Flying may not feel as safe lately due to problems with Boeing planes and increased turbulence. But the biggest airplane risks aren’t always in the sky. For example, the deadliest plane crash in history was on the runway.

What is the deadliest plane crash in history? 

The deadliest plane crash in history happened way back on March 27, 1977. Since then, flights have gotten much safer, but there are still improvements to be made as there are over 300 runaway incidents in the United States per year. 

Anyways, the deadliest crash included KLM flight 4805 and PAM AM flight 1736, which involved two massive Boeing 747 planes. But this time the planes didn’t have any mechanical or technical failures that led to the incident. 

The airplanes collided on a foggy runway on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, claiming the lives of 583 people. 

It occurred due to a miscommunication between the two flight crews and Air Traffic Control. The KLM plane was preparing for takeoff while the PAM AM plane couldn’t be seen in the fog on the runway. 

It was taxing midway down the runway and as the KLM plane started to lift off the tarmac, the lower part of its fuselage hit the upper fuselage of the PAM AM plane as it was trying to turn off the runway. 

The impact and fire killed 248 people on the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on the PAN AM plane. There were 61 survivors at the front of the airplane.

Spanish investigators found that the KLM pilot took off without clearance, disobeyed the stand-by for take-off command from the tomorrow, and didn’t try to stop the plane after learning about the PAM AM flight on the runway.

As a result of this tragedy, massive changes were made to international airline regulations. All control towers and flight crews worldwide were required to use standardized English phrases. 

Plus, cockpit procedures changed to emphasize hierarchy so decision-making by mutual agreement became the rule. This is known in the industry as crew resource management and it is now standard worldwide.