Operator: Registration: PH-BUF. This page was last edited on 9 January 2021, at 12:55. Less experienced flight crew members were encouraged to challenge their captains when they believed something to be incorrect, and captains were instructed to listen to their crew and evaluate all decisions in light of crew concerns. The second aircraft involved, Pan American World Airways Flight… 17 :06 :25 (Tenerife control tower to the PanAm 747) - Roger alpha one seven three six report when runway clear "[4], The controller, who could not see the runway due to the fog, initially responded with "OK" (terminology that is nonstandard), which reinforced the KLM captain's misinterpretation that they had takeoff clearance. The Tenerife Airplane Collision 27 March 1977 Visie Foundation Federal Aviation Administration Circular 1984 Estimate of radiation dose from a depleted uranium oxide particle . The KLM plane remained briefly airborne, but the impact had sheared off the outer left engine, caused significant amounts of shredded materials to be ingested by the inner left engine, and damaged the wings. At the time of the accident, Veldhuyzen van Zanten was KLM's chief flight instructor, with 11,700 flight hours, of which 1,545 hours were on the 747. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-206B, registration PH-BUF, named Rijn (Rhine). Analysis of the CVR transcript showed that the KLM pilot thought that he had been cleared for takeoff, while the Tenerife control tower believed that the KLM 747 was stationary at the end of the runway, awaiting takeoff clearance. These include the Survival in the Sky episode "Blaming the Pilot", the Seconds From Disaster episode "Collision on the Runway", PBS's NOVA episode "The Deadliest Plane Crash" in 2006, the PBS special Surviving Disaster: How the Brain Works Under Extreme Duress (based on Amanda Ripley's book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why) in 2011, Destroyed in Seconds and an episode of the Canadian TV series Mayday (known by different names in different countries), namely the season 16 standard length episode "Disaster at Tenerife" with the earlier more in-depth 90-minute "Crash of the Century" being a spin-off. Patches of thick fog were drifting across the airfield, hence visibility was greatly reduced for pilots and the control tower. The Spanish government installed a ground radar system at Tenerife North Airport following the accident.[14][65]. The last two messages were radioed simultaneously and were therefore heard as a long four-second high-pitched sound. Meurs had 9,200 flight hours, of which 95 hours were on the 747. At least 330 people on the Pan Am plane died, but more than 60, including the pilot, survived the impact and fire. The accident was investigated by Spain's Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil (CIAIAC). and "We are still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736!" This particular aircraft had operated the inaugural 747 commercial flight on January 22, 1970. [62], Cockpit procedures were also changed after the accident. Captain Grubbs applied full power to the throttles and made a sharp left turn towards the grass in an attempt to avoid the impending collision. The next most recent 747 event was an October 2000 Singapore Airlines accident in Taipei that killed 79 passengers and four crew members. [18], The crew successfully identified the first two taxiways (C-1 and C-2), but their discussion in the cockpit never indicated that they had sighted the third taxiway (C-3), which they had been instructed to use. "Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster," by Jon Ziomek (Post Hill Press, 2018). Circumstances: The KLM Boeing 747, registration PH-BUF, took off from Schipol Airport (Amsterdam) at 0900 hours on 27 March 1977, en route to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. At 13:15, a bomb planted by the separatist Canary Islands Independence Movement exploded in the terminal of Gran Canaria Airport, injuring eight people. With a total of 583 fatalities, the crash is the deadliest accident in aviation history. [40], Los Rodeos Airport, the only operating airport on Tenerife in 1977, was closed to all fixed-wing traffic for two days. 17 :02 :18 (Mecanician) – Third he said? The disaster has been featured in many TV shows and documentaries. Get off!" The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board KLM 4805 and most of the occupants of Pan Am 1736, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the aircraft. [2][3] Resulting in 583 fatalities, this accident is the deadliest in aviation history. The KLM jet was carrying 14 crew members and 235 passengers, including 52 children. A Spanish police officer guards the wreckage after two Boeing 747 airliners collided and burned on the runway of Tenerife Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands in 1977. Tenerife was an unscheduled stop for both flights. Aviation Forum Civil Aviation Tenerife Airport Disaster American Flights Aviation Accidents Spanish Islands Passenger Aircraft Boeing 747 Islands. 3 November 1977; El Al 747; over Belgrade, Yugoslavia: One passenger died after a decompression event. Because of limited visibility and communications difficulties between air traffic control and a KLM 747 aircraft, the KLM … An Avianca Boeing 747 in June 1977. when he spotted the KLM's landing lights through the fog just as his plane approached exit C-4. Other major factors contributing to the accident were: The following factors were considered contributing but not critical: The Dutch authorities were reluctant to accept the Spanish report blaming the KLM captain for the accident. On 27 March 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft crash on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The 747 hasn't carried just passengers. Two Boeing 747 jumbo jets collided and burst into flames on a foggy airport runway in the Canary Islands yesterday, and more than 550 of the 643 people aboard the … Most of the KLM passengers were Dutch; also on board were 4 Germans, 2 Austrians and 2 Americans. 27 March 1977; Pan Am 747-100; Flight 1736; Tenerife, Canary Islands: The aircraft had been scheduled to arrive at the Las Palmas airport after a non-scheduled flight from New York's JFK airport, but was diverted to Tenerife after a bomb explosion at the Las Palmas airport. When it became clear that the KLM aircraft was approaching at takeoff speed, Captain Grubbs exclaimed, "Goddamn, that son-of-a-bitch is coming! [39], The following day, the Canary Islands Independence Movement, responsible for the bombing at Gran Canaria that started the chain of events that led to the disaster, denied responsibility for the accident. [48] The Netherlands Department of Civil Aviation published a response that, while accepting that the KLM captain had taken off "prematurely", argued that he alone should not be blamed for the "mutual misunderstanding" that occurred between the controller and the KLM crew, and that limitations of using radio as a means of communication should have been given greater consideration. [33], A simultaneous radio call from the Pan Am crew caused mutual interference on the radio frequency, which was audible in the KLM cockpit as a 3-second-long shrill sound (or heterodyne). [19] There were no markings or signs to identify the runway exits and they were in conditions of poor visibility. It was operated by a flight crew of three and was designed to carry 366 to 452 passengers. On 27 March 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft crash on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The second aircraft involved, Pan American World Airways Flight… Saved by John Crenshaw. Eventually, most of the survivors on the wing dropped to the ground below. The radio communications become then quite confusing. "[36], Both airplanes were destroyed in the collision. The flight engineer was the only member of the KLM's flight crew to react to the control tower's instruction to "report when runway clear"; this might have been due to him having completed his pre-flight checks, whereas his colleagues were experiencing an increased workload, just as the visibility worsened. Crash of a Boeing 747-206B in Tenerife: 248 killed. The Boeing 747-206B named Rijn (Rhine) was carrying 234 passengers & 14 crew members. Website over de grootste luchtvaartramp allertijden, die plaats vond op 27 maart 1977 op Los Rodeos, Tenerife, tussen een Boeing 747 van PanAm en een KLM The other 61 passengers and crew aboard the Pan Am aircraft survived, including the captain, first officer, and flight engineer. [41] The first aircraft that was able to land was a United States Air Force C-130 transport, which landed on the airport's main taxiway at 12:50 on March 29. Hierarchical relations among crew members were played down, and greater emphasis was placed on team decision-making by mutual agreement. A Boeing 747-121 passenger plane, registered N736PA, was destroyed in an accident at Tenerife-Los Rodeos International Airport (TCI), Spain. Either message, if heard in the KLM cockpit, would have alerted the crew to the situation and given them time to abort the takeoff attempt. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Tenerife-airline-disaster, Smithsonian Channel - Air Disasters: Disaster at Tenerife. This course of action was later expanded into what is known today as crew resource management (CRM), training which is now mandatory for all airline pilots.[63][64]. 17 :02 :55 (KLM 4805) – I think we just passed charlie four (fourth one) now. [11] His photograph was used for publicity materials such as magazine advertisements, including the inflight magazine on board PH-BUF. [17], Shortly afterward, the Pan Am was instructed to follow the KLM down the same runway, exit it by taking the third exit on their left and then use the parallel taxiway. Among them were KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 – … Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Osaka International Airport, Japan.On August 12, 1985, a Boeing 747SR operating this route suffered a sudden decompression twelve minutes into the flight and crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 100 kilometres (62 miles; 54 nautical miles) from Tokyo … The KLM Boeing 747, registration PH-BUF, took off from Schipol Airport (Amsterdam) at 0900 hours on 27 March 1977, en route to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. All 248 passengers and crew aboard the KLM plane died, as did 335 passengers and crew aboard the Pan Am plane,[37] primarily due to the fire and explosions resulting from the fuel spilled and ignited in the impact. Avianca has often shown its pioneering character in South American aviation. In desperation, the pilots prematurely rotated the aircraft and attempted to clear the Pan Am by lifting off, causing a 22 m (72 ft) tailstrike. The search for a missing Dutch family of four, who had not returned to the waiting KLM plane, delayed the flight even further. On 27 March 1977, when the Tenerife airport disaster occured, Victor Grubbs was the captain on board the Pan Am Flight 1736 747. This caused the KLM crew to miss the crucial latter portion of the tower's response. [14], Air traffic instruction must not be acknowledged solely with a colloquial phrase such as "OK" or even "Roger" (which simply means the last transmission was received),[61] but with a readback of the key parts of the instruction, to show mutual understanding. With a total of 583 fatalities, the crash is the deadliest accident in aviation history. One of the 61 survivors of the Pan Am flight, John Coombs of Haleiwa, Hawaii, said that sitting in the nose of the plane probably saved his life: "We all settled back, and the next thing an explosion took place and the whole port side, left side of the plane, was just torn wide open. After the aircraft landed at Tenerife, the passengers were transported to the airport terminal. The investigation concluded that the fundamental cause of the accident was that captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten attempted to take off without clearance. Aviation Forum Civil Aviation Tenerife Airport Disaster American Flights Aviation Accidents Spanish Islands Passenger Aircraft Boeing 747 … All passengers and crew members aboard the KLM plane were killed. This was one of the first accident investigations to include a study into the contribution of "human factors". Therefore, it was the first carrier in Latin America to serve passengers with the jumbo, and it held a few different variants of the type. For other crashes, see, Wreckage of the KLM aircraft on the runway, Aviation accidents and incidents in Spain, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2020 (, CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 2 page 6, CAP 413 Radio Telephony Manual (Edition 15), chapter 4, page 6, paragraph 1.7.10, Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes e Incidentes de Aviación Civil, International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, International Tenerife Memorial March 27, 1977, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, "580 killed in history's worst air disaster", "How KLM accepted their responsibility for the accident", "The Cockpit, the Cabin, and Social Psychology", "Wreck of 747's Sets Back Cause Of Insurgents on Canary Islands", "The Tenerife Airport Disaster – the worst in aviation history", "Cockpit Voice Recorders: Transcripts: KLM 4805", "Advertisement: KLM. What was described as the deadliest air crash in history happened on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife North Airport), on the island of Tenerife, Spain. Runway collision at Los Rodeos Airport, Tenerife, 1977-03-27; 583 fatalities, "Tenerife crash" redirects here. On March 27, 1977, two 747 jumbo jets crash into each other on the runway at an airport in the Canary Islands, killing 582 passengers and crew members. Taxiway C-4 would have required two 35-degree-turns. The Tenerife crash - March 27th, 1977. Bragg had 10,800 flight hours, of which 2,796 hours were on the 747. Clouds at 600 m (2,000 ft) above ground level at the nearby coast are at ground level at Los Rodeos. In particular, the Dutch response pointed out that: Although the Dutch authorities were initially reluctant to blame captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten and his crew,[5][50] the airline ultimately accepted responsibility for the accident. [4] By the time the KLM pilots saw the Pan Am aircraft, they were already traveling too fast to stop. One of the inbound passengers, who lived on the island with her boyfriend, chose not to re-board the 747, leaving 234 passengers on board.[10][11]. Had the plane turned at the third exit as instructed, the collision would not have occurred. Go ahead, ask." The Pan Am's engines were still running for a few minutes after the accident despite first officer Bragg's intention to turn them off. According to the ALPA report, as the Pan Am aircraft taxied to the runway, the visibility was about 500 m (1,600 ft). The ALPA study group concluded that the KLM crew did not realize that the transmission "Papa Alpha one seven three six, report when runway clear" was directed at the Pan Am, because this was the first and only time the Pan Am was referred to by that name. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The official investigation suggested that this might have been due not only to the captain's seniority in rank, but also to his being one of the most respected pilots working for the airline. Some 1,500 meters further on, the PanAm 747 was still taxiing down the runway. The crowded airport had placed additional pressure on all parties, including the KLM cockpit crew, the Pan Am cockpit crew, and the controller; Sounds on the CVR suggested that during the accident the Spanish control tower crew had been listening to a. [2][3], The collision occurred when the KLM airliner initiated its takeoff run while the Pan Am airliner, shrouded in fog, was still on the runway and about to turn off onto the taxiway. Because the flight crew was performing the checklist, copying this clearance was postponed until the aircraft was in takeoff position on Runway 30. 18 May 1920, d. 13 Mar 1995) was an American captain of Boeing 747 aircrafts. There were 380 passengers and crew members on board. There were 380 passengers and crew members on board. ... (Tenerife control tower to KLM 747) – KLM four eight zero five how many taxiway -ah- did you pass? In support of this part of their response, the Dutch investigators pointed out that Pan Am's messages "No! Two Boeing 747 airliners collided on the runway at Tenerife, 27 March 1977. "[4] Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten interrupted the co-pilot's read-back with the comment, "We're going. [citation needed] Facts showed that there had been misinterpretations and false assumptions before the accident. indicated that captain Grubbs and first officer Bragg had recognized the ambiguity (this message was not audible to the control tower or KLM crew due to simultaneous cross-communication); The Pan Am had taxied beyond the third exit. According to the FAA, the average age of Boeing 747-200 and 747-300 models in U.S. airline fleets at the time of this event was 24 years. ", while first officer Robert Bragg yelled, "Get off! y Aeronave Boeing 747, matrícula N736PA de PANAM en el Aeropuerto de los Rodeos, Tenerife (Islas Canarias), Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission, Human Factors Report on the Tenerife Accident, 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster, December 1958 Aviaco SNCASE Languedoc crash, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tenerife_airport_disaster&oldid=999292985, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747, Airliner accidents and incidents involving ground collisions, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error, Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog, CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. 583 people were fatally injured on the day and only 61 passengers from the Pan American World Airways Boeing 747 survived the accident, including the Pan Am flight crew. A terrorist incident at Gran Canaria Airport had caused many flights to be diverted to Los Rodeos, including the two aircraft involved in the accident. There is also a memorial at the Westminster Memorial Park and Mortuary in Westminster, California. Schreuder had 17,031 flight hours, of which 543 hours were on the 747. Updates? Eh?" The controller then immediately added "stand by for takeoff, I will call you",[4] indicating that he had not intended the instruction to be interpreted as a takeoff clearance. With a total of 583 fatalities, the crash is the deadliest accident in aviation history. Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten, a KLM training captain and instructor for over ten years, had not flown on regular routes during the twelve weeks prior to the accident. Photo: Eduard Marmet via Wikimedia Commons Leading the way. The airplane operated on a flight from Tenerife-Los Rodeos International Airport (TCI) to Las Palmas-Airport de Gran Canaria (LPA). Instead, departing aircraft needed to taxi along the runway to position themselves for takeoff, a procedure known as a backtaxi or backtrack.[4]. BA received its first Boeing 747-200 on June 22, 1977, and the airline went on to operate a total of 24 passenger 747-200s that were delivered between 1977 and 1988. The airport quickly became congested with parked airplanes blocking the only taxiway and forcing departing aircraft to taxi on the runway instead. [42][43], Spanish Army soldiers were tasked with clearing crash wreckage from the runways and taxiways. Los Rodeos, renamed Tenerife North Airport (TFN), was then used only for domestic and inter-island flights until 2002, when a new terminal was opened and Tenerife North began to carry international traffic again. PH-BUF, the accident aircraft involved. Suddenly, the PanAm captain spotted the landing lights of the KLM Boeing approximatively … The KLM 747 speed increased. [8] On August 2, 1970, in its first year of service, it also became the first 747 to be hijacked: en route between JFK and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it was diverted to José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba. Interference from simultaneous radio transmissions, with the result that it was difficult to hear the message. The crash … The new crew consisted of Captain Victor Grubbs (age 56), First Officer Robert Bragg (39), Flight Engineer George Warns (46) and 13 flight attendants. The crew began the taxi and proceeded to identify the unmarked taxiways using an airport diagram as they reached them. [16] While the KLM was backtaxiing on the runway, the controller asked the flight crew to report when it was ready to copy the ATC clearance. At the time of the accident, Grubbs had 21,043 hours of flight time, of which 564 hours were on the 747. She was therefore not on the KLM plane when the accident happened, and she would be the only survivor of those who flew from Amsterdam to Tenerife on Flight 4805. Shortly after the occupants were evacuated from the aircraft after arriving at Cairo, it was blown up. A tour guide had chosen not to reboard for the flight to Las Palmas, because she lived on Tenerife and thought it impractical to fly to Gran Canaria only to return to Tenerife the next day. The airport was forced to accommodate a great number of large aircraft due to rerouting from the terrorist incident, resulting in disruption of the normal use of taxiways. [34], Due to the fog, neither crew was able to see the other plane on the runway ahead of them. The Pan Am crew's transmission was "We're still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736!" 4. In 1978, a second airport was opened on the island of Tenerife – the new Tenerife South Airport (TFS) – which now serves the majority of international tourist flights. A Dutch national memorial and final resting place for the victims of the KLM plane is located in Amsterdam, at Westgaarde cemetery. 27, 1977, a KLM Boeing 747 and a Pan Am Boeing 747 collided on the tarmac at the Tenerife Airport, resulting in the deaths of 583 people. The aircraft completed its 180-degree turn in relatively clear weather and lined up on Runway 30. Warns had 15,210 flight hours, of which 559 hours were on the 747. Slaton, who was a flight surgeon attached to the 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron, worked with the local medical staff and remained on scene until the last survivor was air lifted to awaiting medical facilities. Veldhuyzen van Zanten emphatically replied "Oh, yes" and continued with the takeoff.[35]. The full load of fuel, which had caused the earlier delay, ignited immediately into a fireball that could not be subdued for several hours. Get off! The tower instructed the KLM to taxi down the entire length of the runway and then make a 180-degree turn to get into takeoff position. Previously, the Pan Am had been called "Clipper one seven three six", using its proper callsign. The visibility rapidly dropped to a few hundred … The control tower and the crews of both planes were unable to see one another. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. What was described as the deadliest air crash in history happened on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now known as Tenerife North Airport), on the island of Tenerife, Spain. Pan Am Flight 1736 had originated at Los Angeles International Airport, with an intermediate stop at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). [15] The airport had only one runway and one major taxiway running parallel to it, with four short taxiways connecting the two. KLM paid the victims' families compensation ranging between $58,000 and $600,000 (or $245,000 to $2.5 million today, adjusted for inflation). The authorities reopened Gran Canaria airport once the bomb threat had been contained. Their destination was Gran Canaria Airport (also known as Las Palmas Airport or Gando Airport), serving Las Palmas on the nearby island of Gran Canaria. Both islands are part of the Canary Islands, an autonomous community of Spain located in the Atlantic Ocean off the southwest coast of Morocco. [24], Meanwhile, the KLM plane was still in good visibility, but with clouds blowing down the runway towards them. [4] Dutch investigators placed a greater emphasis on mutual misunderstanding in radio communications between the KLM crew and ATC,[5] but ultimately KLM admitted that their crew was responsible for the accident and the airline agreed to financially compensate the relatives of all of the victims. Boeings 747 on Sunday 27 March 1977 at Tenerife airport? [8] Its cockpit crew consisted of Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten (age 50),[9] First Officer Klaas Meurs (42), and Flight Engineer Willem Schreuder (48). The Tenerife crash - March 27th, 1977. Legacy of the deadliest aviation crash in 1977 However, before the controller could inform the pilots of their full clearance, according to Dutch investigators, the KLM Boeing 747 had already started its take-off run. On March 27, 1977, a chain of events began that would eventually result in the deadliest aviation accident. Additionally, an ATC clearance given to an aircraft already lined-up on the runway must be prefixed with the instruction "hold position". On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets, operating KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport[1] (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. KLM plane crashes. Shortly after they turned onto the runway it decreased to less than 100 m (330 ft). Immediately after lining up, the KLM captain advanced the throttles and the aircraft started to move forward. Some experts speculated that the KLM plane had begun its takeoff without proper clearance, though a number of factors, including foggy weather and unusual airport traffic conditions, likely played a role in the disaster. Cockpit procedures were also reviewed, contributing to the establishment of crew resource management as a fundamental part of airline pilots' training.[7]. Footage was included in the 1979 film Days of Fury, narrated by Vincent Price. The civil aviation authorities had therefore closed the airport temporarily after the explosion, and all incoming flights bound for Gran Canaria had been diverted to Los Rodeos, including the two Boeing 747 aircraft involved in the disaster. The right-side engines crashed through the Pan Am's upper deck immediately behind the cockpit. On 27 March 1977, a Boeing 747-200 (PH-BUF) being operated by KLM on a passenger charter flight from Amsterdam to Las Palmas as KLM4805 and a Boeing 747-100 (N73PA) being operated by Pan American Airways on a passenger flight from Los Angeles to Las Palmas via New York as Clipper 1736 both diverted to Tenerife Los Rodeos when Las Palmas was unexpectedly and temporarily closed. Resulting in 583 fatalities, this accident is the deadliest in aviation history. Up until that point, aircrew and controllers should use the word "departure" in its place (e.g. This message was also blocked by the interference and inaudible to the KLM crew. When it re-opened, both aircraft taxied for their flights to Las Palmas in succession but the KLM aircraft began tak… [4] The Pan Am crew indicated that they would prefer to circle in a holding pattern until landing clearance was given (they had enough fuel to safely stay in the air for 2 more hours), but they were ordered to divert to Tenerife. The controller's response of "OK" to the co-pilot's nonstandard statement that they were "now at takeoff" was likely due to his misinterpretation that they were in takeoff position and ready to begin the roll when takeoff clearance was received, but not in the process of taking off. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Its nose landing gear cleared the Pan Am, but its left-side engines, lower fuselage, and main landing gear struck the upper right side of the Pan Am's fuselage,[10] ripping apart the center of the Pan Am jet almost directly above the wing. Many survivors escaped from a hole near the plane’s left wing. [52] These included: The extra fuel taken on by the KLM added several factors: As a consequence of the accident, sweeping changes were made to international airline regulations and to aircraft. ( 582 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife ) ... DU - involved crashes in the world. About two months before the accident, he had conducted the Boeing 747 qualification check on the co-pilot of Flight 4805. The crew asked for clarification and the controller responded emphatically by replying: "The third one, sir; one, two, three; third, third one." Meurs then radioed the tower that they were "ready for takeoff" and "waiting for our ATC clearance". [10], Captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten was KLM's chief of flight training and one of their most senior pilots. KLM Flight 4805 was a charter flight for Holland International Travel Group and had arrived from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands. 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