Worst Ever Aviation Disaster. Tenerife, 1977

The collision of two Boeing 747 “Jumbo” airliners on the single runway of the main airport on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in 1977, remains the world’s worst-ever aviation disaster in terms of the number of people who died. Come with me in MSFS and see how the disaster unfolded through a series of unfortunate events. Hope you find it interesting. Cheers.

1 Like

Nice timing. Im departing Teneriffe tomorrow 🫨

1 Like

Thanks for your video.
A terrible disaster and - as is so ofter the case - not a single error but a series of little things that went wrong which led to this. A few years ago, I have been to Los Rodeos and the monument to the disaster on a hill overlooking the airport.

I might add: at that time the word “take-off” was used constantly. “Ready for take-off”, “prepare for take-off” etc. In this case it was “stand by for take-off”.
So it was implied the pilot - in the confusion with the two controllers on the same frequency and messages being cut off - may actually have thought that he was cleared for take-off. We’ll never know.

As a result of this accident communication phraseology was changed and the word “take-off” today is ONLY to be used by the controller for “cleared for take-off” or “cancel take-off clearance”. In all the other instances the word “departure” is to used now.

The complete communication transcript can be found on wikipedia.

1 Like