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.

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 new type of economy introduced by KLM features more legroom and twice the recline, being available on all long-haul routes.

Bram Graber, senior VP Air France KLM area Benelux, said in a statement KLM is still a two-class airline, but wanted to give economy passengers another option besides Business class.

“This new alternative reflects KLM’s pledge to fulfil the changing needs of its customers, one of which was the call for more comfort options in Economy Class,” he added.

A Economy Comfort seat will cost between €80 and €150 extra depending on the duration of the flight. The meals are the same for Upgraded Economy as they are for Regular Economy class.

The new Economy Comfort option is available across all 60 of KLM’s long-haul starting today to international destinations. To make room for this, several Economy seats were sacrificed, while Business Class seats remained the same.

Here is the Dutch celebrity illusionist Ramana, who took part at the ceremonies:

“This is an important step on the road to completely sustainable aviation,” said KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman. “KLM has joined forces with its partners to vigorously stimulate the further development of alternative fuels. In so doing, we need to rely on the input and support of all the relevant parties: the business community, government and society at large.’’

The biofuel that will power the plane will be made entirely out of camelina. Studies have shown that camelina-based fuel reduces carbon emissions by up to 84% when compared to the standard petroleum-based fuels.

KLM along with Air France has been the driving force for innovation in eco-friendly flying. The Dutch side of Worldwide Fund for Nature has voted KLM as its Business Partner of the year for 2009, while KLM-Air France was given the top spot in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which tracks the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

Here’s a video from the inaugurational flight, as shot by our twitter friend, @klmfan:

”Passengers will be able to check one bag, weighing up to 50 pounds (23 kilos), free of charge. If passengers would like to check a second bag … they may do so for a fee of $US50 ($53.79) for all flights departing from the US or E50 ($80.87) for all flights departing from Europe,” Air France said.

Charges will not apply to passengers who are Flying Blue Platinum, Gold and Silver members, SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus Frequent Flyer members.

Air France said this measure comes after a similar move by Delta, American Airlines and British Airways. They also said only 14% of passengers on Economy Class check in a second bag. These airlines charge US$50 for a second bag on most flights, while US Airways charge US$55. Virgin will also introduce new rules for second checked-in luggage.

The fee will be implemented starting November 1th and will also be applied to flights from the US to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The airlines said they are planning to apply for antitrust approval from the United States Department of Transportation and that they would also notify the European Union commission. The first effort toward the tie-up was made 12 years ago, when American and British Airways joined their operations.

BA started negotiations with Iberia Airlines, the Spanish carrier, but nothing has been finalized. AA and BA are also considering including Finnair and Royal Jordanian in this partnership.

If they receive the approval, the alliance would service 443 destinations in 106 countries with around 6,300 daily departures. If the deal will get rejected by the EU, the companies may get fined 10% of global annual turnover for forming an illegal cartel.

The EU is also running parallel investigations on other airlines. The Star Alliance (Lufthansa, Continental, United and Air Canada) and SkyTeam (Air France/KLM and Delta/Northwest) are also under its watchful eye. Only airlines alliances that fly trans-Atlantic are currently analyzed.

Even with the alliance of BA, AA and Iberia, these airlines would still be the second-largest airline with 18% of seats, following Delta-Northwest-Air France that own 25%. On Sunday, Virgin announced a $5.6 million marketing campaign against the alliance, including painting 34 of their aircrafts with the message “No Way, AA/BA.” (via Yahoo)

The news was not well received by the company’s investors – its shares dropped a staggering 18% to a record low. Mr. Nishimatsu said after meeting Transport Minister Seiji Maehara that they plan to apply for public funds under the industrial revitalisation law. This means that companies need approval from the government to restructure and can apply for loans at banks backed by the Government.

“Ultimately, we think that the use of more funds will reduce our debts to the public,” Mr Nishimatsu said.

JAL president also said that they hope to strike a deal with an international carrier by the middle of October. Bail-out might not be JAL’s only option as several US and European carriers such as Air France-KLM, Delta Airlines and American Airlines are interested in taking a part of the company in order to expand into Asia.

Japan Airlines is not the only company hit by the global downturn; a few weeks ago, the Slovakian low-cost company, SkyEurope announced bankruptcy and left hundreds of passengers stranded. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts losses of up to $11bn for 2009 across the airline industry. For the Asia-Pacific region, the estimates losses of $3.6bn for 2009. (via BBC)

If you’re in London, for example, you can chase the sun to Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cairo, Kilimanjaro, Lagos, Entebbe or Dar es Salaam) for prices starting with 251 pounds. For a more oriental trip, head down to Beijing, Manilla, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Seoul or Guangzhou with prices as low as 399 pounds. Fares inclusive of taxes and surcharges from London. Taxes and charges are subject to changes. Here’s KLM’s world deals available for London.

For US residents, KLM will take you to Europe, the Middle-East and Africa for prices starting with 241$.  All fares below are displayed one-way based on a round-trip purchase and include the fuel surcharge. Here’s the link where you can find all their us offers.

So if you’re planning your vacation in September, head down to the KLM website and pick your country of residence, then you destination. The booking needs to be made between 3 September 2009 and  30 September 2009, and traveling on/before 31 March 2010.