This portion of the transcript comes from the KLM cockpit voice recorder. 1706:09.6 KLM RT: Ah, roger, sir, we're cleared to the Papa beacon flight level 90, right turn out 040 until intercepting the 325, and we're now (at takeoff). The transverse taxiways are identified as Charlie 1, 2, 3, and 4, as shown in the diagram. 1704:13.6 PA 1: Here's two left, center, two right center. Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens.Email AddressZip CodeSubscribeBy the time either flight crew saw the other plane in the fog, it was too late to avert the disaster, which arose out of a series of miscommunications among both flight crews and the control tower. That smash happened after a bomb exploded at Las Palmas Airport in Gran Canaria – her intended destination – and saw the plane she was traveling on diverted to Tenerife. [background conversation in tower]. The couple then sprinted away from the plane, shortly before it exploded in a huge fireball.
["third" drawn out and emphasized]. [APP transmission is readable but slightly broken]. 1702:03.6 PA RT: Ah—we were instructed to contact you and also to taxi down the runway, is that correct? The sound of the explosion was heard across the island. 1706:12.25 KLM 1: Let's go ... check thrust.
1705:40.0 PA 2: Maybe he, maybe he counts these (are) three. I can’t believe this is happening’ as she ran from the plane. In the final minute before the collision, key misunderstandings occur among all the parties involved. My shoes came off.
The Tenerife airport disaster 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. 1705:53.4 APP: KLM 8705 [sic] uh you are cleared to the Papa beacon. Early reports suggest a Boeing 747, belonging to Dutch national airline KLM, and a Pan American 747 travelling from Los Angeles to Las Palmas were involved in the accident. 1659:32.2 APP: Negative, negative, taxi straight ahead—ah—up to the end of the runway and make backtrack. National corporate funding for NOVA is provided by Draper. It will once again place security at Spanish airports under the spotlight, hard pressed by package tour flights. At 4:58 p.m. on March 27, 1977, when this transcript begins, the KLM and Pan Am 747s are both in queue to taxi down the runway and turn around for takeoff. And in the end, the KLM pilot initiates takeoff, even though Air Traffic Control has not issued the proper clearance. She added: ‘The plane went up like an atom bomb.’. [emphatically]. Get your need-to-know Why Air Traffic Control would say "okay" after KLM has said it is taking off is unknown. After voicing her fears to Ridout, he jokingly replied: ‘Don’t worry. 1658:14.8 signifies 4:58 p.m. and 14.8 seconds. Las Palmas Airport opened to traffic again at 15.00h. Joani Feathers also saw another woman in curlers set alight after the Pan Am Boeing 747 she was traveling in collided with a KLM 747 on the runway at fog-bound Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife. 1702:08.4 APP: Affirmative, taxi into the runway and—ah—leave the runway third, third to your left, [background conversation in the tower]. The ex-cop credits her law enforcement training for making her one of just 61 people who survived the disaster, as she knew not to wait to help, and to keep a constant check on her surroundings. The Pan Am pilot sees Charlie 2, which his plane is now passing in the fog. Feathers, who had been flying from Los Angeles to the Canaries to begin a Mediterranean cruise added: ‘All my rings had come off my fingers. The following messages are audible in the KLM cockpit, causing the KLM flight engineer, even as the KLM plane has begun rolling down the runway, to question the pilot: 1706:25.47 APP: Ah—Papa Alpha 1736 report runway clear. Because of warnings of a possible second bomb, the airport was closed. The Airline Pilots Association decided to tackle the accident and issue a U.S. style report with the collaboration of human factors specialists. A massive explosion followed by a ball of fire erupted at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in dense fog as both airliners were taxiing for take-off at 1800 local time.
US election 2020 live: How to watch the results in the UK and first exit poll claims voters more worried about the economy than Covid, Golden Retriever treks 62 miles over two weeks to find her owners, Mystery Brit bets £4,000,000 on Trump winning US election, At least 54 killed in school yard massacre in Ethiopia. US election 2020: What are this year's swing states? He tried to take off quickly on seeing the plane parked, but was unable to get sufficiently high off the ground, with all 248 people on the KLM jet killed. 1659:28.4 KLM RT: Approach, you want us to turn left at Charlie 1, taxiway Charlie 1? They also called in a threat of a second bomb. Goddamn, that [expletive deleted] is coming!" 1704:44.6 PA 2: Four and a half on the right. 1705:32.4 PA 1: Yeah, but it goes ... ahead, I think (it's) gonna put us on (the) taxiway. Because the PanAm passengers remained on … 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. Charlie 1
Man, 26, arrested over alleged abduction and rape in London, UK's terror threat level 'to be raised to severe' meaning attack 'highly likely', 15 things to do before lockdown 2.0 begins. latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more. The army is expected to move in to help the rescue operation. The KLM plane, for example, taxis along Runway 12 (short for 120°, the direction it is then facing), then turns 180° and attempts takeoff in the opposite direction on what for it has then become Runway 30 (short for 300°).
Paragraphs preceding sections of the transcript, and also explanatory text attached to linked words or phrases, are NOVA annotations. Recalling the near-death experience to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Feathers told of how she was nervous about the presence of the KLM 747 that crashed into her plane moments before it happened. But as the plane taxis down the runway, the flight crew apparently can't decide whether Air Traffic Control considers this a taxiway proper. 1704:58.2 APP: [KLM] 8705 [sic] and Clipper 1736, for your information, the centerline lighting is out of service. No. A large number of flights were diverted to Tenerife, a.o. takeoff minimums PA RT: And we are still taxiing down the runway, the Clipper 1736. 1705:23.5 PA 3: Yeah, that's 45 [degrees] there.
With the KLM aircraft now taxiing down Runway 12, Air Traffic Control turns its attention to Pan Am 1736. Because the actions of both the flight crews of the two aircraft and Los Rodeos Airport's air traffic controllers directly contributed to the disaster, the log of conversations between the two planes and the tower in the minutes leading up to the collision was investigators' key tool for ultimately piecing together the events. At Gran Canaria International Airport, the intended destination for both aircraft, Canary Island separatists exploded a bomb in the concourse earlier that day, injuring several people. 1701:57.0 PA RT: Tenerife, the Clipper 1736. A massive explosion followed by a ball of fire erupted at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, in dense fog as both airliners were taxiing for take-off at 1800 local time. 1704:37.2 PA 1: We were gonna put that on four and a half. It departed from Los Angeles bound for the same intended destination as KLM 4805—Las Palmas's Gran Canaria International Airport—but was diverted to Tenerife. The Pan-Am pilot was deemed to be blameless. The controllers instruct the plane to travel down the runway and then exit it using one of the transverse taxiways. They put a bomb (in) the terminal 1702:16.4 PA RT: Third to the left, okay.
Donald Trump wins West Virginia in race for US presidential election. On March 27, 1977, on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, two 747 jumbo jets collided on a fog-shrouded runway, killing 583 people in what is still the deadliest crash in aviation history. 12 for takeoff Runway 30 1706:34.70 KLM 3: Is he not clear, that Pan American? But from the transcript it's unclear what the flight crew subsequently considers the proper taxiway to turn on, Charlie 3 or Charlie 4. 1704:39.8 PA 3: We got four and a half and we weigh 534. Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers. The transcript uses standard aviation notation to represent time. 1703:36.4 APP: The third one, sir, one, two, three, third, third one. Based on the Pan Am cockpit voice recording, investigators determined that the Pan Am flight crew saw the KLM coming at them out of the fog about nine seconds before impact. 1702:59.9 APP: Okay ... at the end of the runway make 180 [degree turn] and report—ah—ready—ah—for ATC clearance.
1704:09.7 PA 1: Okay, right turn right and left yaw.
backtrack Perhaps, the official investigation noted, the controller thought that KLM meant "we're now at takeoff position." 1702:33.1 PA 1: I don't think they have takeoff minimums anywhere right now. 1704:34.5 PA 2: Weight and balance finals? 1704:05.0 PA 1: Okay, here's a left and I'll give you a right one right here. Eyewitnesses said the airport is now covered in dense black smoke following the explosions and emergency services are struggling to cope with the enormous numbers of casualties. 1703:50.2 PA 1: Ten, indicate 10, leading edge lights are green. 1658:30.4 APP: Okay, 4805 ... taxi ... to the holding position Runway 30. [sound of stabilizer trim]. 1658:55.3 APP: Okay, KLM 80—ah—correction, 4805, taxi straight ahead—ah—for the runway and—ah—make—ah—backtrack.
Despite the horrific experience Feathers has flown regularly since the disaster, but says it is ‘always on my mind when I get on a plane.’. Afterwards, Feathers and Ridout were flown back to California, where they lived, but split up soon afterwards. Climb to and maintain flight level 90 ... right turn after takeoff proceed with heading 040 until intercepting the 325 radial from Las Palmas VOR. and his copilot yells "Get off! 1702:46.6 PA 1: Well, we asked them if we could hold and—uh—I guess you got the word, we landed here... 1702:49.8 APP: KLM 4805 how many taxiway—ah—did you pass? 1704:12.4 PA 1: Okay, here's the rudders. I'll ask him again.
1703:21.6 PA 2: Ninety-degree turn to get around this ... this one down here, it's a 45. you are cleared Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science Trust. we're now at takeoff 1705:41.5 KLM 2: Wait a minute, we don't have an ATC clearance. The airplane operated on a flight from Tenerife-Los Rodeos International Airport (TCI) to Las Palmas-Airport de Gran Canaria (LPA). We gonna go straight out there till we get 3,500 feet, then we're gonna make that reversal and go back out to ... 14. 90-degree turn 1705:35.9 PA 3: Yeah, just a little bit, yeah.