NBC News Clip: Tenerife Airport Disaster (March 28, 1977)

[@CoopyKat]

It wasn't traffic control that caused this flight, it was the arrogant pilot in one plane who got frustrated WAITING and decided to take off without permission, he tried to get the plane high in the air when he spotted the other plane but it still clipped it and his plane lost everyone on the board. It was that pilot's arrogance that caused a LOT of changes in pilot/co-pilot training after that.

[@kapil3627]

It was a mix of his impatience, air traffic control misunderstanding as well as low visibility.

[@jeshkam]

Typical Dutch.

[@ronniewoodinsteadofmt2615]

@Coopykat You got nominated for comment of the year .!! What you wrote is and was the exact issue . The arrogant SOB pilot from KLM is the culprit. Period .!! Stupid SOB got snobby and pulled rank with the other foul balls in the cockpit. Odds are offspring are similar when dealing with Dutch . For the love of GOD I hope not . Later . Joey in Pennsylvania

[@ronniewoodinsteadofmt2615]

@@jeshkam Bravo .!! What a curt and to the point writing that was .!! Well ? Speechless. Period

[@coconutpalm1631]

Wait, I'm pretty sure the KLM taxied all the way along the runway then made a backtrack (U-turn) at the end, before taking off. Only the Pan Am was to turn off the runway and then use the rest of the taxiway to reach the end of the runway.

[@rainscratch]

Yes most of the normal taxiway was jammed full of diverted aircraft. Pan Am was on the runway making its way in the fog (they couldn't' clearly see where they were going and thus traveling very slowly) to the third turnoff where they would end up at the start of the runway for their takeoff. KLM hit the Pan Am just before it was about to turn off but hadn't reached the turn off. Pan Am tried desperately to turn into the grass off the runway but it was too late, the KLM's undercarriage hit the top of the Pan Am.

[@mervinprone]

It doesn’t make sense to me why they would move more than one plane at a time. If each one had moved only after the previous one had departed then this never would’ve happened.

[@tiadaid]

Originally the ATC did tell KLM to get off the runway using the third taxiway, but they then changed the instructions and asked KLM to backtrack on the runway. Logically what they had presented would have been the best step to move the aircraft, instead of a backtrack.

[@rainscratch]

An unforgettable tragedy, that but for a whole string of events and circumstances, sudden fog, and taking off without clearance by the KLM Captain Van Zanten, this disaster would not have happened. I recommend two books: 'Never Wait For The Fire Truck' by David Yeager Alexander (a Pan Am survivor who took the iconic photograph of the Pan Am 747 in flames) and 'Collision on Tenerife' by Jon Ziomek. Both excellent, the latter very detailed. Also an interesting TV documentary from Holland that has rare interviews with Pan Am copilot Robert Bragg, E Dreifus from NTSB, and American Pilots Association P Roitsch. These interviews are in English, the rest in Dutch. Unfortunately no English translation available, but worth seeing for these interviews and post crash scenes not always shown elsewhere. Documentary here kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3SUaYGkps57p5Y

[@christophercarrera2005]

Toy recreation seen in Air Crash Investigation too

[@IreneQ-tf8jd]

"Why is my package late?"