Two Boeing 747s Collide on the Same Runway | Worst Air Crash in History
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ค. 2024
- Here's the story of the deadliest accident in aviation history. The crash occurred when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision took place when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff roll while Pan Am Flight 1736 was still on the runway.
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:23 PanAm B747 Approaching Gran Canaria
1:36 Flight Crew of Flight 1736
2:21 KLM B747 Approaching the Canary Islands
3:00 Flight Crew of Flight 4805
3:55 Emergency at Gran Canaria Airport
4:22 Diversion to Los Rodeos Airport
5:10 Traffic Jam at Los Rodeos Airport
6:00 Disenbarking Passengers
6:41 KLM B747 Blocking the Way
8:34 Taxiing and Takeoff Preparations
9:52 PanAm B747's Crew Mistake
11:16 Communication Misunderstandings
13:07 Radio Interference
13:49 No Visibility
14:17 KLM B747 Begins its Takeoff Roll
14:59 Collision
16:35 Investigation - เกม
This disaster is why you will never hear the word "takeoff" from ATC unless you are actually being cleared for takeoff (or if your takeoff clearance is being cancelled). If they need to give you instructions to follow after you takeoff, you'll hear "after departure" or similar. (And, if your takeoff clearance is cancelled you'll probably hear "stop immediately" or similar too)
What was the controller's explanation for telling the Pan Am flight crew to take the "3rd" (and opposite facing) turn? Wasn't he suppose to instruct them to take the "4th" (forward facing) turn? He screwed up.
What stood out to me was the ambiguity in the radio traffic which allowed the KLM captain to interpret what he heard to be confirm what he wanted. Is there a command that ATC can use in a situation that has become confused or unclear, basically a command to freeze, no one move everyone report status?
@@isabellind1292 Taking a guess he was ignoring the 148 degree turns required and possibly the difficulty of a flight crew to spot the third turn. in favor of clearing the Pan Am aircraft from the runway faster for the KLM to depart. That would also allow the next two aircraft to advance sooner once KLM and Pan Am had departed with one taking the intended KLM route the second taking the intended Pan AM route holding short. Just a guess......
Well basically if there was vision problems of the pan sm flight and they couldn't see anything ahead why didnt they contact ATC yo double check everything and casually say to ATC were not going to hit anything are we if the klm were taking a while to fuel why didnt they give him a new take off slot ftom bits I'm reading you don't tske off unless ATC has used words clear for take off
That change was instituted after this accident. Also, the use of the "OK" was no longer allowed.
This accident is such a tragic example of the swiss cheese model: everything lining up in the wrong way. If the bomb hadn't gone off, the planes would've landed normally; if the fog hadn't rolled in, they would've seen each other; if the KLM captain hadn't refueled, he would've cleared the Pan Am; etc. So much went wrong for this to happen. Amazing job covering this accident and everything that went into it
Also, if they'd let Pan Am wait in that holding pattern instead, this might have been avoided. It would have been the right 'yes' at the right time.
You're right, but you can't say that, they're accidents because of the stream of events leading up to. It's like a road traffic accident, if you hadn't go held up refuelling, or the traffic was red instead of green, stopped for lunch etc. etc.., same thing, you wouldn't have been involved.
The heterodyne.
And wasn't the Pan Am blocked from leaving due to the KLM being refueled in front of him, so the Pan Am couldn't get by and take off?
Also that the airport at that time only had one runway, they were not equipped to handle one but two 747s. There were other smaller planes awaiting departure when the klm and pan am arrived. There are so many if's. a. the pan am was allowed to maintain a holding pattern rather than landing. b. Capt Grubbs of the pan am voiced that he wanted to wait till klm departed, rather than backtracking on the same runway. c. If klm had departed rather than refueling. d. Weather played a part as well, it would be clear for the most part, then fog would be rolling in unexpectedly as well as rain/winds. Such an incident that could have possibility be avoided, a lose of many passengers on the airplanes. Read recently a while ago, the young lady that did not reboard the klm, since she lived on the island, passed away a few years ago. Perhaps as the years passed she may have experienced guilt. She had tried to ask her friends that were traveling with her to not reboard and stay with her. They were with a travel agency group coming back from the Netherlands after a seminar. Even after all this time, this is still on record for that year in aviation, the deadliest incident.
Also contributing was Van Zanten's status within the airline. In this pre-CRM era, the captain was king but Jacob was King of Kings at KLM. His frustration and anxiety over the flight time restriction was building and building during the hour before the accident and when the Pan Am crew asked about how long is was going to take them to finish refueling, they got an angry "About 35 minutes" and an abrupt hang up. There are so many turning points in this accident scenario that could have short circuited the disaster it's almost unbelievable. I remember the pictures on the news and in the newspapers and it looked like complete carnage. PBS did a fantastic documentary on this crash in their NOVA series many years ago including a first hand account from Robert Bragg. How the flight crew survived was pure luck. The KLM engine #4 went through the Pan Am about 10 feet from the cockpit destroying and killing everyone in the upper lounge section and peeling the entire top of the fuselage off. Bragg said he instinctively reached up for the fire bottle handles and saw only sky. He looked back over his shoulder and he could see the entire open fuselage of the plane back to the vertical stabilizer. He said it looked like someone had taken a knife and chopped off the entire top of the plane.
It makes you wonder where the frustration and anxiety came from. Seeing his face on an advertisement where KLM is bragging about they’re more punctual than other airlines suggests there could’ve been significant corporate pressure to deliver on time arrivals, particularly from the man whose picture is literally in the ad. I can only imagine the pressure he must’ve been feeling, and the realization and regret when he saw the other plane through the fog.
While the fact remains the pilot is ultimately responsible for the error, pressure to deliver on time has been a factor in countless crashes as well, and is worth recognizing. Pilots have to learn to recognize when they experience this feeling of time pressure / “I’m gonna get in trouble” / “this is taking too long” and check themselves that they’re still being safe and doing their jobs properly. People in tons of professions have to learn this skill, from waiters to medical personnel and everyone in between.
@@rxw5520 It's a combination of pressure to deliver on the punctuality promise, and becoming basically a superstar within the company.
@@rxw5520 It wasn't on time performance for the airlines. It was about flight crew work hour restrictions. He was in a desperate hurry to get back to Amsterdam because if the predicted flight time back would result in them exceeding the time limit, they would not be able to fly, the passengers would need to be put up for the night and another crew flown in to fly them out. He even joked in the cockpit during the refueling when asked by Meurs what happens when flight hours are exceeded that their licenses would be taken away and their lives would be over.
@@MrCrystalcranium oh yeah I’d forgotten about that. Whether the pressure comes from the company, the government, aviation authorities etc, the point remains the same though. When you think you’re gonna “get in trouble” / have your license revoked etc, that is pressure you have to acknowledge and still put safety first. I do it in my job regularly. It’s a skill that can be learned.
@@rxw5520 The longest lived legacy of this crash is the word "Takeoff" is never used except in an explicit clearance for the aircraft to start rolling. For all other instances referring to the initial stages of the flight, the word "departure" is used. Thinking about my initial post, I believe it was the engine shutoff switches/valves Bragg was looking for when he reached up and saw nothing. That's why engine #2 on the Pan Am was running at full throttle after the crash. It sat in that condition until it began to self destruct injuring and killing passengers who had escaped the fiery inferno.
This accident is so horrific, and the young lady that didn't board the KLM plane to instead see her boyfriend, must have nightmares of that day. I hope she doesn't suffer survivors guilt. Great re-enactment of the tragic events. R.I.P. to those souls lost that terrible day.
I saw a documentary a few years back where she is in it. You could see the look on her face that this accident had a significant impact on her life because she lost friends on that flight that she was travelling with.
She further delayed the flight with her decision to just not show up instead of notifying the airport that she would not be boarding. She is also complicit in this chain of events.
@@harpomarx7777 barely, and you cannot call it her fault in the slightest because of that
Don't forget the "kiddies" that KLM had to hunt down that were off playing in the terminal. Ahh, found at last- just so they could get killed 10 minutes later by a self-righteous pilot.
Ya Mark, Harpo is totally wrong in their claim about the attendant, it was a kid that held things up.
MyFlightChannel, now TheFlightChannel. I've been subscribing for 5 years and I cannot express how glad I am to see you finally recreating your first Air Crash video after more than half a decade later. Really shows how far you've come. I never regret supporting you at all after all these years. Keep going mate!
... most definitely agree
I’m too lazy to write an eloquent reply, so please assume I wrote great accolades to your comment and the magnificent work TFC has shared with many of us grateful viewers in these recent years.
It is ironic that the worst air crash in history did not occur in the air, but on the ground
They always occur on the ground
no not all@@marjon83utd
@@marjon83utdmostly, but not always.
It technically occurred in the air for KLM
It was at Tenerife airport and not Gran canaria
I've heard that when they first heard that one of their planes had had an accident, KLM's managers wanted to send van Zanten to the site as a consultant. I wonder what their reaction was when they heard that he had died in the crash, and later that he was the main culprit...
At the time van Zanten was generally considered the safest airliner pilot in the world, even appearing in KLM ads like the one shown. This incident is a testimony to the destructiveness of human arrogance.
I try to stay away from any product that tries to rely on excessive advertising. That money could be going somewhere else.
Poetic but it was the fuck up of one man who took off before he was given clearance.
I suggest that you watch Mentour Pilot's breakdown of the incident. I feel there are misconceptions about Van Zanten that make for better theatrics.
A calamity of events one after the other. But in the end the pilot of KLM (as you say) was overweening.
I never heard him referred to as the "safest airline pilot in the world" by any of his colleagues or peers, how is this even measurable 😅 - all I can say is that he was considered an elite pilot within KLM's roster and featured as a poster boy on account of his experience and professionalism at KLM.
Still blows my mind no matter how many videos I see on it
KLM pilot thinks he was a hotshot
Same it’s surreal that this ever happened
Yes, I previously saw footage and reconstructive video on TV, and seeing it again now a part of me still thinks OMG surely this cannot be happening , but horrifically, it did and is still shocking. I would hate to have been at the airport when this happened such a tragedy and perfect storm of factors combining to create the outcome. I cannot imagine the impact on families and friends of those lost
@@bs5583 just to say the klm captain had been w/klm for many years, unfortunately he had not flown a physical flight in many months. Training other pilots in a simulator situation. He was also safety officer, senior pilot w/klm.
One of the most avoidable accidents ever
Yes something like this should never happen. All the talk about things that went wrong that day like with the bomb threat the fog & the amount of traffic on the runway are all excuses. All that was needed was communication
There was one survivor from the KLM flight. That's only because she never got back on the plane.
Yes. She said in an interview that she made decision to stay behind because she was in love with her boyfriend. They married. Heart break the persons they knew who boarded the plane, lost their lives that day.
@@kathrynsmith3417 Yes, I think I saw the same interview. It was heartbreaking. I'm so glad she is happily married to the man she stayed behind for.💓💓
And 61 survivors on the Pan Am plane (including the entire cockpit crew)
I thought the video might have mentioned them.
$5 says she saw the crash in a dream
@@GK-yi4xv Yes that was strange...
The worst thing about the Tenerife disaster was that there were so many children lost on the KLM aircraft. Their families must have been devastated.
Yes I was 14yrs old at the time and it was all over the news in the UK, my heart went out to all those passengers but in particular those poor children, so sad having their lives snuffed out just like that may they all rip.
It is so irritating when people say someone else's life (a child in this case) is worth more than mine (an adult).
@@sexygeek8996 I think a lot of it is potential. Children have their entire lives in front of them. I'm 70. I have maybe ten-twelve years. A child dying is more loss of potential than if I died.
@@sexygeek8996 nobody said that....and your comment is sociopathic and narcissism
Chill out there Son-Dawgs...His comment might have been a little over the top but it does have some merit to it... Doesnt automatically make someone a "sociopath"@@jokers7890
I was a Dental Surgeon in Escondido California, and two of my patients, a lovely married couple, were killed on the Pan Am flight. I remember the very sad days when the airlines, and the family members were contacting me for their dental records. It is strange how events, and history, can wrap around you, and enfold you, when in actuality you have nothing to do with the real event. God rest my patients souls, and blessings to their existing family members. I will never forget March 27, 1977. Doctor George M. Whitehead D.D.S.
I went to High School in Bakersfield with 3 kids who’s mom and new stepfather were killed on the Pan Am plane. It was very sad.
So so true. Life is very strange how it works and we are all somehow connected on this earth. Makes you wonder why there’s so much hate against each other…
In a nutshell, van Zanten was more concerned with his own priorities than he was for the safety of the flight or anyone else in his way. Unfortunately 583 people paid for his arrogance with their lives.
RIP
Yes you can dismiss all other factors the blames falls with him
@@garyclarke9685You can't dismiss all other factors. But he is absolutely at fault.
Out of all the videos and stories about this flight, I never knew the tidbit about the plane having been the inaugural 747. Nice that you included that fact. Gives a fresh perspective on a story that has been told so many times. ✌️
It was also the first 747 to be hijacked. It was quite the celebrity.
it was Clipper Victor...this video shows Clipper Juan T Trippe
KLM pilot clearly had an ego. He disembarks all his passengers DESPITE being first in line, thus not only making everyone else stuck behind him, but they cannot disembark because the terminal is at capacity. THEN the Sguy orders a fueling of the planeand is impatient about that too. THEN he is in a rush to get out of Tenerife? What the hell man. Tenerife ATC was also WAYYYY too passive.
Refueling was also unnecessary added weight to land as not even a fraction of the fuel would have been used in the short flight back to GC.
Horrific! One thing I learned in getting my Aeronautical Engineering degree is the “Swiss-Cheese” model of accidents. Every insignificant decision led to this accident. Any one decision of which could have prevented this tragedy.
Kudos to TheFlightChannel for presenting such an in-depth, (and disturbing), representation of this disaster. This video hit me hard.
Thanks for another awesome video, TFC. What a tragedy.
Despite all the horrors of this crash, a lot of key learnings and safety improvements as a result of this tragedy (such as standard in ATC phrasing) really shaped aviation in the years after...Sadly, it needed so many lives...
We as human did this, how many our ancestor died by poisonus food or eaten by animal.
And here we are.
This is the greatest case of “it’ll probably be fine” in history.
Goddamn that son of a bitch is coming!.
I can't begin to imagine the horror in that moment seeing the KLM 747 heading straight towards you knowing that its not going to take off in time.
Rip to all those lost 😢
fr, all the 3 pilots on-board the panam miraculously survived though
@@crypton7572
Yes, by veering off at the last second, they literally saved their own lives.
61 people at the front of the Pan Am survived.
That KLM pilot was also notoriously cocky because of his so-called "fame", on a constant power trip. Guy had no regard for anyone.
Flight Engineer: "Is he not clear that PanAm?"
Captain: "Oh, yes" (proceeds to takeoff without double checking).
That captain...
Mephiso707 the klm FE knew was transpiring, sorry to say either FE or FO would would have made a difference, maybe not, they were "juniors" to the senior captain. Even though the FO did stop him once or twice. Realizing the captain did train the FO, for his status of FO. I did read the FO was very much experienced, lot of hours accrued. Read that his son is in aviation after his dads passing.
This happened before my first ever flight on a commercial aircraft. I was always in the air in my Father's friend's Cessna Citation and never felt afraid.
When I flew on a commercial flight from Toronto to Halifax, we were due to arrive in Halifax, I was watching lights below me, but the Stew couldn't or wouldn't tell me where we were. About 1/2 hour later the Captain made an announcement and after identifying himself, said " I'm sorry" but that's all that stuck in my head. My Mother grabbed my hand so hard but then we realized we were circling over Halifax airport but couldn't land due to fog, so we were rerouted to Montreal where Air Canada put us all up for the night. Earlier there had been an unruly (drunk) passenger who, during takeoff from Toronto, stood up, grabbed her hair and began screaming "there's something wrong with the g*ddamn plane, this has been happening all the way from Vancouver." It took 2 Stews to get her buckled in her seat and it scared the living daylights out of both of us. She turned around and looked at us from her seat, pointing to the flaps. Apparently she was convinced that they weren't supposed to move. And unbelievably, Air Canada still kept serving her alcohol. I kept thinking about Tenerife; it was so fresh in my mind. I've since flown countless times, but never fully felt comfortable in a big aircraft after that. I was an impressionable teenager then.
...Maybe they were hoping she'd pass out.
@@grmpEqweer LOL
Is it also possible that this one passenger saw the plane's wings flexing and was scared by that as well, even if she didn't say anything about it?
Sometimes you have to keep throwing "water" on that "fire" to keep it under control.
i.e. more "fire water" = a calmer happier passenger. Just think how unhappy she'd be if you took away her binkie (her drinkie).
Don't church it up. The KLM pilot caused it all by taking time for extra fuel and disembarking then re-embarking his passengers. His attempts to hurry up his departure are a net result of his poor work flow management and prioritization of tasks. I'm pretty sure I've heard the audio from this accident as well, and it further establishes the KLM pilot as cocky/rude. My opinion is that he bears sole responsibility for over 580 deaths.
What does "church it up" mean?
All because of the impatience of a so called(Experienced) Captain, everything that happened that day just seemed to seal the fate of all those poor people ,may they R.I.P
That was not the only factor
I hav thought that many times, and then, I realise, all of us have faults, flaws,and dayswhen we are not the people we really need to be. Rarely do those days result in this kind of tragedy. This time, his impatience and anxiety played a role. Peace to him and all the others.
@@anjsjaafffjs The main one though.
We have a saying in Turkey "The one who hurries, goes to other side". "Acele giden, ecele gider". KLM's captain proves it
We have a saying about the same theme here in my country which goes like this: 'the hurried mama cat births blind kittens'.
This was horrible. I remember the news reports. Thank you for posting. Amazing work.
So do I, but looking back, I remember them in black and white. The front page of our local morning paper had an image that I can scarcely recall except to say it was weird to me because as a kid, I remember it being tied to the bombing at Gran Canaria. They were strange days in aviation. Bomb threats, hijackings, actual bombs and Leonardo Di Caprio.
Yes, I remember watching the news reports on TV & I felt shocked two huge airplane collided on runway. The documentary films helped me to understand all the things happening to cause this collision, thankful it was studied, changes made.
@@annakeye hijack decade, friend. It was quite a time to be alive....
Leonardo 💀
@@kathrynsmith3417 Absolutely 💯
According to what I remember hearing, emergency crews got to the KLM first. The fog was so bad they didn't see the PAM AM aircraft and didn't even know it was there until survivors literally came walking out of the fog up to them.
I was a kid in grammar school when this happened. I remember a picture of the Pan Am survivors standing in the grass next to the burning plane. The left wing was on the ground, and the fuselage was engulfed in smoke and fire so badly you couldn't see it. It's one of those things that are so terrible you can't forget it, even you want to.
Anything that could go wrong did go wrong. It's sad and unfortunate. if even one of those things didnt happen most probably they would be ok.
It rivals the Titanic in that regard. So many different things, both big and small, had to happen in just a certain way for this accident to have taken place. If literally anything had gone a different way, this probably never happens.
Yes, it's called the 'Swiss cheese effect'
Technically, at least one lucky break occurred.
The Pan Am got off the runway just enough for the front to be sheared off and thrown clear, containing several dozen survivors (including the entire flight deck crew).
A little odd the video makes no mention of that.
@@GK-yi4xv Very odd. It says everyone died so I presumed everyone died. Thanks for the info.
Pilot was so concerned about arriving on time that he sent them all first class to heaven. Let that be a reminder to all of us still here at the moment to just take it easy.
We do not all go to heaven only those who know christ, and have a relationship with Him otherwise it is sadly the hot place for all eternity
My wife and i were at a wine producer near lake Erie and i told the sales lady how i refuse to fly and told her just yesterday about this crash. What are the odds the next day i watch it on the FLIGHT CHANNEL. Van Zanten was one conceited SOB and conversely the PAN AM crew were relaxed, working as a team. The captain was a very decent captain who asked for input from both the flight engineer and first officer. This crew was the paragon of CRM. Man, the PAN AM crew came within seconds of just making it a near miss. Van Zanten proves with great knowledge and experience, ALWAYS be humble as a professional.....yet he failed ABSOLUTELY MISERABLEY. The result is what we we witness. Terrible tradgedy.
One of Van Zanten's subordinates reminded him that they had not been given clearance to take off, and Van Zanten told him in in so many words, "Shut up and do as I say!". Sometimes your subordinates are right. This will sound unfair, but every time I see the KLM's crown logo, I am always reminded of that terrible accident at Tenerife in 1977.
You should not throw stones. We were not kn their shoes.
Bad weather, abiguous radio calls, unlucky signal interference, last but not least KLM's captain ego = recipe for disaster
Such a horrible tragedy. And such a cluster of problems and mistakes. I would agree the biggest factor was the KLM pilot's determination to leave and leave right now! You could tell he wasn't really listening to what was being said to him, because he just wanted to go! Thank you for re-doing this presentation. RIP to all souls
Finally a remake of your first video from the worst plane crash of all time and in best quality 👍. Also R.I.P for the 583 people😥
Gets my heart racing every single time. Well done.
This one was incredible. Wow. Just horrific, as all of them are obviously, but the sheer number of casualties is staggering.
yes it was almost as bad as the disaster that was the Trump presidency
And I heard that some loon phoned in a threat to the main airport, which actually caused everything by transferring to this secondary inferior airport
@@aldfjak Meanwhile the lunatics are running the asylum (because no one knows who's in charge) while Biden visits communities, devastated by fires so he can reminisce about nearly losing his Corvette in a fire once upon a time...🤪
@@aldfjakbut not nearly as bad as the disaster when your mom tried to open a whorehouse….
Trump was doing a great job Anybody with a brain in their head can clearly see that. Biden the criminal, doubled our gas and food prices@@aldfjak
The KLM Captain got his wish to quickly leave Tenerife, just not the way he was hoping. Sad.
"Goddamn, that son-of-a-bitch is coming!"
One of the most famous last words in history. RIP to that captain and the rest of those who died (except for the arrogant KLM cap).
Ultimately those terrorist were responsible for what happened. If it hadn't been for them those planes would not have had to be diverted to another airport in the first place.
The Pan Am captain survived, as did many crew
I detected bad blood going on at this airport
I think just about everyone with a interest in aviation knows this accident, but this is by far the best representation of that horrible day. God bless all who perished that afternoon.
I remember this tragedy. It was in all the newspapers. May all the victims rest in peace 🙏
Great video, thank you very much.
Whats always so infuriating about these crashes is it’s never one factor, but 5, 10 or even 20 factors that lead to an accident.
There were countless moments here where if just one little thing had gone differently, the accident never happens. Very glad they teach CRM and hazardous attitudes in ground school today.
RIP to all those that perished.
Holes in the Swiss cheese ligning up
Here’s a sick fact: If the passenger who stayed on teneriffe never had stayed - that would have bought 8-10 more seconds at the onboarding and very likely effected the future enough so one of the many critical transmissions would have gone through at the runway and this accident would never have happened.
Or that passenger could've just notified the airline at the airport that she wasn't going to reboard. The plane would've then left much earlier and avoided the accident.
Whoa never thought of that...hope that person who stayed never thought of that either.
@@SnowyCountryChicken believe that both crafts would have been able to leave to their destinations, if the klm had not refuled, weather conditions. The timeline prior to klm deciding to refuel, weather was more favorable; visibility wise, prior to weather changing drastically during the refuel, that took 30-45 minutes.
I remember working in an office on that day when one of the senior staff came in, very shocked, to say his mother and father in law had died in that crash.
It was KLM captain van Zanten's fault....
His galactic ego, supercilius arrogance and 'macho' posture as a captain and flight instructor of KLM Airlines led to this massacre 😠
it was also very much the airlines fault, not just the pilot....KLM as a corporation created this situation with their greed
@@jokers7890 I agree with you about the greed of Airlines. They go so far as to prioritize money over safety just as Boeing did with its nefarious 737 MAX and the MCAS software 😬😲
I was in college when this disaster occurred. The 747 hadn't yet been in service for the decades it has been now, so it was that much more incredible that such a catastrophe could happen.
Hetrodynes aside, KLM was 99% at fault due to their captains urgency to take off no matter what the cost, due to KLM's flight and duty times restrictions, and the captains urgency not to stay a second longer where HE did not want to be.
well said.... this is entirely KLM's fault (not just a mix of rare events as people are saying)
@@jokers7890 Not a misunderstanding, not 2 crews stepping on each other's transmission. Captain started his roll knowing he did not have takeoff clearance, and continued his takeoff assuming he had clearance based on "ok" (rather than an actual clearance), even when it became clear there most likely was another airplane on the runway. All this in low visibility conditions. 100% on him.
This is the textbook example of multiple little failings combining into the largest air disaster in history. So crazy to think that if one link in this extensive chain had broken, this crash would have never happened.
Knowing that attempts to mitigate the collision by both flight crews (although based on the circumstances, the KLM crew should have done a much better job in my opinion) only for this disaster to happen anyway not only makes my blood run cold enough to figuratively freeze inside my veins but also makes my stomach flip dramatically
The greatest air disaster of all time. The amount of negative coincidences leading up to the crash is insane. If only there was no bomb. If only there was no refueling. If only there was no fog. If only the intercom worked properly. The list is endless. Everything that can go wrong went wrong. It’s mind boggling
I've watched so many documentaries on this but this provides a fresh angle. Great vid!
That airport is the airport I love most. When I first landed on it, I did not know about it's history. RIP all victims, I love this airport for you, my prayers go for all of you.
I think it's closed now to international traffic? They built a new one down in the South of the island?
Well, it's still there on Google Earth! I'm a bit of a nerd about plane crashes - and this one is the mother of all disasters. You would never know, it looks so quiet and sedate. You cannot imagine it being the scene of so much agony 45 years ago.
@@CathyKitsonIt is still in use. I choose it always when possible, I mean when the flight which operates at the Tenerife Norte has the timetable that suits me.
@@CathyKitsonI think most of the big intercontinental airliners operate at Tenerife Sur(South) but many flights inside Europe use Tenerife Norte.
@@vivekapihl5179 Do you not kind of feel it. The horror that took place there all those years ago?
You recreated this crash video and this one is far more mature than the first one but the tension and the chosen accompanying music in the first one really set the tone for the disaster and is one of the best videos ive seen of the disaster that doesnt involve actual footage.
Back in 1977, even budget European charter airlines tried to do the 'customer experience' thing a bit. Which included complimentary newspapers on boarding. Which is why, incredibly, I sat on an aircraft waiting to take off just after we'd been shown the frontpage news of this horror. What were they thinking of?
I've read a lot about this disaster from different sources...there was some speculation the ATC was not paying proper attention to the planes and instead was watching sports on TV. Also that the first officer on the KLM plane felt like they might be in danger but couldn't bring himself to override the captain. For decades it has been agreed there was a domino effect of events that led to this disaster...but in the end it came down to a tiny airport that did not have the proper radar and did not have the room for these gigantic planes...and a KLM captain who was trying to stick to policy of being on-time as possible that compromised everyone's life. In reality the Pan Am plane never should have been allowed to be on the runway for any reason until the KLM flight was in the air.
The captain of the pan am wanted to wait till the klm backtracked then became airborne. There is so many "if's". If the klm had not refueled, would he have been able to clear the pan am, maybe so. Yes, understand since refueling, being overweight, tailstrike. Such a horrible incident, perhaps a preventable one. So many years have gone by, the last crew member of pan am, recently passed. RIP
Get-there-itis affects pilots at all levels of skill and experience. RIP to the passengers and crew.
The more senior and experienced the practitioner, the expert, the partner, the officer etc, the LESS likely they are to make errors. But when they DO make errors, the consequences are much more serious. This follows whether it's surgeons, military officers, lawyers, engineers or whatever. And. it happened here.
It's also surprising that the KLM aircraft would have even been allowed to refuel before the tiny hop over to Gran Canaria. Greater fuel loads create more complexities and greater risks when landing. Primary cause was clearly the KLM pilot, *particularly* when his own flight engineer was warning him about the possibility of conflict with the Pan Am.
Who would have denied permission for the aircraft to refuel? There were only two people who could have done that provided there was a reason, the flight's dispatcher and airport operations. The dispatcher seems to have approved the fueling, and the airport would not prohibit the refueling unless it was not permitted on the taxiway for some reason such a lack of grounding points or adequate fire response. But that has been done before.
10 feet higher and the plane would have cleared! Incredible!
I thought I knew almost everything about this event. I thought some details may be left out in this video. I was so wrong! I have never seen this event so well documented! I learned so much more from this video. Thank you TFL!
Amazing job, TheFlightChannel. I hope you redo all important air disasters you’ve covered 5-6 years ago. The quality was very good back then, but now it’s simply amazing.
It is said that the rules of aviation are written in blood! This accident led to a major shift in airlines operating procedure, it is very sad when you come to the realization that the lessons learned in ensuring the safety and comfort of mordern airlines came from the untimely and sad demise of so many peoples. There are so many 'what ifs' in this disaster! What if the Pan-Am flight had been allowed to circle around the airport! What if there was proper CRM during those days, particularly in the KLM flight ! What if the KLM pilots had received the message from either or both the ATC as well as the Pan-Am! What if Captain Van Zanten had actually managed to supress his over confidence and prioritized safety over punctuality !!!
love the attention to detail and and visuals !
we all knew about this tragedy, but this reconstruction sheds extraordinary light on the succession of events which led to the tragedy...
Have seen the documentaries (several times), but this is the first time I really understood how the total devastation happened. Thank you for your usual fantastic job.
My Uncle was a station manager at JFK for KLM and had known most of the KLM crew. I worked at JFK for Air France and I remember learning of this incident. This gives such a good description of the events leading up to this tragedy. Having served in the Air Force, and learning about accident investigation, there seems to be in most accidents three factors that have led to the accident and any one of them not occurring could have resulted in a different outcome.
Such a well done video.
Best, simplest explanation and re-creation of that collision that I've seen.
In retrospect, ATC should have held the Pan Am at its parked spot until after the KLM took off. Putting two airliners at opposite ends of the same runway, in deteriorating visibility no less, was reckless and invited disaster.
Duhhh
Had the Pan Am taken the C3 exit, could this have been avoided?
Wow! I didn't catch that. Do, it was Oan Am that was supposed to be on the C3 ramp but yet the other Captain is being blamed? Imma go check that again. Those confusing ramps without clear directions from the controllers are painted onto the road, at least, are just an accident waiting to happen.
This video took very long but worth the wait. Great work!
This is completely devastating. So many “if only’s”…💔😰🙏🏼
I know this story well from other investigatory videos, but you always manage to add something, or tell something in a new way, that always makes it worth the watch. So tragic, this event. Even today, when I see the beautiful KLM jets on spotter feeds, it strikes me how quickly they move around the airports. Maybe it’s an imagined perception, but when I see it, I can’t help but think of Tenerife north.
This. This is the video I've been waiting for, ever since I began to faithfully watch TheFlightChannel several years ago. Another superlative presentation.
So many things went wrong here...Very sad.
Amazing that you're redoing this! Looking forward to it
Imagine being the one person who decided not to get back on the KLM flight and then hearing later that day that everyone on that plane died.
Living on the island, she may have actually heard the explosions. KLM had just refueled.
This story always makes me feel incredibly traumatized. I started watching but had to stop when seeing them all waiting on the taxi way. When you know whats coming it’s best just to not watch. Utterly heartbreaking and horrific 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Ok drama queen 🙄🙄🙄🙄
A disaster with similar numbers killed (520 passengers and crew) is Japan Airlines Flight 123 (1985), though with completely different circumstances over which the pilots of Flight 123 had almost no control. We should remember the people who perished in both of these appalling events.
By not taking taxiway 3 as instructed, the Pan Am aircraft was also complicit in this disaster.
I'm not sure you would say complicit, more a victim of circumstances. Unfamiliar airport, restricted visibility and such.
@@t.p.mckenna well, KLM felt the same way!
@@blueskies6475 KLM's captain was a loose canon, in my view. He made three flawed decisions that each directly contributed to the crash. The first, disembarking his passengers. For why? Without the delay, they'd have been away a head of the fog. Refuelling. For why? Without the extra load they might well have cleared the Pan Am; and ultimately, the impatience to get away and ignore what was an unclear situation.
@@t.p.mckenna The KLM Captain was in the right runway. I doubt he knew there was no radar. There was obviously bad blood between the ATC and the Captain hence his indifference to his help or non help- to his detriment. It's not the first time not the last time the controllers will kill the Captains. I've watched numerous videos and 9x out of 10 it's the ATCs fault.
@@blueskies6475Captain's decision to roll when it was not certain the runway was clear. 'Bad blood'? Come off it. However was their time for some animosity to have built up between pilot and ATC. That's quite the chippy sentiment.
Is this a new video about a crash that was covered before?
Strange: too much fog caused the worst air disaster
Too clear and calm caused the worst maritime disaster: Titanic.
My heart hurts for the loved ones left behind. I had read many passengers on the PanAm were retirees from Pasadena and Hancock Park in L.A. area. 🖤
Why, no mention of the 61 survivors?
Yeah, suspicious.
If only the Pan Am flight was allowed to stay in the air.
There are lots of "if onlys" with this one.
The KLM captain must be the worse professional I’ve ever come across on these aviation channels. Borderline criminal. How many warnings and chances did he have to do the correct thing?
If he'd survived he would have been prosecuted as a criminal
Question: Should the Los Rodeos airport controller have denied the KLM captain's request to refuel?
Should the controller have responded by asking the KLM captain how much fuel Flight 4805 had left, and on being told the answer, replied that KLM 4805 had enough to make the short hop to Gran Canaria without refuelling?
And what if some delay happened on the way to Grand Canaria? Tower can't make that call. What they should've told the KLM pilot was to taxi off the apron to let the other planes past.
It’s nice seeing you remake the first Air Disasters episode you’ve made…
Good videos very explained and detailed keep it up !
I understand that there were many factors contributing to this crash. However, I am wondering if all airlines at the time became introspective with regard to their pilot regulations that might lead to being in excessive hurry and anxiety. I know they have a business to run, but putting pilots in an anxious state due to company regulations rarely is a good strategy.
Well done, TFC!
thanks, so many factors led to the eventual collision, I remember it well.
R.I.P to all the 583 people that perished on the Tenerife Airport Disaster of KLM Boeing 747 Flight 4805 and Pan American Boeing 747 Flight 1736 in 1977
Bro you used the wrong Pan Am nickname. Clipper Juan T Trippe was in the fleet for the whole time until Pan Ams collapse in 1991. The aircraft involved in this accident, Clipper Victor, replaced N747PA (if im not wrong) in the first commercial 747 flight and then was destroyed in the Tenerife accident.
That tour guide who stayed behind won the lucky lottery that day.
Any reason the actual audio wasn't used for this remaster? I haven't watched Flight Channel's videos in about a year (watched every single one up to a year ago). Did he stop doing that? I feel like this was a big part missed out on. But the video quality is great and gets the point across. Even love the aerial view sounds, attention to detail is high.
That crash is absolutely insane. I had never heard of it, but now I will never forget.
The engineer was not sure they received clearance and neither was the captain. All he had to do was stop for a few seconds and get confirmation.
This is a horrific one that i never heard of before now, thank you very much for the channel and for those on it, very sad, the stress of keeping his record clear of delays and keeping his airliner on top of the punctuality list of airliners made him take a series of very bad decisions. It always when People going on vacation or heading to their homes makes the event more dramatic 🙄 😒 😑 😢. May they found peace now.
Flying remains the safest way for travelling. 🎉🎉
I've heard the story about a tour guide in Gran Canaria called Rubina who was travelling with her friends (also tour guides) back home in KLM flight 4805 after a meeting at Amsterdam. She was planning on visiting her boyfriend in Tenerife after landing, but since the plane had already landed at Tenerife, she decided to not board the aircraft again even though her friends told her to, breaking the airline rules. In the end, it was love that saved Rubina's life. RIP to all passengers of the KLM and Pan Am flights who lost their lives in this tragic incident 💔
What an unbelievable level of events and factors , like this disaster was destined to happen for must.
And that dutch passenger...luckiest person in the world.
More like God/Jesus was watching over her and saying her time on earth was not up, nothing to do with luck...no such thing only Jesus/God!!!
Is this an updated video? I'm sure I've seen this disaster here before.
Yep
Can't believe it's been 6years since you first posted this. Glad to have followed and supported your videography as its progressed immensely. Another beautifully reverent video ❤