The series " Death is Coming " that was popular all over the world, I believe everyone has watched it. Niu X's Death does not need to appear at all. He just needs to design a series of clever mechanisms to successfully harvest people. As long as he is targeted, you will be embarrassed, your life will come to an end, which is exactly the old saying in China: "The King of Hell tells you to die in the third update, who dares to keep people until the fifth update."
The Tenerife Air Crash we are going to talk about today is such a gripping air crash incident. It feels like everything was designed by the god of death. In fact, every small link that happened in the middle would not cause such a serious disaster. However, coincidentally, this series of small mistakes are linked together, which eventually leads to this major disaster. The plot is so bizarre that even the screenwriter dares not write it like this.
First, let’s introduce the two Boeing 747 aircraft that were killed, , which are KLM 's 4805 and Pan American 's 1736. The accident occurred in the Canary Islands, an island located in Africa, which has always been a resort for Europeans. Every year, groups of tourists come here for vacation.
On March 27, 1977, a terrorist attack occurred in Las Palmas, , in the capital of the Canary Islands. Due to limited space, we will not talk about the terrorist attacks, but this is also one of the factors that caused this air crash. Because the flights that originally flew here all had to land at Las Palmas Airport, due to the terrorist attack, these flights were transferred to Trinefe Airport on the opposite island.
This Trinefe Airport is a small airport with only one runway and the equipment is very simple and there is no surveillance radar. Usually, there are only a few small aircraft taking off and landing at this airport, so the capacity of the apron is also very limited. But today, a large number of redirecting planes poured into the airport, crowding the apron and airport slides. This also includes KLM 4805 and Pan American 1736.
This Pan American 1736 flew from Los Angeles, USA. The total number of passengers and crew on board was 396. Captain Victor Grub is a pilot with 20,000 hours of flight experience. It can be said that he is a very senior captain. However, he can only become the number 2 male in this story. Male No. 1 is the star captain of KLM 4805 parked in front of him, Jacob Van Zanton. The captain with 27 years of experience in civil aviation piloting is KLM's signature pilot, and is also the chief flight instructor of KLM's Boeing 747. He has a very high status in KLM.
The KLM 4805 he was flying was carrying 248 passengers and crew members. They took off from Dutch at 9 am and had not got off the plane until after 4 pm. During this period, not only the passengers were complaining, but even the captain was anxious.
Because this guy doesn't want his license to be revoked, KLM has very strict regulations, that is, if the crew flies for more than 13 hours in a row, his flight license will be revoked. So he was more anxious than anyone else and wanted to fly away from here immediately.
However, no one can leave without the take-off instructions from the tower. So once this guy has decided, he doesn't know how long he will have to wait, so he just fills up the oil first, so he doesn't need to refuel the next trip, so he might be able to fly back to the Netherlands within 13 hours. However, what he did not expect was that it was his decision that caused this disaster.
Refueling the plane is not like our car, it will be done in one or two minutes. The fuel tank of this Boeing 747 has 200,000 liters. It takes about an hour to complete it after adding fuel. And it was when KLM 4805 was refueling, the air strike crisis was lifted and all aircraft could take off. (You said it was a coincidence)
At this time, when Pan American 1736 heard the news that it could take off, all the crew and passengers were very happy. But sorry, it's too early for you to be happy. Because this airport is very small, there is only one runway, and if you want to leave, you have to queue up one by one. At this time, KLM 4805 was cheering in front of Pan American 1736.
Pan American saw that KLM had no intention of moving, so he used radio to ask the other party: "What are you going to do while you are going to go quickly."
KLM replied: "Wait a minute, come on."
Pan American heard: "Then you can just lean on the side, let me go first."
KLM Captain got up and said: "It's just a little bit big, where can I rely on it?"
Pan American saw that the guy on the opposite side was too angry. "Let's not make a noise, how long will it take to finish it?"
KLM replied: "It's just added, it will take 40 minutes."
Pan American Captain was so angry that he almost spit out an old blood when he heard this.
However, there is no way, the airport is so big, Pan American 1736 can only wait here.
At this moment, suddenly, heavy fog fell from the sky, and the fog quickly swallowed up the entire airport, getting thicker and thicker, as if all this had long been doomed in the dark.
At this time, the KLM captain was even more anxious because he knew that once the visibility was low to a certain level, the plane would not be able to take off, and his flight license would probably not be able to be kept. So when the oil was just filled up, he immediately asked the deputy captain to contact the tower and apply for takeoff.
tower agreed to KLM's takeoff request, directed KLM to taxi along the runway to the end, and then turned around at 180 degrees and stood on standby. At the same time, Pan American 1736 also requested takeoff from the tower. After confirming that KLM had reached the end of the run, the tower agreed to the Pan American takeoff plea.
Because the fog was very strong at that time, the visibility was less than 300 meters, and the airport also had no ground radar, so it was difficult to identify the position of the aircraft with the naked eye alone. They could only rely on radio to confirm their location. This radio is also one of the main factors that caused this disaster.
Because KLM, Pan American and Tower were all on the same channel at that time, they compared the three of them to ABC. Anyone can hear them, and the other two people can hear them. However, the equipment was relatively old at that time and had no blocking function. If two people were talking at the same time, the other person could only hear the interference sound. For example, if AB speaks at the same time, then what C hears is the interference sound and cannot hear the content of AB's speech. Everyone must remember this.
Because there is only one runway at this airport, the tower plans to first direct Pan American taxiing into the run, exit from Exit 3, give up the runway for KLM to take off, and then Pan American takes off again.
This wave of operation seems to be fine, but this is also one of the main factors that cause this disaster. Because the fog was everywhere at that time, the visibility was getting lower and lower. In addition, the captains in Pan American were not familiar with this airport at all. They glided in the thick fog while finding exits, which was quite difficult. At this time, another fatal mistake occurred in communication between the tower and the Pan American captain. Because the command of this tower is Spanish , it has a strong Spanish accent.
Pan American asked the tower: "Where are we going out at the exit?"
Tower: "3" (Self-braining Indian English)
Pan American: "What?"
Tower: "3" (Self-braining Indian English)
Pan American: "What did you say?"
Tower: "123 of 3!" (Self-braining Indian English)
When the captain just realized that the other party was talking about three, they had already missed exit No. 3. And if you go to Exit 3, the plane needs to make a 148-degree turn, which is too difficult for the Boeing 747. If you only need to turn a 45-degree turn, it is relatively easy. So the Pan American captain decided to drive towards exit 4.
The story is approaching its climax. The anxious KLM captain can't wait to prepare for takeoff. His hand unknowingly pushed the accelerator. The deputy captain immediately reminded him:
"Brother, we haven't obtained the takeoff permit yet."
"Is that right? Come with them to takeoff permit quickly."
At this time, the tower replied to them a route permit
Note, this is the route permit, the route from this airport to another airport, not the takeoff permit.
But the anxious KLM captain mistakenly regarded this route permit as a takeoff permit. So he increased the accelerator and the plane began to take off.
At this time, the deputy captain of KLM Airways was worried about an accident and reported to the tower again, "We are taking off." But the Dutch accent meets the Spanish accent, that is, Mars hits the earth. The tower commander called this "we are taking off" as "we are taking off." So the tower replied, "Okay, take off on time, I will notify you."
You should know that Pan American can also hear the conversation between the tower and KLM at this time. When he heard that it was wrong, why did you all start taking off, and immediately called on the radio and said, "We are still slid on the runway, don't take off." But unexpectedly, it was this call that led to this disaster.
We have said earlier that if their radio AB speaks at the same time, then what C hears is the interference sound.
So when the tower gives the command "OK .... Standby for takeoff .... We will call you!" As soon as this OK was released, Pan American interjected, "We are still gliding on the runway." So what KLM heard was "OK...Sizi"
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km0km captain was OK when he heard it, and directly drove the horsepower. The plane was like an arrow that was shooting, and it was out of control.
At this last moment, the tower and Pan American 1736 also had a conversation about whether the runway was cleared, but it seemed that only the KLM pilot heard some clues. The pilot reminded the captain for the last time
"Are you sure the runway has been cleared?"
However, the self-righteous captain's answer was indeed "oh yes"
Then the tragedy happened.
KLM 4805 rushed to Pan American 1736 at a super high speed. A few seconds before the collision, the KLM captain tried to save the disaster. He pulled the head of the plane with all his strength to fly over Pan American, but he did not succeed.
In the end, all 248 people on KLM 4805 were killed, and only 61 people survived in Pan American 1736. The total death toll in the accident is 583, which is the largest air crash in history.
Looking back on this incident, they actually have many opportunities to escape this disaster.
If there is no air strike at the main airport, the plane does not need to force land at the small airport.
If KLM does not choose to refuel, they can take off before heavy fog.
If there is no thick fog, Pan American can find the exit as soon as possible to clear the runway.
If there is a ground radar, the air traffic control can accurately know the position of the aircraft even if it is invisible to the naked eye.
If the communication equipment is more advanced or the accent is more standard, the three parties can communicate effectively.
If the KLM captain is not so impatient, he may be able to make a correct judgment. If any of the above links are established, disasters will not happen.
But the god of death will not notify anyone when it comes. Only by taking every detail seriously and rigorously can we avoid the next major disaster.
