Aviation News: On Saturday morning, Air India and Indigo planes landed on the runway at the same time at Mumbai airport. Before these two planes, running at a speed of about 240 km per hour, could collide with each other, the Air India plane took off. In this way, a major accident at Mumbai airport was averted by a gap of just a few seconds. What would have been the situation at the airport if the Air India plane had not been able to take off on time, can be understood from a similar accident that took place at Los Rodeos airport.
This accident happened about 44 years ago on 27 March 1977 at Los Rodeos Airport. Actually, Gran Canaria Airport was temporarily closed after the attack by separatists running the independence movement in the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, all the planes coming towards Gran Canaria Airport were diverted to Los Rodeos Airport in Canary Island, Spain. These planes also included Boeing-747 of Gran KLM Airlines and M-747 of Pan American Airlines.
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After the situation became normal, the planes stranded at Los Rodeos Airport were allowed to come to Gran Canaria Airport. After which, one by one the planes started taking off from Los Rodeos Airport. During this time, the planes taking off from Los Rodeos Airport were facing two types of challenges. The first challenge was the short runway, due to which the planes had to first go from one end of the runway to the other and then take a 180 degree turn there to gain speed for takeoff.
The second challenge was the weather. Due to heavy fog at Los Rodeos Airport, the pilot of the plane at one end of the runway was not able to see the other end of the runway. With these two challenges, first KLM Airlines’ Boeing-747 reached the other end of the runway and after doing a 180 degree turn got ready for takeoff. Meanwhile, due to confusion in communication with ATC, the pilot of Pan Am-747 also reached the runway with his plane and started taxiing to the other end of the runway.
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Meanwhile, KLM’s Boeing-747 picked up speed for takeoff. Due to heavy fog, the pilot of KLM’s Boeing-747 could not see the Pan Am-747 plane. By the time both the pilots could see each other’s planes, it was too late. To avoid the accident, the pilot of Pan Am-747 tried to turn the plane towards the left taxiway with full force and the pilot of KLM’s Boeing-747, which had already reached its V-1 speed, raised the nose of the plane. Despite all the efforts of both the pilots, the accident could not be avoided.
And soon both the planes collided with each other. According to the report, a total of 538 passengers died in this plane crash at Los Rodeos Airport. All 234 passengers and 14 crew members of KLM Boeing-747 were among those who lost their lives in this accident. Apart from this, 335 people out of 396 passengers and crew members of Pan Am-747 died in this accident.
Tags: Airport Diaries, Airport Security, Aviation News, mumbai airport
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 9, 2024, 19:31 IST