Pilot had chilling final words as he saw another aircraft crash into his plane killing 583 people
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/National Geographic/Air Crash Investigation/Central Press/Getty Images
A pilot uttered some chilling final words as he witnessed another plane crash into his aircraft.
Some 47 years ago, two planes were involved in a major crash on the Spanish island of Tenerife.
The tragic collision between KLM flight 4805 and Pan Am flight 1736 on March 27 1997 saw 583 people lose their lives.
The Tenerife airport disaster occurred after the KLM flight initiated its takeoff, believing it had been give the go-ahead to depart the Canary Island.
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This ultimately resulted in the plane colliding with the Pan Am flight that was still on the runway at the time.
The tragic collision led to every passenger on board the KLM flight losing their lives, including 234 passengers and 14 crew staff.
Meanwhile, 60 people survived the crash on the Pan Am aircraft - though at least 330 people were believed to have died.
The total number of casualties meant the Tenerife airport disaster is still the deadliest accident in aviation history.
Poor weather conditions played a huge role in the disaster, while radio interference meant KLM crew did not hear a message stating the Pan Am flight was still on the runway.
So as it was gearing to takeoff, the KLM flight was rapidly approaching the taxiing Pam Am plane.
Bob Bragg, who was the first officer on that flight, recalled the terrifying incident in an interview with CBS News.
He said: "As soon as I saw the man moving and coming at us, I started saying, ‘Get off!’ As we were turning to the left, I looked back out of my side window, and that’s when he had lifted off the ground and become airborne, right as close to us as I could see him."
A cockpit voice recording managed to record the chilling words of Pam Am pilot Victor Grubbs.
He shouted: "There he is! Look at him! Goddamn, that son of a b**** is coming!"
The pilot remarkably survived the crash. He died 18 years later in March 1995 at the age of 74.
A subsequent investigation blamed KLM captain Jacob Louis Veldhuyzen van Zanten thinking he was cleared for takeoff in Tenerife for the incident.
KLM then accepted responsibility for the crash and the airline agreed to financially compensate the relatives of those that had lost their lives in settlements totalling $110 million.
van Zanten was a highly experienced pilot and even featured in KLM commercials back then.