By Utibe Inyang
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport) on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its take-off run while Pan American Flight 1736 was still on the runway. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board KLM 4805 and most of the occupants of Pan American 1736, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the aircraft.
Investigation revealed that there was communication misinterpretation and false assumptions.
