch were i was going which woke me up. i opened the window turned the radio on and put the AC on to keep me awake and they started moaning at me. so i turned round and told them. u might be the captian on a plane but in my car im the boss so shut the hell up or get out and walk the rest of the way. didnt hear a peep out of them the rest of the way and turned up 2 hrs late and they got in trouble after they tried to say it was my fault that i turned up late. but the staff at the other end let them know i would be late cause the pilot didnt want to leave on time. i had already been working for 12 hrs and was supposed to knock off at 6 AM but had to do that job cause it was a contract job so had no choice and none of the other drivers were free to do it.
if they had of come out on time it wouldnt of been a prob i could of got them their on time then checked into a hotel near the airport and slept.
Fault percentage:
KLM 70% taking off without clearance
PAN AM 5% missing the right exit
ATC 15% with that weather they should cancel all take offs, or at least be sure that you have one plane on the runway only, and not put another plane to taxi the runway UNTIL the other has confirmed taking off.
Bombers 10% for obvious reasons
Dishonourable mentions:
Spanish government for not equipping the airport with the right tech
KLM for their stupid strict rules. Punishing the crew for reasons beyond their control (like weather)
A great documentary for such a tragic event. Thank you for posting and hosting these videos. I recall there have been a few versions of this production, one, in particular, talked more about the investigation into the accident. The version I remember touched on how the KLM, the PanAm, and the Control Tower all spoke at the same time, during that crucial comment where the Pan Am said "we're still taxing down the runway". I believe all the KLM heard was static through their headsets because the Control Tower spoke at the same time as the Pan Am made that comment. A perfect storm of specific conditions resulted in such a tragedy.
The stupid KLM captain was so arrogant and pompous he wouldn't have heard anything but that stupid thing in his head telling him if he didn't get moving now they would have to get another captain and there goes his stupid reputation
Amazing her love saved her life wow...still together 👍
One small decision can sometimes make the difference in life and death situations sometimes.
I can’t image the survivors guilt she felt.😢
@@equarg I think the guy who find the two Dutch kids must feel very guilty
I was there when this crash happened. I was coming down the steps from my flight when this terrible accident occurred.
😮😮
Wow
It would’ve been too foggy to see it
@@sliceofnoob3066 He definitely would've heard it
😳👀😳
Dutch Captain is a real prima Donna!!
paulboulter7823 perhaps so, realizing both flights had been in the air for numerous hours. Believe that the Dutch airline had a restraint of hours for flight. So its understandable they wanted to get back to home base, w/o exceeding those flight hours. I think they may have been able to that, if they had not refuled at los Palmas; they did have enough fuel to go back to previous airport that reopened. Unfortunately Klm captain decided to refuel, while doing that the other airport reopened, during this time weather was becoming poor, fog, rain, temperatures dropping, no visibility, no ground radar, no center lighting. After all this years still remains a tragic event between two 747s on ground not in flight.
I almost died on the Pan Am 747. I was evacuated and escorted to the nearest Hospital as my left Foot And Right Arm was burnt and had to go in an operation due to my Right arm burnt. Only 61 of us survived. I would never Forget the incident i was in.
Oh I hope ur alright now , sad to hear about it....
cool story bro
"If I hadn't found them, they would be alive today" 😢
Pooooooo
😔 sad
@Nix……You said it’s busier BUT is it better?
or all of them. cause it might cause a delay that would save them all, but who knows.
Nnn
What a horror story. A narcissist at the wheel... of course that does not end well. It's sad that in this situation nobody was sent by car carrying a portable radio to go and see what the situation is on the runway just to make sure. Both pilots and traffic controllers had no view on where the plains were. Just thinking out loud.
Exactly. They should have used pilot vehicles with sirens blowing and lights flashing to guide each of the two planes to the correct designated spot and then helped the KLM plane to take off using ground staff with flags/signs and walkie talkies.
I love this point of view of the incident. In other ones I’ve watched, it emphasizes radio interference from the klm.
There was zero radio interference sadly. It was the Dutch KLM Captain's impatience and arrogance.
I feel so bad for that ATC at las palmas, I can’t imagine how horrible he must have felt when he learned of the crash on the runway. The poor guy must have felt totally responsible for getting all of those poor people killed when in actuality it was the KLM captain who got everyone on his plane and most of the people on the PanAm flight killed because he took off without take off clearance from ATC.
Honestly this would make a great movie. Im surprised Hollywood has never made one, since they made United 93 and Sully and whatnot already.
In this crash, 583 people died. 61 people escaped. Everybody on the KLM aircraft has died. KLM eventually admitted primary responsibility in the accident as they begun takeoff without ATC permission.
This version has its own heterodynes. In the explanations after the events conclude, the narration is almost exactly as loud as the conversations being discussed; so we can barely make out either one.
In a very eerie way, that makes it easier for us to feel as the crews and controllers must have felt. They had transmissions chopped, vital messages went unnoticed because of rushing and engine noise, frustration was building with the time pressure; plus inching their way past the dimly visible runway exits while trying to be sure they knew where they were, and of course all that fog...
Guillermo came to me and said; two jumbos collided in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 580 people died , we were ready to take a long trip from Arlington, Texas to Los Angeles the next day! I will never forget his anguish, since his dream was to become a comercial Airline pilot some time soon! Do you remember that Guillermo Jonas? If you still alive, I am very sure you see this video quite often! By the way your Daughter Veronica is doing just fine! She is 43 years old now!
God help them . This is the worst of the, flight disasters I have seen. I travelled all my life and so grateful I never saw this. Thank God I will never need to fly again.
This type of disaster is impossible to repeat nowadays. Simple ground radar does the trick.
The only runway yet they had plenty of fuel to be diverted to different runways. I understand them wanting to stay close but they should have known the tiny space was not going to handle the traffic coming to them.
Have*
My thoughts exactly. Just a really bad situation waiting for a much worse one to happen, which unfortunately did.
And unless anyone can provide proof otherwise, the arrogance of the KLM captain was the catalyst for this horrible tragedy, imho.
People can make as many excuses as they want for the KLM captain, but as far as I’ve always seen in these documentaries, his biggest responsibility is for the safety of his passengers and crew, and he paid the ultimate price for violating it.
Watching this in 2022 and it feels like an 80s movie 🎬
No way was flight control responsible for the crash of KLM and Pan Am. They did everything possible to try to handle an impossible situation.
My question is why is there only one runway? and not a takeoff and landing runway? if you can build a plane you should surely be smart enough to think of these weather conditions
@@virtualcity721 remember the planes were diverted to this airport... it was designed for smaller planes and therefore doesn't need a second runway which would just cost more to build
Back when I discovered this disaster, I only watched it once in my life. Today I vividly remember the first time; how shocked I was that the KLM plane rippied through the Pan Am plane.
What?
You witnessed this disaster in person?
Years ago, I heard a cassette tape with a man talking who was a survivor of this crash. He was a Christian, and he talked about how he was in his mother's kitchen talking with her before his trip. As their custom was, they got down on their knees and prayed on her kitchen floor, that God would be with him and watch over him on this trip. He credited God for saving his life. It was a really inspiring story. VERY sad how many people lost their lives. Heart breaking.. I wish I could hear that tape again. It is very sad that the Dutch airline had such very strict rules, and that the pilot was under such pressure.
That is why the KLM captain isn't solely responsible. There are multiple factors, each plays a contributing role on accidents like theses. It's easy to blame one individual, but it isn't always the right thing to do. What you want to do is ask yourself: "How could this have happened?" and/or "Why did this occur?"
@@davidbailey6917 ~~ if you give the KLM captain a pass on some of the radio transmissions cancelling each other out - plus some degree of language barrier between flight crew & tower - you still must consider the heavy fog that had rolled in - and if you are not sure about clarity of radio transmissions - and you can't see far enough down the runway - any good pilot who puts the safety of his passengers & crew above all else would have waited until they got definite clearance that the Pan Am jet had gotten completely off the runway before starting their takeoff run - it would have taken only another minute or two ..
@billyz5088 You're right! The fog is also a major factor in this accident. The KLM crew can't see Pan Am and the tower can't see the airport, because of the fog. They had to rely only on talking to each other. But the transmissions were not crystal clear, because of the linguistic problem. So the KLM captain isn't really to blame.
"as long as human beings are involved, accidents always take place"
Bro I read this as soon as he started said this
@@erickadavenport8755 sadly, the term human error is too common.
machines make mistakes too
@@trilexfix Machines don't make mistakes (unless you're talking about malfunctioning instruments or mechanical parts for example), unless you're talking about things like the 737 MAX Suicide Software.
@@alexgonzalez6115 What’s the difference between malfunctioning and a mistake
I don't remember the Tenerife air crash, I was 11 years old at the time, am now 56 year's old. The reason I know about the tragedy is by reading about it in a book I have at home. Very sad tragedy which let's hope will never, ever, happen again.
Such a tragic accident.may god rest all their souls in peace.i give all my love and condolences to their family and friends.xx.
An effing log book compliance cost all these people their lives. What a life saver
I agree. Although most of the blame lies with the KLM pilot, I do empathize with him regarding the pressure the rules put on him.
its amazing the talented actors this series gets, tthey are so believable. .like the last moments of the captain on the klm flight
The passengers' impatience about the airplanes' delay to deliver them to their destination is a sign of sheer human stupidity.
We are so eager to live the future that we forget that *NOW* is the only certain time we'll be alive.
Tenerife was a long time ago, thank goodness we learned from it. Too bad the things we learn are written in other peoples' blood.
It’s a wonder anyone survived.
I think there were 61 survivors on the pan am plane. None in the klm.
@@helloitsian7090 only one and that was the girl who ditched because of her boyfriend... just one small decision...
@@helloitsian7090except for the one girl who reboard.
@@Whitneypyant she didn’t survive the crash, she avoided it. She wasn’t involved in the crash.
100% on the KLM pilot. Took off without clearance.
This was not an accident,this was a totally preventable incident... 😪🙏
That's the definition of an accident.
@@NotGord i mean if something is forseeable,but the driver chooses to ignore the signs or instructions/safety protocol...then it is NOT an accident,it is blatant disregard for the rules of the road/sky and safety of others... Not an accident.😞
@@NotGord more like gross negligence on behalf of the KLM pilot
@@66kaisersoza I agree that this was more than just an accident but the way the comment originally put it as made it out to be the definition of an accident.
The Dutch captain took off without ATC permission
Horrible sound editing. Sometimes too many people talk all at once or the music interferes with voices. Just amateurish
41:31 Is it wrong I Love how the pilots are straight viding, and having a good time !!!!
Folly of mankind must be always kept in check.. RIP to those who perished in this accident
Never heard of this story- Until Today watching this documentary!!! Thank you so much for sharing
Horrifying. Wonder what was recorded on the "black boxes"....