Pan Am Flight 1730 and The DISASTER At Tenerife! | Mayday: Air Disaster

two Jumbo Jets 583 people the deadliest air crash of all time this was a nightmare beyond all expectations I messed this up I could actually lose my license blame soon falls on One Pilot stand by for takeoff I will call you why would he ignore those instructions but as investigators sift through all the evidence whoa whoa what just happened there the disaster in Tenerife grows more and more mysterious why didn't they get off where they were told these are the top Guys these are the the best in the business how could this happen [Music] sanjet 282 proceed directly to Runway backtrack and hold Los rodeos airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife is busier than it's ever been va-783 holds short of the runway and stand by for taxi clearance the controllers are swamped Scandinavian 1420 you are cleared for takeoff Sterling 7392 you are next in line 69 right turn heading zero four zero goodbye a few hours ago dozens of flights were diverted here after a terrorist bombing shut down a larger airport in nearby Las Palmas it's a single Runway airport with a single parallel taxiway and because of a terrorist event in the region they had much more traffic than I'm certain that they would normally see Sterling 7392 taxi to the runway and exit at taxiway Charlie 3. they were dealing with aircraft that had been delayed for a good part of the day and now there was a sense of urgency to to uh to get them out and safely on their way with so many planes parked on the taxiways the controllers instruct departing flights to taxi along the airport's only Runway to get into position for takeoff [Music] one of the planes waiting to get to Las Palmas is Pan Am flight 1736. must be getting close sure hope so you ready for the beach 39 year old Robert Bragg is the first officer after we got to Las Palmas we were supposed to have a day there and then fly the airplane to Paris and have a deal and then back to New York so it was supposed to be a really good trip his captain is Victor Grubbs flight engineer George warns completes the highly experienced crew Pan-American World Airways was not only a Pioneer but they were the one we all looked up to tremendously those of us who wanted to be pilots and who later were always had that fantasy that we might someday fly for Pan American so they were the creme de La Creme for so many many decades the Pan Am crew is ready to get back in the air but they can't taxi to the runway a KLM 747 has stopped in front of them to refuel we were about 12 feet short of getting around we're all in the same radio I asked him how long would it be for him to finish schooling he said about 45 minutes you're trying to get your passengers where they want to go and now Caitlin wants more fuel and it's just one of those things it gets frustrating these irritations are small but at the end of a long day they began to add up [Music] not even a sandwich it's been a long day for the 378 passengers on board the Pan Am airplane [Music] a flight started in Los Angeles before stopping in New York and now in Tenerife they had been on the airplane 12 13 hours so they were getting tired the passengers have no idea how long the delay will last KLM was a big concern and he we found out his fueling would be finished and rescale m4805 he finished refueling requesting clearance for startup the KLM aircraft is finally ready to roll both 747s should be back in the air soon Clipper 1736 requesting star clearance I said okay Pan Am is ready to start also taper 1736 you are clear to start okay restart checklist please [Music] I'm happy to say we've been finally cleared to get moving we should have you in the air in about 15 minutes from now [Music] the Canary Islands lie off the west coast of Africa Tenerife is one of seven in the Spanish archipelago the mountainous island is famous for constantly changing weather can't see anything out there a fog Bank rolled in and visibility went down to almost zero Clipper 1736 clear taxi into the runway following the 747 from KLM flipper1736 to expedite the the departures of both KLM and Pan Am they taxi both on the runway at the same time to put them in a position where they would be ready for a departure he said follow KLM down a Runway backtrack make a exit to get around back of Camp live so that's what we were doing once they get in the air the flight to Las Palmas should only take about 25 minutes klm-4805 how many taxiways did you pass I think we just passed Johnny four now okay the KLM 747 will be the next plane to take off at the end of the runway make 180 and terminus first officer Bragg is unfamiliar with the airport he checks a Runway diagram to help find their turning okay that's this one right here of course ahead it's going to put us on the taxiway as they taxi they listen to the tower controller tell the KLM crew ahead of them what to do after departure Beacon climb 2 and maintain flight level nine or zero right turn after takeoff flight level nine zero right turn up we are now a takeoff okay uh uh stand back for takeoff I will call you and we're still taxing down the runway flipper 1736-1736 report Runway clear okay we'll report when we're clear thank you the Pan Am crew will be turning off the Runway in just a few more yards now something's wrong first officer Bragg can see a plane through the fog I think he's moving now I looked up and there he was coming down the runway it was very obvious that he was moving because his Landing lights were shaking look at him that idiot's coming it's not klm2 get off get off [Music] Captain Grubbs tries to steer clear of the oncoming KLM but it's bearing down on them at nearly 200 miles an hour [Music] he had lifted off the throne I could see his rotating Beacon underneath get off get off get off get out get out get out oh man I ducked and set a real quick prayer God I'll be misses us the unimaginable collision between two Jumbo Jets has turned a Runway antenna Reef into a disaster Zone foreign [Music] ERS were gone and it looked like somebody had taken a big knife and just cut the whole top of the airplane up get up that's when I decided it was time to leave a 45-foot drop onto solid concrete and then just jumped right almost I didn't even think about it when I hit I rolled on the ground and looked Brown and discard I wasn't hurt some passengers in the shattered cabin of the Pan Am have also survived they're desperate to get off the plane their plane was totally burning through Flames probably 200 feet high an opening in the fuselage offers the possibility of Escape but there are no emergency slides the long drop to the runway could be fatal with a plane engulfed in flames it's the only way out [Music] I thought airplanes were going to blow up and I yell out and start jumping and they did only 61 people from the Pan Am flight survive the cockpit crew is alive but 335 others are dead on the KLM flight there are no survivors 248 passengers and crew have been killed all told the disaster claims 583 lives it's the deadliest aviation accident of all time with only a few getting out on Pan Am this was something that we really had not contemplated when we started building bigger airplanes nobody ever thought what if we lost two of them in a collision on the ground this was a nightmare beyond all expectation the next morning investigators from Spain the Netherlands and the United States are on the scene we didn't have a whole lot of experience with 747s crashing at that point so for an accident investigation standpoint it was going to be as big a deal as you can get Pan Am clearing the runway KLM on its takeoff roll someone messed up they face a huge task trying to untangle the chain of events that led to this catastrophic Runway Collision the search for the black boxes begins immediately the recorders could hold important details about what was happening in both cockpits voice recorders in this case were vital you had two air-worthy aircraft coming together on the runway so the events leading up to that you know were key it was busy controllers had to get almost 50 planes off the ground in just a few hours investigators know that Los rodeos airport has no ground radar to help controllers track planes at a busy location it's unusual for a controller to have to work without ground radar it increases the stress a little bit in the tower there's no question that the small airport was dealing with more traffic than usual was it too much for controllers to handle did they make a fatal mistake a visit to the tower is the obvious Next Step we've never been that busy and uh okay well the planes were parked here and here they had to use the runway to taxi into position one at a time they were actually having the park aircraft on the taxiway the only taxiway that they had and therefore kind of deviate from their standard operating procedures and and anytime you do that unfortunately risk things get a little bit riskier so I instructed KLM to taxi to the foot of the runway make a 180 and wait for takeoff clearance at the end of the runway make 180 and rep support uh for ATC clearance and a couple of minutes later he reported that he was in position here Caleb is ready for takeoff waiting for ATC clearance when KLM had turned around at the end of the runway and was in position for takeoff we call that uh lineup and weight so they are waiting for takeoff clearance which will equal a clear Runway [Music] and then I had PanAm move up the runway right behind the KLM Papa Alpha 1736 report Runway clear okay we'll report when we're clear it's true we were busier than we've ever been before but we were managing we were getting the job done it's becoming clear to investigators that the cause of the Tenerife tragedy goes beyond a busy Airport controllers had a lot to do but they were not overwhelmed there must have been other factors at play in actual investigation we learned a long time ago that there is never ever just one cause and there are multiplicity of moving Parts on this I couldn't actually see what happened sick fog had rolled in visibility was almost zero by then this particular airport had a unique characteristic in that it was high enough so that you would get actually clouds rolling in across the runway Alf 4805 how many taxiways did you buy the controllers looking out the window could not see any aircraft that were taxing either on the taxiways or on the runways and instead had to rely solely on Transmissions from the pilots to report whether or not they were clear of the runway investigators know that if the controller couldn't see the airplanes through the fog his instructions to the pilots would have to be crystal clear they gather recordings from Air Traffic Control perhaps the tapes can paint a better picture of what really happened that was the key to the hall investigation where were the aircraft on the runways and what was being said along their path down the runway get off get up get up history's deadliest air crash is leading newscasts around the world the pressure for answers is not about to let up we knew we had a tremendous task on our hands to solve this accident all right let's start with the KLM during the end of the runway 502 investigators want to know if the Tenerife controller said anything to the KLM or Pan Am Pilots that could have led to the Collision they listen to the recordings from inside the tower right here KLM Captain Jacob van zanten and his first officer Klaus muers taxi up the runway in thick fog by the time that the main Island airport at Las Palmas reopened and everybody was getting ready to go it was down to about 700 to 900 yards of visibility and that's just right at minimums at the end of the runway make 180 and Report ready for ATC clearance okay KLM was told to proceed to the end of the runway turn around and wait what was the Pan Am flight told to do 1736 leave the runway what are they just ask him to do I'm sorry say again please leave the runway the third one to your left okay uh taxi down the runway and leave the runway at the first intersection on the left is that correct negative the third one the third one whenever we look at the question of whether or not the air traffic controller is in the tower the two gentlemen in the tower were giving clear instructions you got to remember we have kind of a a linguistic problem here because these are two Spaniards who speak Spanish as their native language attempting to speak in aviation English to an American Crew and to a KLM Dutch crew he's on an active Runway and he doesn't know if he's being told to get off here here or maybe here there seemed to be some confusion with uh as to what accent they were supposed to take and I have a feeling part of that had to do with the accents involved maybe I'll ask him again would you confirm that you want Clipper one seven three six to turn left at the third intersection it takes an extra effort but the controller eventually makes himself understood the third one sir one two three the third one third the controller's accent may have been another complicating factor for pilots in an unfamiliar airport on a very busy day but for investigators it's not enough to explain the crash they need to keep digging one two three this is where they were told to get off and they clearly understood but they moved past C3 why didn't they get off where they were told the Pan Am plane taxied past the third exit why did it stay on the runway for more insight investigators examined the geometry of the turn the Pan Am Pilots were asked to make that leads to a surprising discovery so we have 148 degree turn here followed by another one here leaving the runway of the third intersection would have required two very sharp turns both tighter than 90 degrees it's practically impossible 747 is a beast this is a big big airplane you just can't turn it on a dime so a crew is going to always be reluctant an experienced crew especially like pan AMS to to take a turn if it doesn't look logical to them and this one did not look logical to them all right so the Collision happened here so we obviously passed C3 and was headed for C4 instead of leaving the runway at an exit that required two very difficult turns the Pan Am crew headed for the fourth exit it was further along the runway but provided a much easier turn if you see C4 it's the only taxiway going off The Runaway to 45 degree angle the other C3 would have not done what we need to do so I can see how that would definitely have induced the the Pan Am crew to think that Charlie 4 was the exit but they were supposed to turn at in the fog the KLM crew would not have been able to see that Pan Am 1736 was taxiing past the C3 exit as they waited for takeoff instructions from the controller Alm is ready for takeoff awaiting ATC clearance the first clearance they were asking for was a a air traffic control route clearance which tells Pilots how to get from the the airport that they were at Tenerife to their destination Airport the air traffic control recording suggests the KLM crew knew the correct procedures and was following them flight level nine or zero sounds fine project cleared to Papa Beacon like level nine zero right turnout we are now at takeoff okay stand by for takeoff I will call you it's kind of a verification between the controller and the pilot that they are doing what they should be doing he's telling the tower he's in takeoff position but he's been told to wait for takeoff clearance so why does he start his takeoff roll investigators are mystified nothing on the tower recording can explain why the KLM crew started down the runway before they were cleared to do so big question then was you know once you get over the horrific nature of it say how could this happen at the crash site there's New Hope of finding some answers investigators have recovered the black boxes the voice recorders were key to the investigation that gave us a insight into what was going on in the respective cockpits they can only hope the new evidence will be enough to finally solve the mystery of the worst air disaster the world has ever seen we've located the CVR the investigation into the Tenerife disaster shifts to the Washington headquarters of the national Transportation safety board investigator Dennis grossy has painstakingly matched up the cockpit voice recordings with the known movements of both planes Okay let's listen to the panel now in this case fractions of a second mattered so it's important that we had those recorders synced up so you could hear it and you could have precise measurements of when things were said [Music] that's this one right here the next one is almost a 45. goes ahead it's going to put us on the taxiway the Pan Am cockpit tape confirms that the crew was having a hard time figuring out where to leave the runway they're passing C3 and no one sees them did the KLM crew think the Pan Am plane was already off the Runway keep it going while the tape reveals next suggests the answer is no we are now and we're still taxiing down the runway Clipper 1736 both crews are using the same radio frequency KLM should have heard first officer Bragg report his location that's why I said we're still on the runway and we will report clear the runway six report Runway clear okay we'll report when we're clear thank you crystal clear for all to hear you're still on the runway at KLM continues to take off Captain van zanto is a highly experienced pilot with more than 11 000 hours in the air what led him to believe the runway ahead was clear and that he had permission to take off it just seems so alien for the crew to make that mistake I mean these These are the these are the top Guys these are the the best in the business he lands just after 13 30. investigators turn to the KLM voice recording for answers perhaps something said in that cockpit can explain the incomprehensible decision to start down the runway we landed here at 138 yes I know that's good but we have to start from seven o'clock that's when we checked in you're trying to recreate the carpet environment why certain decisions were made why things were said time limit is 10 hours of flying with an amplitude of 13 hours that's a fun stopple the recording reveals that the captain is worried about work hours if the crew exceeds their Duty time they'll be forced to cancel the flight now that means probably Thirty forty thousand dollars of hotel rooms for the outbound passenger three they're not going to be able to carry back that night it is a bit of a logistical nightmare especially in an outstation in a foreign place Dutch Regulators have also recently tightened the rules governing flight crew Duty time a Dutch pilot can now have his license revoked if he exceeds the legal number of hours the crew left Amsterdam at nine in the morning they still have to get their passengers to Las Palmas pick up another load of passengers and get back to Amsterdam before the clock Runs Out if I messed this up I could actually lose my license we certainly wouldn't want that well if you're beating you might as well refuel KLM 4805 now requesting refueling at the apron van santon's concern over Duty time explains why he decided to refuel while in Tenerife he was going to do everything in his power to to make sure that he could you know complete the flight within his legal Duty time limits but then a short time later the airport in Las Palmas reopens to all Aircraft Las Palmas has reopened you may ask for startup in clearances and your discretion and Van zanten's plan backfires refueling takes much longer than expected and now he can't move until it's done when Las Palmas reopened here he is sucking on a fuel hose instead of starting the engines and moving this is Clipper 1736 requesting startup clearance van zanten's decision has a huge impact on the Pan Am flight as well has requested a refuel and it doesn't look like you're going to get by him the Pan American 747 they didn't have enough wingtip clearance you got to be kidding Roger Tenerife Clipper 1736 the other captains were unhappy with him because he was the cork in the bottle the refueling delay means the KLM crew now has only two hours until they're grounded a taxi half hour to get there an hour to swap passengers and get back in the air it's tight and guess what the weather's getting worse to the runway the question facing investigators now is did the rush to get off the ground in worsening weather calls the KLM crew to jump the gun so he taxis to the end of the runway and does his 180. we know this from the tower tapes can we hear it from that point please about to get us armed Landing lights on checklist complete investigators hear more evidence that the captain of KLM flight 4805 may have been in a rush it's too throttling huh wait a minute we do not have ATC clearance no I know that go ahead and ask it was obvious that time was an important factor in the KLM Captain's decision making he wasn't going to waste any time once he got to the end of the runway [Music] TC clearance so he requests ATC clearance for about a minute from the Collision when the first officer asked for the clearance he was asking for the air traffic control clearance completely separate from the clearance to actually roll this 500 600 000 pound monster down the runway you are clear to the Papa Beacon client two and maintain flight level Niner zero right turn after takeoff what investigators hear next answers many of the questions plaguing this investigation [Music] let's go upstairs like level nine zero right turnout we are now at takeoff okay whoa whoa whoa what just happened there play that again please the controller is providing instructions for what to do after takeoff you are clear to the Papa vegan client tool and maintain the flight level nine or zero right turn after takeoff yes but the captain reacts as if he's actually been cleared for departure they get a clearance from Air Traffic Control that that contains the word takeoff and and that confirms for them that everything is the way it should be when in fact everything was not Roger save to the Papa Beacon let's go check Trust before his first officer has finished reading back the instructions Captain van zanton is already on the roll flight level nine zero right turnout we are now at takeoff investigators now know what the Dutch first officer meant by at takeoff he's reporting that he's actually taking off not that he's ready to take off unfortunately in this case it meant they were taking off from the KLM perspective and for the air traffic control perspective they were hearing we are a takeoff position but for investigators there's something about the radio exchange that still doesn't make sense according to the tower transcripts the controller advised him to stay put okay uh stand by for takeoff I will call you why didn't the KLM crew follow that clear instruction to stand by Jimmy Pan Am at 1706. that's when Pan Am reports on the same frequency that they're still on the runway [Music] we're still taxing down the runway flipper 1736 hold it there [Music] why would he ignore them the cockpit recordings continue to baffle investigators until they hear another critical moment on the KLM tape okay [Music] that's what he heard it's a stunning discovery it's like level nine zero right turn up we are now at takeoff okay the two warnings to stay put were never heard in the KLM cockpit the Tower and the Pan Am flight both made their critical calls at the exact same moment okay and we're still taxing down the runway I will call you Clipper 1736 the simultaneous Transmissions produced a four second squeal in the KLM cockpit we are now at kickoff okay the crew heard only one word okay unfortunately uh this happened um during that pause after the controller says okay for KLM they had no opportunity to hear the controllers they stand by for takeoff nor were they able to hear because they were speaking at the same time that the Pan Am crew reporting that they were still on the runway so what's next there's one final transmission recorded in the KLM cockpit it should have alerted the crew that another plane was still on the runway okay we'll report when we're clear thank you only the flight engineer seems to have understood it is not clear then what did you say it's not clear then the Pan-American oh yes the pilots ignore his concern and missed their last chance to avoid a disaster that will claim 583 lives oh damn it [Music] [Music] Vincent should not have moved without explicit clearance you learned that in probably the first or second lesson in aviation do not take all unless you get a clearance investigators dig into the career of Captain van zanten they're looking for anything that might explain why an experienced pilot would violate such a fundamental rule this guy was a superstar they learned that van zanton was one of klm's top Pilots he was the face of the airline the director of flight safety and head of the flight training department How could a human being with so much intelligent so much capability and experience and position at the director of safety how could he fail like this foreign ERS suspect that in an odd twist the captain's elevated status may have played a role in the Tenerife disaster back in those times everyone had an awe of the cat if you will his Word was God his word was unquestioned if he has that kind of authority it's less likely for someone uh his Junior in this case the flight engineer and the first officer to challenge anything he does yeah okay we'll report when we're clear thank you what did you say is he not clear than the Pan American oh yes the conversation in the KLM cockpit leading up to the accident seems to support that notion but van zanten's esteemed status doesn't explain the most troubling question of all why did he believe it was safe to take off in the first place logically you should make extra clear that hey we're taking off is the runway clear investigators search desperately for an answer and come across a stunning detail in the captain's flight log it could be the final piece of the puzzle this was his first flight in three months records show that van zanton's cockpit hours had dropped dramatically in recent years he was spending most of his time in a simulator training other Pilots the simulation is interesting because when you spend a lot of time as an instructor in a simulator it's an artificial environment that we try to make as real as possible okay check this complete let's go it's rust flight simulators do a remarkably good job at recreating the experience of a real flight but there is one very important element missing there is no air traffic controller in a simulator this Focus was on training and there was this difference in the way you treat Air Traffic Control Communications in the training environment versus the real world okay let's go Trust V1 here we go first voting okay let's go take off to us trust go all the time you spend in the simulator works against him right turn after table Roger clear to the Papa Beacon let's go check for us Jacob van zanton's attempt to take off without a clearance resulted from his time in the simulator and and that he kind of reset himself he was his own clearance Authority in the simulator [Music] and then two separate Radio Calls that should have told him the Pan Am was off the Runway cancel each other up okay the world's deadliest Airline accident is now all but inevitable I think he's moving look at him that idiot's coming basically we had a captain who wanted to get off the ground as rapidly as possible oh damn it the weather was not cooperating and he was about out of community time and in a situation like that the human mind our carbon-based brains tend to jump a few cogs so to speak foreign cocked and loaded by various factors and he was the one that pulled the trigger but you have to take them all in connection the investigation into the collision at Tenerife results in dozens of recommendations few Aviation accidents have triggered a greater number of significant changes that's what began to be the seed of training for what we could later call crew Resource Management where we said to the captain we're on to above you're a human being you can make mistakes even when you have no intention to and even when you're completely qualified and other airlines transform their training methods for captains helping them become more responsive to their crewmates even the most senior and the most highly trained individuals can make mistakes and we need to rely on the resources of all the crew members to compensate for that you are clear to the Papa Beacon climb two and maintain flight level nine or zero right turn after takeoff the accident also changes the very language used by controllers around the world controllers don't use the word takeoff unless they actually mean and intend for the aircraft to be doing just that taking off instead they will substitute the word after departure turn right heading zero four zero or something to that effect only 583 people those those people did not die in vain we have learned those lessons they changed the whole face of Aviation safety [Music] foreign

Channel: Mayday: Air Disaster

Views: 181,601

Keywords: Mayday: Air Disaster, Pan Am Flight 1736, Tenerife airport disaster, aerial incidents study, air disaster series, air disasters, air traffic control chaos, air travel tragedies, aircraft maneuvering errors, airline disasters, airline investigations, airplane collision report, aviation history review, aviation mysteries, cockpit drama, cockpit experience insights, flight emergency, pilot error, safety procedures review, tragic airplane collision, tragic aviation incidents

Id: Ea07PDRzyiY

Length: 42min 33sec (2553 seconds)

Published: Sun May 21 2023