Both planes shouldn’t be at Los Rodeos Airport. Their final destination was the Gran Canaria International Airpot, which has been closed after a terrorist bomb exploded in the terminal. After that incident, on March 27, 1977, the authorities decided to close to divert all the flights to the Tenerife North Airport. More than five large aircraft were diverted that day to the Tenerife North Airport, a regional an relatively small airport that could not easily accommodate such an amount of passengers.

Pan Am flight 1736 had taken off from the LA International Airport and it had a stop at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. 14 of the 380 passengers boarded from NY and the crew, consisting of 14 members, also changed here. The Boeing 747-121, with the N736PA registration, was the first 747 delivered to Pan Am.

KLM Flight 4805 was a charter flight for the Holland International Travel Group and it had taken off 4 hours before from the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The 747-260B Boeing, with the PH-BUF registration, had 235 passengers and 14 crew members. After landing at Tenerife, one local woman decided not to re-board the plane, leaving 234 passenger on board.

While both of the planes were at Los Rodeos Airport, the authorities reopened the Gran Canaria airport. The Pan Am was ready to take off, but due to the limited size of the airport, it did not manage to do this, since the KLM 747 decided to refuel. This was another decisive coincidence, since Pan Am had to wait for the KLM aircraft departure before taking off. The KLM captain decided to save time by fuelling at Tenerife, but all the new fuel added more weight, that slightly decreased the lift-off power and the accident escape ability.

When finished, the 747 KLM taxied to the runway, being aware that the Pan Am aircraft was back-taxiing behind them, on the same runway. Both of the planes had to back-taxi the whole runway, in order to make a 180 degree turn to put the aircraft in the take off position. During all this time the weather deteriorated and the low clouds limited the visibility to only 300 m (1,000 ft). The legal visibility range for a take off was 700 m (2,300 ft) back then.

The ATC instructed the Pan Am aricraft to back-taxi as well and eventually to exit the runway through the “third exit”. Based on the recordings, the Pan Am flight crew identified the first and the second exit but nobody knows if they have sighted the third one, since these taxiways were not clearly marked. Investigations conducted after the accident concluded that exiting through the third taxi-way would be practically impossible, due to the traffic congestion at the airport, that day.

The accident was caused by a communication misunderstanding. When lined up, the captain of the KLM aircraft spined-up the engines (advancing the throttles in order to check if the engines are operating properly) and the co-pilot, surprised, asked for the ATC clearance. The ATC gave a clearance that specified the route to be followed by the KLM plane after taking off. Still, there was no specific statement regarding the “take off clearance”. The captain started rolling for taking off, the co-pilot completed the read-back at the ATC by saying “we’re now at take off… we’re now, uh, taking off” (exact citation) and the Spanish controller replied “OK”, although this is a non-standard terminology.

Due to the fog, neither crew was able to see the other plane on the runway. Neither of the aircraft was seen from the control tower, as well. The Pan Am captain spotted the KLM’s taking off lights right when the 747 was approaching. The Pan Am applied full power and attempted a sharp left turn, but the KLM’s aircraft lower fuselage hit the upper right side of the Pan Am plane, at 140 knots (160 mph). The Pan Am was ripped apart and the KLM right engines crashed on the upper deck of the Pan Am. The KLM was briefly airborne, but then the captain lost control and crashed 150 m (500 ft) after the collision, sliding another 300 m on the runway.

234 passengers and 14 crew members in the KLM plane died and 326 passengers and 9 crew members from the Pan Am jet also were killed. The 56 passengers and 5 crew members of the Pan Am flight escaped by walking onto the left wing. The fire-fighters were initially unaware that there was another plane involved in the accident. Investigation that followed this tragedy concluded the fact that KLM’s captain was the main responsible for the accident, by deciding to take off without a clearance.

The authorities installed a ground radar at the Tenerife North Airport after the accident and in 1978, Tenerife’s second and larger airport was opened. The latter serves now as the main airport of the island, although the ex-Los Rodeos Airport is still functional, serving as a low-cost carrier destination. If you’re looking for cheap flights to Tenerife, it’s most likely to land at the Tenerife Nort Airport, but do not worry. The ATC new radars, the progress of the technology and the new rigorous training methods for the cockpit crews are now considerably improved, therefore the flight safety and respecting the ground procedure is not a question of option, but a “has to” for every aircraft. Studies revealed nowadays air travel is still the safest way to travel, the human errors are causing less fatal aircraft accidents than in the past and the number of air accidents is on a decreasing trend, both in America and Europe.

Who says that this scene could not apply when washing an aircraft? Certainly not the Russians, an especially not the Russians from AviaNova, Moscow’s newest low-cost carrier. Here’s a commercial that stars some of the company’s actual flight attendants.

Enjoy it and if your planning a trip to Russia, keep an eye on those Russian stewardesses! You never know how they might surprise you.

On an AirTran Airways flight from Milwaukee to Atlanta last week, Carley Helm and her two sisters were instructed by the airline personnel to get rid of the turtle before being allowed back on board. The sisters threw their animal in the trash and returned to their seats crying.

While the girls said they were told to throw away the turtle, AirTran employees said they offered the girls to fly later at no extra charge. “I asked, ‘What do you mean get rid of it?’ and they said throw it away,” Carley said.

Luckily the story had a happy ending and the girls took their pet back after two days.

(source)

When and why did you start the @klmfan account?

I started the @klmfan account both out of interest in KLM as well as a social media experiment. It was first @KLM and grew rapidly. Since it was not an official KLM account I changed it into @klmfan to make sure people don’t mix it up with the thought that it could be an official account. It was really amazing to see how people shared their KLM experiences on Twitter. I started to follow those people and it was amazing how much tips, praises, complaints and flight lovers discussed their experiences REAL TIME. That’s anew one. I started the account in february 2009.

Has KLM ever contacted you in regard to the Twitter profile?

Yes, they contacted me and ever since then we have regular contact. They had some Twitter accounts back then, but none of them was really popular. Also they were not very interactive in their approach. Those twitter accounts were not really official as well. Since the rise of @klmfan they started to get more interest in Twitter and in social media in general I think. We had a few meetings and they guided me through the hangars in Schiphol. Also they asked me to live report on Twitter about the first partly biofuel flight with passengers. This was an amazing experience.

What was the nicest/weirdest KLM experience you came across?

The nicest KLM experience I had was the guided tour through the hangars of Schiphol Airport. The extreme beauty of these planes, the nice guide and the interesting stories about flying were just incredible. Also the livereport of the “biofuel flight” was amazing, because this was my first experience of realtime reporting about a subject that was hot news in the press. Also, when I was a little kid, my uncle (that works for KLM) took me to a flightsim and I was allowed to experience it for some time. Incredible. My weirdest experience was that @klmfan was picked up in quite some online press articles (also when it was still @klm). Also the subject of the disappearance of AF 447 caused a lot of buzz and interest in the KLM Twitter account.

How much time do you invest in your Twitter profile daily?

Depends, I have multiple Twitter accounts that I update daily. Next to @klmfan I have my personal account: @timvanwaard and an account for a globally known trancemusic site (my other big passion): @trancenu

What do you do when you’re not tweeting?

I work as a consultant for online communication, also do some content management and online projects. I also tend to make digital mixes of trancemusic and I spent time with my girlfriend.

How do you see KLM’s online presence right now?

The online channel is the most important channel for KLM right now is the internet. And by that I mean not only their website (which get’s regular criticism about not working properly), but also the other online (social media) channels. First off all you need a working website. Failure of systems is not tolerated anymore by customers. Second: they must expand their brand KLM globally online more. KLM is such a massive name with a great vibe around it. They started their Twitter account that’s gaining alot of new followers everyday, they started a Facebook page where you can make personalized luggage tags. That are some great initiatives, but it’s just a start. I see many opportunities for KLM to expand their social media activity and online presence. Still I sense a lot of fear for social media (like a lot of big companies) but they must try to turn it from a threat into an opportunity. The people I have contact with at KLM are doing some great stuff and I like their philosophy: if we do something, we do it good and we over think it.

What is your best/worst experience when flying?

I don’t like it when I have to take out my shoes before boarding as happened when I flew to Miami with British Airways. Also I wasn’t too fond of Iberia’s flight crew when I flew with them. My best experience must have been landing in Rovaniemi, Lapland. The whole airport and landing strip covered in snow. Pretty magical.

We hoped you enjoyed the interview. If you would like to find out more about Airline Post or get interviewed in our new series, please contact us!

The pieces of this airframe were transported from San Jose airport to the jungles of Manuel Antonio on 5 big-rig trucks. This suit is perched on a 50 foot pedestal in the National Park of Costa Verde II area. This height will give you an opportunity to enjoy both Scenic Ocean and jungle view from the hard wood deck of the suite.

TV Area & Kitchenette

The interior furniture is built on Teak from Java, Indonesia. This suit comes with 2 air conditioned bed rooms. Other features of the suit includes a flat screen TV, a Kitchenette, dinning area foyer, a private entrance up a river rock. The whole suit is surrounded by gardens. This place will be a perfect one to enjoy a glass of wine with some jungle neighbors – sloths, monkeys.

Second bedroom & master bedroom

This idea of building a Boeing 727 home is inspired from a company offering a hurricane proof living using Boeing 727 airframes. Along with this great idea various forms of luxury life have been added to make your stay in Costa Rica a splendid one.

Master bathroom and view from the Boeing

Stevie Whoseyafather, from Lyingair, commented: “I had to bend over for about an hour and half with Micky on top so the bloody agency could get the angle right, but we think it looks great and really shows off our corporate values”.

Menu from AirFrance & FinnAir flights

American Airlines & Cathay Pacific (Business Class) menus

EVA Airways (Business Class) menus (a.k.a. the Hello Kitty Airline)

China East Airlines & Cathay Pacific (Economy Class) menus

China Airlines (Economy Class) & DragonAir (Economy Class) menus

Menus from JetAirways (Economy Class) & Nippon Airways (Economy Class)

United Airlines (Ecomomy Class) & Vietnam Airlines (Economy Class)

Japan Airlines & Air Canada menus

AirIndia & AirKoryo menus

Delta Airlines & Garuda menus

KLM & Lufthansa menus

Another Lufthansa menu & Shanghai Airlines

TAP & Virgin Atlantic menus

via FailBlog