Tenerife airport disaster

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022

The Tenerife airport disaster happened on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747s collided on the ground of Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport). This crash killed 583 people on board the two flights.

The crash was caused by many reasons. One reason is that as the KLM captain wanted to takeoff quickly so that he could return to Amsterdam. This made him misunderstand that he was cleared by Air Traffic Controller to takeoff and so he began to take off, eventually crashing into the Pan Am flight. At that time, the Tenerife North Airport did not have ground radar, so the controllers could not know that the KLM flight was taking off.

Another reason was the fog surrounding the airport. The bad weather reduced the visibility, meaning the pilots could not see each other and neither could the controllers see the two planes on the runway. Because of the fog, the pilots only saw each other at the last minute, when they could not have prevented the crash. If there was no fog, the KLM crew would have seen the Pan Am plane on the runway and would not have taken off.

It was the worst crash in the history of aviation.

Questions and Answers

Q: What was the date of the Tenerife airport disaster?

A: The Tenerife airport disaster happened on March 27, 1977.

Q: How many people were killed in the crash?

A: 583 people were killed in the crash.

Q: What caused the crash?

A: The crash was caused by many reasons, including that the KLM captain wanted to takeoff quickly so he misunderstood that he was cleared by Air Traffic Controller to takeoff and began to take off, eventually crashing into the Pan Am flight. Additionally, there was fog surrounding the airport which reduced visibility and meant neither pilots nor controllers could see each other or both planes on the runway until it was too late.

Q: Did Tenerife North Airport have ground radar at that time?

A: No, Tenerife North Airport did not have ground radar at that time.

Q: If there had been no fog, would they have seen each other before taking off?

A: Yes, if there had been no fog then they would have seen each other before taking off as they would have been able to see each other and both planes on the runway from further away.

Q: Is this considered to be one of worst crashes in aviation history?

A: Yes, this is considered to be one of worst crashes in aviation history.

Q: Could either pilot or controller prevent a collision if they saw each other at last minute due to fog? A:No, unfortunately once they saw each other at last minute due to fog it would already be too late for them to prevent a collision.