Los Rodeos Calamity

Most definitely the deadliest accident in aviation history, the airport of Los Rodeos in the north of Tenerife, the most populous Spanish island and of the Canary islands, saw its runways battle against a fatal collision between the KLM flight 4805 and Pan Am flight 1736. As the planes hit, terror and massacre reigned: 583 people died. This is the story of the calamity. Off the coast of Africa lies 7 volcanic islands, commonly known as the Canaries, this Spanish territory is one of the world's most popular holiday destinations. On March 27th 1977, a KLM 747 is ready to depart from the famous isle of Tenerife. The huge Jumbo jet engine taxis into position, concurrently thick fog drifts down upon the face of the hot Hispanic runway, cutting visibility. The dutch pilot Jacob Van Zanten had been in a advertising campaign and had been in KLM's cockpits for more than 11,000 hours. Though despite his years of experience he makes a terrible mistake. One that will baffle experts and historians like us for decades. He begins his takeoff without clearance from the Control tower.  What he doesn't realise, is that another plane, a Pan Am 747 is also taxiing onto the same runway. The latter sighted a pair of landing lights......


'That son of a bitch is coming straight at us."
"Damn!!!"
"Please, please, no, no, not n-

He never finished the sentence. The crash killed hundreds. The handful of 61 survivors recall a harrowing ordeal. Outside the small oval panes of the vehicle, flames, havoc and pain raged through the smothering fog. This was hell.