The Tenerife airport disaster was the deadliest accident in the history of aviation. Two Boeing 747 airliners, operated by KLM and Pan Am, collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Both aircraft had been diverted there after a terrorist bomb exploded at the airport on Gran Canaria. In dense fog, with congested taxiways and confused radio communications, the KLM captain began his take-off without clearance while the Pan Am aircraft was still on the runway. Investigators blamed a chain of misunderstandings, and the accident led to major changes in aviation procedures, including standard phraseology and improved crew resource management.
Before and after
- 17 February 1977Scientists discover hydrothermal vents and deep-sea life
- 18 February 1977First flight of Enterprise
- from 2 March 1977 to 23 October 2011Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
- 24 March 1977Birth of Jessica Chastain
- 27 March 1977Tenerife airport disaster
- from 30 April 1977 to 23 October 1991Cambodian–Vietnamese War
- 19 May 1977Birth of Natalia Oreiro
- 18 June 1977Birth of Kaja Kallas
- 19 June 1977Release of The Rescuers
More in Society, economy & sport
- 22 March 1945Founding of Arab League
- 1950Origins of Formula One
- 8 August 1967Founding of ASEAN
- 10 December 1987Rise of Hamas
- 1994Rise of Taliban
- 11 September 2001September 11 attacks
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.