Tenerife disaster
The Tenerife collision took place on March 27, 1977, at 17:06:56 local time (also GMT), when two Boeing 747 airliners collided at Los Rodeos (TCI) on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, killing 583 people. The accident has the highest number of fatalities (excluding ground fatalities) of any single accident in aviation history. It occurred as a result of an unfortunate synchronicity of a chain of events, any one of which having not transpired would have prevented the accident.
The aircraft involved were Pan American World Airways Flight 1736, named Clipper Victor, under the command of Captain Victor Grubbs, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flight 4805, named Rijn (Rhine River), under the command of Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten. KLM 4805, taking off on the only runway of the airport, crashed into the Pan Am aircraft which was taxiing on the same runway.
Tenerife North Airport (TFN) (then called Los Rodeos - TCI) is situated in the northern part of Tenerife, and is now used mainly for flights within the Canary Islands and flights from the Spanish mainland.
Pan Am Flight 1736 had taken off from Los Angeles International Airport with an intermediate stop at New York's JFK International Airport. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-121, registration N736PA. KLM Flight 4805, a charter flight from the Netherlands, had taken off four hours before from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The destination of both planes was Las Palmas on Gran Canaria.what, Volvo, Creating, Benefits, Options
Upon contacting Gran Canaria International Airport, the Pan Am flight was told that the airport was temporarily closed due to a bomb attack supposedly by Canary Islands' separatists. A bomb had exploded in the airport concourse, injuring several people, and a threat of a second bomb had been received.Riding, Hoodia, Realise, Walk, Online Although the Pan Am crew indicated that they would prefer to circle until landing clearance was given, the plane was ordered to divert to Tenerife North Airport (Los Rodeos) on the nearby island of Tenerife, together with many other planes. The KLM aircraft was also given instructions to divert to Los Rodeos.
In all, at least five large aircraft were diverted to Los Rodeos, a regional airport that could not easily accommodate them. The airport consisted of one runway and one major taxiway parallel to it, as well as several small taxiways connecting them. The diverted aircraft were parked on the long taxiway, meaning that it could not be used for taxiing. Instead, departing aircraft would have to taxi along the runway to position themselves for takeoff.Learner, Your, great, Erosive, Barley
Chain of events leading to disaster
Refueling
After the threat at Gran Canaria International Airport had been contained, authorities reopened the airport. The Pan Am aircraft was ready to depart, but the KLM plane and a refueling vehicle obstructed the way to the active runway.Licensable, Netting, Methods, Material, Where Captain van Zanten had decided to refuel at Los Rodeos instead of Las Palmas, apparently to save time. The refuelling was to take an estimated 35 minutes.
Taxiing and weather conditions
Following the tower's instructions, the KLM aircraft was cleared to backtrack to the end of the only runway and make a 180 degree turn to put the aircraft in takeoff position (a difficult maneuver to perform with a 747 on the narrow 150' wide runway). While KLM 4805 was backtracking on the runway, the controller asked the flight crew to report when it was ready to copy the ATC clearance. Because the flight crew was performing the checklist, copying this clearance was postponed until the aircraft was in takeoff position on Runway 30. During taxiing, the weather deteriorated and low-lying clouds had limited the visual range to about 300 meters.Buying, Vital, Enlarging, Masters, what
Shortly afterwards Pan Am 1736 was instructed to also backtrack along the same runway and take the third exit on their left, leaving the main runway, and taxi via the parallel taxiway. Initially the crew was unclear as to whether the controller had told them to take the first or third exit. The crew asked for clarification and the controller responded emphatically by replying "The third one, sir, one, two, three, third, third one". The crew began the taxi and using an airport diagram proceeded to identify the unmarked taxiways as they slowly reached them.That, FTPUpdateSearcher.com, Coffee, Depressed, Good Based on the chronology of the CVR and the distances between the taxiways (and the location of the aircraft at the time of the collision), the crew successfully identified the first (C-1) and second (C-2) taxiways but their discussion in the cockpit never indicated that they had identified the third (C-3) taxiway which they were instructed to use. The crew appeared to remain unsure of their position on the runway up until the collision which occurred near the intersection with the fourth taxiway (C-4).That, Part, what, REASONING, Natal
Communication misunderstandings
Immediately after lining up, the KLM captain advanced the throttles slightly (a standard procedure known as spin-up to verify the engines are operating properly for takeoff) and the co-pilot advised the captain that ATC clearance had not yet been given. The captain responded "I know that. Go ahead, ask." The co-pilot then radioed the tower that they were "ready for take-off" and "waiting for our ATC clearance". The KLM crew then received a clearance which specified the aircraft's departure route and gave instructions which stated what to do after take-off (the word take-off itself was part of the clearance);Cisco, .htaccess, That, Chocolate, Implied but not an explicit, distinct statement saying that they were cleared for take-off. The KLM co-pilot read the clearance back to the controller completing the readback with the statement "we're now at take-off" or "we're now uh..taking off" (the exact wording of his statement was not clear) indicating to the controller that they were beginning their take-off roll. The controller initially responded with "O.K." (terminology which, although commonly used, is nonstandard), which the KLM crew heard clearly and reinforced their misinterpretation that they indeed had explicit take-off clearance. The controller's response of "O.K." to the co-pilot's nonstandard statement that they were "now at take-off" was likely due to his misinterpretation that they were in take-off position, and ready to begin the roll when take-off clearance was received, but not actually in the process of take-off.Execute, Most, healing, This, Wiring The controller then immediately added "Stand by for take-off, I will call you", indicating that the controller had never intended the clearance to be interpreted as a take-off clearance. However, a simultaneous radio call from the Pan Am crew at that precise moment caused mutual interference on the radio frequency and all that was audible in the KLM cockpit was a heterodyne beat tone, making the crucial latter portion of the tower's response inaudible to the KLM pilots. The Pan Am crew's transmission, which was also critical, was reporting that they had not finished taxiing and were still on the runway. This message was also blocked by the heterodyne and inaudible to the KLM crew. Either message, if broadcast separately, would have been audible in the KLM cockpit and given the KLM crew time to abort its take-off.That, Deleterious, Burning, able, Five
Due to the fog, the KLM crew was not able to see the Pan Am 747 taxiing on the runway ahead of them. In addition, neither of the aircraft could be seen from the control tower, and the airport was not equipped with ground radar.
While the KLM crew had started its take-off roll, the tower instructed the Pan Am crew to "report when runway clear". The crew replied: "OK, we'll report when we're clear". On hearing this, the KLM flight engineer expressed his concern about the Pan Am not being clear of the runway by asking the pilots if the Pan Am was not clear, however the captain, focused on the takeoff and under the impression that they had take-off clearance, replied yes emphatically and continued with the take-off.
United Airlines Flight 811
LEAD: Part of the outer fuselage of a United Airlines jumbo jet ripped away shortly after takeoff early this morning, sucking out passengers to the darkness of the Pacific Ocean below.
Part of the outer fuselage of a United Airlines jumbo jet ripped away shortly after takeoff early this morning, sucking out passengers to the darkness of the Pacific Ocean below.
In Chicago, a spokesman for the airline said nine passengers were missing.
The plane, a Boeing 747, took off with 336 passengers and a crew of 18 bound for Auckland, New Zealand. After the mishap ripped a gaping hole in the forward starboard side and disabled two of the four engines, the pilots managed to return to Honolulu International Airport and make what passengers termed a smooth emergency landing. Many of the passengers alighted shaken and bloodied but grateful to have survived.
''All of a sudden the people sitting next to us just disappeared,'' said Paul Holtz, of Sydney, Australia. ''Inside the cabin there were pieces of debris flying all over.''
Several rows of seats in the business class section of the passenger cabin were ripped out and a cargo door was missing. Federal officials said the initial evidence suggested that a mechanical or structural failure of the door led to the rupturing of a section of the jetliner's skin. [ Page 6. ] 6 Kept in Hospital
William Speicher, an airline spokesman, said six people remained hospitalized this evening, none with life-threatening injuries. Four of them were flight attendants. Spokesmen for five hospitals said that in all 23 people were treated for injuries.
Investigators of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration left Washington this afternoon for Honolulu. They will consider a number of possible causes, but preliminary inspections by officials here provided no evidence of sabotage or an explosion.
Gene Glenn, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which sent a team of local agents to greet the 747, said, however, that he could not rule out foul play.
The jet, a 19-year-old 747-100, returned with a hole about 12 by 25 feet near the right forward cargo hold. The gap extended nearly the entire height of the fuselage up to what apparently was a seam of rivets near windows in the first-class cabin.
Officials here said the damage was not as extensive as the damage suffered April 28, 1988, when part of the fuselage of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 peeled off in flight from Hilo to Honolulu.
That incident, in which one flight attendant was swept out of the plane to her death, brought into sharp relief the concerns of industry officials and regulators about problems with aged aircraft. The United jet had not undergone as many flight hours or landings, and the cause of the mishap today will not be known for some time. But today's accident is certain to bring new attention to questions about the structural reliability of some older jetliners.
The flight, No. 811, originated in Los Angeles Thursday night, bound for Auckland and Sydney with a stopover in Honolulu. An earlier leg of the flight, using a different aircraft, brought passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles. An Account of What Happened
Owen Miyamoto, the airport's administrator, gave this version of the events:
Flight 811 left Honolulu at 1:34 A.M. At 2:16 the control tower reported a request for ambulance equipment.
The pilot, D. M. Cronin, veteran of 35 years with United, reported to the tower that both of his right engines had failed.
The disabled plane, with its gaping hole, made a successful emergency landing at Honolulu at 2:38 A.M., the airline said. ''There were several rows of seats missing from the aircraft,'' Mr. Miyamoto said. ''I can't make a statement on whether it was a bomb or structural damage,'' he said. ''There was considerable damage to the engines.''
The coroner's office was called in to investigate whether one body was still on board. The Search at Sea
A Coast Guard spokesman, Lieut. j.g. Brad Nelson, said his service and the Navy, with two ships and four aircraft, including a C-130 transport plane, were searching a 120 square-mile area 100 miles southwest of Hawaii in seas 6 to 8 feet high.
A Navy helicopter spotted debris in the search area, Lieutenant Nelson said, but the ships had not yet arrived to determine if the debris had come from from Flight 811.
Passengers described a horrifying moment shortly after the takeoff.
''I was trying to go to sleep when I heard a hissing sound,'' said Gary M. Garber, who boarded the flight in Los Angeles and was seated in Row 10, business class. ''It lasted about three or four seconds and I looked at my wife next to me. All of a sudden it exploded, and I'd say three or four rows of people on the right side of the plane were blown out.''
Mr. Garber said he was sitting on the right aisle in the center row of seats. After the explosion, he said, ''there were about 18 inches between me and the open air.''
A passenger seated behind Mr. Garber, Shelley Perel of Beverly Hills, Calif., said, ''There was a whishing sound and then it sounded like the outside of the plane was peeling off.''
Andrew Gannon of Melbourne, Australia, said: ''A huge gust of wind swept the cabin. There were shoes blown back from the front of the plane. A stewardess went flying and another one tried to calm everybody down.'' No Panic, Passengers Say
Passengers said there was no panic in the cabin. ''Everyone just stayed in their seats as the pilot did a terrific job of turning the plane around,'' Mr. Garber said. Other passengers said they applauded when they saw land in their windows and knew they were going to land safely.
A 48-year-old flight attendant was the most seriously injured of the survivors. She was taken to Queens Medical Center and treated for ''blunt abdominal trauma,'' according to James Morin, a spokesman for the hospital. The flight attendant, whose identity was not released, was listed as in guarded condition.
The scene at Gate 9 at the airport this morning was chaotic as reporters waited to talk to passengers who had just been interviewed by Federal and airline investigators. Hours after the flight landed, some of the passengers were still wearing their yellow life preservers.
United Airlines officials did not allow the pilots or flight crew members to talk to reporters.
Mrs. Perel's husband, William, suffered a severed ankle tendon. They said they would probably cancel their vacation in New Zealand and Australia.
''I feel bruised inside,'' Mrs. Perel said. ''I'm not bleeding, so I guess I'm O.K. I think we're just lucky to be alive.''
The people sucked out of the plane would most likely be killed by impact with the plane's structure or with the ocean after the two-minute plunge from the aircraft, according to specialists in emergency medicine. Anyone who survived the initial force of the accident might lose consciousness from the lack of oxygen at high altitude, they said.
The airline said that the plane was 100 miles south of Honolulu and climbing through 22,000 feet when the captain heard a ''loud thump'' and noted on his instruments the failure of his No. 3 engine, which is the closer of the two engines on the right wing.
The captain sent his flight engineer out of the cockpit, and that officer reported a large hole in the side of the plane.
The pilot, who descended and turned back toward Honolulu, a few minutes later reported a fire in the No. 4 engine, the outboard engine on the right side. He had already begun to jettison fuel as an emergency measure, and he shut off the far right engine because of the fire.
The captain, Mr. Cronin, joined the airline in 1954 and had been a 747 captain for more than three years. The two other officers in the cockpit were G. A. Slader and R. M. Thomas. The cockpit crew was based in Los Angeles and the flight attendants were based in Honolulu.
The plane's four JT9-D engines were manufactured by Pratt & Whitney. It was configured with 18 first-class seats, 62 business-class seats, and 320economy-class seats.
A passenger, Chris Turner, 26, of Auckland, said he expected to take a United Airlines plane back to New Zealand. ''I hope we make it home,'' he said. TELEPHONED THREAT REPORTED
HONOLULU, Feb. 24 (AP) - A man called Honolulu radio station KOHO last month threatening to plant a bomb on an American aircraft unless a jailed member of the Japanese Red Army was released by today, a spokesman for the station said.
Investigators today said there was no indication that a bomb caused the hole in the fuselage of United Airlines Flight 811.
Advanced Jetliner Crashes In France
LEAD: A new jetliner considered by many aviation experts to be the most advanced commercial plane on the market crashed today on a demonstration flight in eastern France. At least three people were killed and about 50 injured, Government officials said.
A new jetliner considered by many aviation experts to be the most advanced commercial plane on the market crashed today on a demonstration flight in eastern France. At least three people were killed and about 50 injured, Government officials said.
The plane, an Airbus A320, was flying over a small airfield six miles from the city of Mulhouse when it hit the tops of trees near the end of a runway, crashed into a forest and burst into flames, local officials said.
The plane, which was delivered to Air France on Thursday, has a highly computerized ''fly by wire'' system that uses sophisticated electronic controls to replace conventional hydraulic systems. 'Aircraft Didn't Respond'
A rescuer who rushed to the scene told the French radio that the pilot's first words after the crash were, ''I wanted to increase the power, but the aircraft didn't respond.''
Government and Airbus officials said tonight that they were still investigating the cause of the crash.
The narrow-body, short- to medium-range A320 received international certification in February and made its first commercial flight on April 18.
So far Airbus has received 319 firm orders for the A320. The aircraft received more than 200 orders before it took its maiden flight, a record for any plane before formal operation.
The A320 competes against the Boeing 727 and 737 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, and Airbus boasts that it obtains 40 percent better fuel economy than those older planes. No Passenger List
Officials said they were having problems determining the number of casualties because there was no official list of the 136 passengers on the demonstration flight. Many journalists and dignitaries were believed to be on board. [ The Associated Press reported that local officials said 10 to 25 people were trapped inside the plane's fuselage. ] The A320 was flying low over Habsheim airfield before thousands of spectators at an airshow when the crash occurred. Witnesses said it flew just 60 feet above the runway.
''It was about 20 meters above the ground with its flaps and landing gear down when it clipped some trees at the end of the runway and crashed in the forest,'' Bernard Labalette, an amateur pilot who was near the scene of the crash, was quoted by Agence France-Press as saying.
The plane crashed about 900 yards past the runway. Many passengers praised the alertness of the crew in helping them slide down evacuation chutes to safety just after the plane burst into flames.
The plane had left Paris this morning, landed in Mulhouse, which is near Basel, Switzerland, and was to head back to Paris after making two passes over the airshow. It crashed at 2:50 P.M. during its first pass over the Habsheim field.
Passengers and witnesses said a reason more people were not killed was that the treetops cushioned the plane when it crashed, with the tail, rather than the nose, hitting the ground first.
''The plane did not go into a nose-dive,'' a policeman who was among the first to reach the scene told a radio interviewer. ''It belly-flopped onto the trees.'' Statement by Manufacturer
Airbus - a consortium based in Toulouse that includes companies from France, Britain, West Germany and Spain - issued a statement today, saying, ''It is too early to speculate on the cause of the accident.''
The manufacturer has sent a team of experts to the area to help the investigation.
Government officials said the two ''black box'' flight recorders were recovered and would be used in an effort to help identify the causes of the crash.
The plane that crashed today was only the sixth A320 to be delivered to airlines. British Airways has two and Air Inter, France's largest domestic carrier, has one. Airbus predicts that in the next 20 years it will sell 1,000 A320's.
After the crash, Air France's president, Jacques Friedman, announced that the company would suspend flights of its two other A320's. He added that the crash, the first ever of an A320, would not affect Air France's plans to purchase 50 of the aircraft. British Airways also said today that it would suspend flights of its A320's.
The only other fatal accident involving a plane made by the 18-year-old Airbus consortium occurred in September when an A300 belonging to Egyptair crashed near Luxor, killing five crew members. Only Two Pilots Used
In recent weeks, the fact that the A320 uses only two pilots, instead of the usual three, has been the principal issue of of a strike by pilots at Air Inter.
The manufacturer disagrees. ''The two-man crew is not a factor in this case,'' said David Velupillai, an Airbus spokesman, who added, ''Douglas DC-9's and Boeing 767's have long had two-man crews.''
Claude Guizard, prefect of the Haut-Rhin department where the crash occurred, said at a news conference that the A320 was not on a list of aircraft approved to take part in the airshow. He said aircraft that make ''acrobatic maneuvers'' are supposed to receive authorization from the General Direction of Civil Aviation.
A 25-year-old passenger told Agence France-Presse: ''We were passing over the Habsheim runway when I heard trees rubbing under the cabin. Then things happened very quickly. The plane scraped the ground and we slammed to a halt. We had a senstation of everything standing still, then the fire began in the front of the aircraft.'' TOTAL ELECTRONIC OPERATION
Unlike any previous airliner ever in service, the Airbus A320 is normally operated completely by electronic signals, according to American experts.
The pilot's movements of a ''sidestick'' control send signals to a computer, which relays the data to electronic devices connected to the main control surfaces - ailerons, elevators and rudders.
The American experts, interviewed after the crash, said they did not believe the plane had backup hydraulic or other mechanical cable links between the cockpit and the controls, like the links that are the primary controls for other airliners.
It could not be immediately learned whether loss of all electrical power on an A320 might therefore mean a plane was totally uncontrollable. One expert said French officials had talked of being able to exercise some control by use of mechanically operated trimming controls on one or more surfaces.
Some aircraft have devices that can quickly be extended into the slipstream, which will spin up small turbines in the devices and generate some electric power.