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Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster
The world’s worst air disaster happened more than 40 years ago on a remote Atlantic Ocean island, when two fully loaded 747 passenger jets collided after a horrendous series of human errors.
One of the jets, KLM Flight 4805, was traveling more than 150 miles an hour and was within seconds of lifting off when it crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736 taxiing in its path. The loss of lives was staggering—583 dead. The crash happened after a lengthy series of major and minor human errors. In the intervening years, has aviation advanced to the point that such a disaster can’t happen again?
In this riveting account, written from the perspective of the passengers in the cabin as well as the crew members in the cockpits, Jon Ziomek explains how this largely forgotten accident took place—and what has happened since to reduce the possibility of another such catastrophe.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 27mins.
©2018 Jon Ziomek (P)2020 Tantor
One of the jets, KLM Flight 4805, was traveling more than 150 miles an hour and was within seconds of lifting off when it crashed into Pan Am Flight 1736 taxiing in its path. The loss of lives was staggering—583 dead. The crash happened after a lengthy series of major and minor human errors. In the intervening years, has aviation advanced to the point that such a disaster can’t happen again?
In this riveting account, written from the perspective of the passengers in the cabin as well as the crew members in the cockpits, Jon Ziomek explains how this largely forgotten accident took place—and what has happened since to reduce the possibility of another such catastrophe.
RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 27mins.
©2018 Jon Ziomek (P)2020 Tantor
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First published October 23, 2018
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About the author
Jon Ziomek
3 books8 followersI'm a former Chicago newspaper reporter and longtime Northwestern University professor. I'm now semi-retired, but still researching and writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 2, 2019
On March 27, 1977, 583 people were killed in the worst disaster in aviation history when two fully-loaded 747s collided on the small Atlantic island of Tenerife. In this gripping account of the accident and its aftermath, Jon Ziomek describes the conditions that led to the collision, the accident itself, and the aftermath both in the short and long term.
Ziomek first introduces us to the passengers boarding the ill-fated flights, many of whom were en route to a cruise ship. We meet the members of the flight crew and the author describes the evolution of the 747, which for years was a workhorse for the major airlines, particularly on long-haul flights. He then discusses the bizarre set of circumstances, including a terrorist bombing, that led the two planes to be occupying the same runway in a heavy fog.
From there, he describes the accident itself, which occurred when the impatient captain of the KLM flight decided to take off without receiving proper clearance from the tower. The plane had reached a speed of 150 MPH and was just beginning to lift off when it collided with the Pan Am 747 that was still taxiing down the runway.
The collision was horrific and Ziomek describes the reactions of the passengers, some of whom were alert enough to immediately attempt to escape the wreckage. Others survived the crash but were too stunned to react, many of them apparently not realizing what had happened. By the time they did, for most of them it was too late.
Ziomek then moves on to the aftermath of the accident, describing the psychological effects that it had on the surviving passengers and the steps that were taken in an effort to prevent such a thing from every happening again. He depends very heavily on the assistance of a woman named Caroline Hopkins who, with her husband, survived the collision and shared her experiences and her diary with the author. All in all, it's a fascinating account of an accident which should have never happened in the first place.
Ziomek first introduces us to the passengers boarding the ill-fated flights, many of whom were en route to a cruise ship. We meet the members of the flight crew and the author describes the evolution of the 747, which for years was a workhorse for the major airlines, particularly on long-haul flights. He then discusses the bizarre set of circumstances, including a terrorist bombing, that led the two planes to be occupying the same runway in a heavy fog.
From there, he describes the accident itself, which occurred when the impatient captain of the KLM flight decided to take off without receiving proper clearance from the tower. The plane had reached a speed of 150 MPH and was just beginning to lift off when it collided with the Pan Am 747 that was still taxiing down the runway.
The collision was horrific and Ziomek describes the reactions of the passengers, some of whom were alert enough to immediately attempt to escape the wreckage. Others survived the crash but were too stunned to react, many of them apparently not realizing what had happened. By the time they did, for most of them it was too late.
Ziomek then moves on to the aftermath of the accident, describing the psychological effects that it had on the surviving passengers and the steps that were taken in an effort to prevent such a thing from every happening again. He depends very heavily on the assistance of a woman named Caroline Hopkins who, with her husband, survived the collision and shared her experiences and her diary with the author. All in all, it's a fascinating account of an accident which should have never happened in the first place.
April 22, 2019
On Sunday, March 27, 1977, two chartered 747's collided on the island of Tenerife. The KLM plane was taking off in the heavy fog which had settled on the runway when it ran into the PanAm plane. Everyone on the KLM flight was killed and most on the PanAm flight were, too. Altogether, 583 "souls" were lost that day. It was world aviation's highest death toll and has not been surpassed in the 42 years since. What were the two 747's doing on the island that day and what caused the horrendous crash? And what of the after effects of those people who did survive, and on the airline industry itself? Did anyone learn anything about plane disasters? Author Jon Ziomek answers most of these questions - and more - in his book "Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster".
For those who did survive from the PanAm plane that day, much of the luck can be considered "dumb luck". Certainly those pre-flight instructions from flight attendants were as ignored by the passengers then much as they still are today. "Nothing is going to happen to my - insert the name of your airline - today. Nothing ever does". And while it is right to think those thoughts...well, sometimes "things DO go wrong" and it's good to know where your nearest exit is. Ziomek writes as much about safety issues as he does about the crash and what preceded it. Because "safety issues" also include the muddled instructions issued that day from the air traffic control tower and the KLM pilot's seeming obliviousness in taking off on a runway that already had a plane taxiing on it. The heavy fog hid the PanAm plane from the KLM pilots, they began takeoff, and crashed into the PanAm. And because the "Black Boxes" (actually they are yellow) were recovered from both planes, we are able to hear the last 30 minutes of conversation in each cockpit.
But Jon Ziomek is as concerned with the lives saved and lost as he is in what caused the planes to crash. He worked with one couple - Caroline and Warren Hopkins - and talked to many other survivors, who have been living with their memories of that terrible day 40 years ago. Most have since died - it's been 40 years, after all, and most of them were elderly to begin with - but they have left letters and oral histories behind. One of his most interesting points concern the disaster freeze that seemed to come over many of the PanAm passengers who survived the initial crash. They were simply unable to move towards the exits; they seemed welded to their seats. The 61 survivors - including the five men in the cockpit - were able to overcome that freeze and move toward safety.
Jon Ziomek's book is a very well-written examination of an air disaster. That the disaster killed more people than any other before or since is not as important as the basic facts could - and often do - apply to all airline crashes.
For those who did survive from the PanAm plane that day, much of the luck can be considered "dumb luck". Certainly those pre-flight instructions from flight attendants were as ignored by the passengers then much as they still are today. "Nothing is going to happen to my - insert the name of your airline - today. Nothing ever does". And while it is right to think those thoughts...well, sometimes "things DO go wrong" and it's good to know where your nearest exit is. Ziomek writes as much about safety issues as he does about the crash and what preceded it. Because "safety issues" also include the muddled instructions issued that day from the air traffic control tower and the KLM pilot's seeming obliviousness in taking off on a runway that already had a plane taxiing on it. The heavy fog hid the PanAm plane from the KLM pilots, they began takeoff, and crashed into the PanAm. And because the "Black Boxes" (actually they are yellow) were recovered from both planes, we are able to hear the last 30 minutes of conversation in each cockpit.
But Jon Ziomek is as concerned with the lives saved and lost as he is in what caused the planes to crash. He worked with one couple - Caroline and Warren Hopkins - and talked to many other survivors, who have been living with their memories of that terrible day 40 years ago. Most have since died - it's been 40 years, after all, and most of them were elderly to begin with - but they have left letters and oral histories behind. One of his most interesting points concern the disaster freeze that seemed to come over many of the PanAm passengers who survived the initial crash. They were simply unable to move towards the exits; they seemed welded to their seats. The 61 survivors - including the five men in the cockpit - were able to overcome that freeze and move toward safety.
Jon Ziomek's book is a very well-written examination of an air disaster. That the disaster killed more people than any other before or since is not as important as the basic facts could - and often do - apply to all airline crashes.
February 1, 2023
Outstanding book! A definite must read!
November 27, 2018
Storytelling, Heroism on Collision Course
It starts with the worst aviation disaster in history and weaves in stories of heroism and heartbreak. The truths of that disaster are stunning and the aftermath lives on today in lives saved and lived. It's emotional, smart and a remarkable read!
Here's a passage:
"At this point Dorothy Kelly was on her way to becoming one of the biggest heroes of the day because she then spotted Captain Grubbs lying near the fuselage. Badly burned and shaken by his jump from the plane, he could not move. "What have I done to these people?" he yelled, pounding the ground in anguish. Kelly grabbed him under his shoulders and uged "Crawl, Captain, crawl!"
It starts with the worst aviation disaster in history and weaves in stories of heroism and heartbreak. The truths of that disaster are stunning and the aftermath lives on today in lives saved and lived. It's emotional, smart and a remarkable read!
Here's a passage:
"At this point Dorothy Kelly was on her way to becoming one of the biggest heroes of the day because she then spotted Captain Grubbs lying near the fuselage. Badly burned and shaken by his jump from the plane, he could not move. "What have I done to these people?" he yelled, pounding the ground in anguish. Kelly grabbed him under his shoulders and uged "Crawl, Captain, crawl!"
April 7, 2023
This is the kind of airline disaster book that I enjoy: engagement of the victims on board, good descriptions of the collision and event themselves. This one was unique as instead of a whole bunch of technical and mechanical crap I can’t understand, the authors list some great information on how people react in crisis as well as some solid advice on how to conduct yourself in a crisis situation. Really great stuff.
October 20, 2022
Spoilers ahead, so tread carefully if you don't know much about the incident.
Simply put, it's an OK review of the Tenerife disaster. There don't seem to be many of these out there and this book stands out as one of the best efforts. Mainly based on extensive interviews of the relatively few survivors, it also has much of the background, the incredible chain of coincidences that led to the disaster, a full description of the horrific event itself, the aftermath along with chapters about studies that initiated post-traumatic behavior analysis in airplane crashes, security concerns of flight attendants and so on. All well written in a neat and linear timeline. So far so good. Probably worth 4 stars.
The problem is that the book's sole target group seems to be US audience, which up to a point is understandable because, after all, the only survivors of the incident were Americans. Therefore any first-hand feedback has got to be mainly based on the US side of things.
However the author doesn't seem to make much of an effort to get the other side's point of view. There's relatively little info about the KLM flight (or the company's post-accident reaction), some basic facts about its pilots, almost nothing at all about the Dutch passengers and, again, very little info about the Spanish involvement in this drama. Actually there is some stuff dedicated to the latter but its mostly criticism about the Spanish facilities, organization (or the lack of it), health care system (shown as highly insufficient), bravado attitude, incompetence, inability to speak English, irrational behavior, lack of security concerns and so on. It's as if the accident happened in some distant third world country and the American survivors found salvation only after the US army and the State Department intervened. There seems to be zero effort from the author to paint an objective picture, interview anyone who wasn't an American and so on.
Hence a rather heavily biased review which gets 3 stars at most. On top of all the above, it doesn't have many technical details which would appeal to aviation enthusiasts, it's more of a book for the (predominantly US) layman who wants to know more about the disaster and its human factor. Plus in my opinion there should be more visual material such as detailed airport charts, aircraft seat maps, post accident photos and so on. There is some, but scarce and far from sufficient.
Simply put, it's an OK review of the Tenerife disaster. There don't seem to be many of these out there and this book stands out as one of the best efforts. Mainly based on extensive interviews of the relatively few survivors, it also has much of the background, the incredible chain of coincidences that led to the disaster, a full description of the horrific event itself, the aftermath along with chapters about studies that initiated post-traumatic behavior analysis in airplane crashes, security concerns of flight attendants and so on. All well written in a neat and linear timeline. So far so good. Probably worth 4 stars.
The problem is that the book's sole target group seems to be US audience, which up to a point is understandable because, after all, the only survivors of the incident were Americans. Therefore any first-hand feedback has got to be mainly based on the US side of things.
However the author doesn't seem to make much of an effort to get the other side's point of view. There's relatively little info about the KLM flight (or the company's post-accident reaction), some basic facts about its pilots, almost nothing at all about the Dutch passengers and, again, very little info about the Spanish involvement in this drama. Actually there is some stuff dedicated to the latter but its mostly criticism about the Spanish facilities, organization (or the lack of it), health care system (shown as highly insufficient), bravado attitude, incompetence, inability to speak English, irrational behavior, lack of security concerns and so on. It's as if the accident happened in some distant third world country and the American survivors found salvation only after the US army and the State Department intervened. There seems to be zero effort from the author to paint an objective picture, interview anyone who wasn't an American and so on.
Hence a rather heavily biased review which gets 3 stars at most. On top of all the above, it doesn't have many technical details which would appeal to aviation enthusiasts, it's more of a book for the (predominantly US) layman who wants to know more about the disaster and its human factor. Plus in my opinion there should be more visual material such as detailed airport charts, aircraft seat maps, post accident photos and so on. There is some, but scarce and far from sufficient.
October 29, 2024
On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger aircraft collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport. The airport is located in Tenerife, Spain, but is operating under a different name now. The collision involved two flights that had been diverted to that airport following a bomb explosion in their scheduled airport. KLM Flight 4805 had begun to takeoff while PAN AM Flight 1736 remained on the runway. The KLM plane did not clear the PAN AM plane, slamming the tail and landing hear into PAN AM. There were no survivors from the KLM flight, resulting in the deaths of 248 passengers and crew. PAN AM fared slightly better, with 335 deaths and 61 survivors.
This whole fiasco was the result of several errors. Obviously, I am not an aviation expert, but having a bunch of diverted planes that are piled up seems dangerous and stressful. If you have people in air traffic control not paying close attention to where planes are...it is asking for a disaster. It is thought that there was a soccer game and other conversations going on in the tower, which may have added to the confusion and distraction. Ground radar was not in use, which would have helped tremendously in the dense fog conditions that were also occurring at the time. Runway lights were not functioning. There has also been blame placed on the crews of both flights for distraction, wanting to rush out of there, and miscommunication. The PAN AM flight did not exit the runway as instructed, though the instruction clarity can be debated. Despite the factors, a lot of people lost their lives. A lot of people lost someone they cared about. A lot of people were injured terribly and traumatized from this event.
This book was very informative. It had statements from survivors and family members of those on the flights. It was really tense to listen to because you knew there was going to be a disaster, but you didn't know when it was coming. Hearing what happened to those people was unnerving. This book is currently free to listen to on Audible Plus, and if you have that option and are interested in this type of subject matter, I recommend this book for you.
This whole fiasco was the result of several errors. Obviously, I am not an aviation expert, but having a bunch of diverted planes that are piled up seems dangerous and stressful. If you have people in air traffic control not paying close attention to where planes are...it is asking for a disaster. It is thought that there was a soccer game and other conversations going on in the tower, which may have added to the confusion and distraction. Ground radar was not in use, which would have helped tremendously in the dense fog conditions that were also occurring at the time. Runway lights were not functioning. There has also been blame placed on the crews of both flights for distraction, wanting to rush out of there, and miscommunication. The PAN AM flight did not exit the runway as instructed, though the instruction clarity can be debated. Despite the factors, a lot of people lost their lives. A lot of people lost someone they cared about. A lot of people were injured terribly and traumatized from this event.
This book was very informative. It had statements from survivors and family members of those on the flights. It was really tense to listen to because you knew there was going to be a disaster, but you didn't know when it was coming. Hearing what happened to those people was unnerving. This book is currently free to listen to on Audible Plus, and if you have that option and are interested in this type of subject matter, I recommend this book for you.
October 25, 2024
This was a really good book on the worst aviation in history. It's focus is mainly on the passangers of the Pan Am flight involved, but this is because there were surviros or this plane and none on the other one. I really enjoyed the personal stories presented in this narrative, brought the tragedy into perspective. All in all a solid book.
April 15, 2024
This accident has been constant in my life. I was born the following year in the same town where it happened. I've read information during the years, specially the first 15-20 years after it, in the press where there was a special every aniversary with new info or during the internet era when info like this book has become available and filled almost all the voids that I had in the story.
For the first half part I found the book interesting, maybe excesive on personal details. It's nothing new but if anything, a good read for someone who has never read another book on the accident. Is well documentend (although there's some inconsistencies when talking about the islands, which in my opinion would’ve been easily corrected with a quick internet search given the date of the book) but I don't write books and neither was something to stop reading, just wrong dates, names and mispellings of spanish words and names. I found it very novel like and entertaining as it starts to build up some tension up to the moment of the accident. I found the chapter on the responses to people to extreme situations very interesting although he repeats the same paragraphs here and made me doubt if my kindle was malfunctioning at times, but why the 1 star then?
Well, as any other book, documentary or writing about the accident it's always written from the same perspective, the american one. Of course, is understandable given the author is american and all the survivors were too, that's the most interesting and easiest accessible info the writer has but again and again, like most of the pieces on the accident it portraits my city, my island like some place in the middle of nowhere where inhabitants were little more than peasants. I could excuse that on the older articles or books one read early on, contacting people involved must’ve been imposible during the following years but with the internet widely available as it is now, I can’t understand it.
It was a Sunday where (I suposse it is in most places, hospitals only have ER and minimun services going on. scheduled surgeries happen during the week unless they are urgent so medical staff is not the same as in a Monday morning). Sorry miss America, we didn’t have a limo driver to drive you to the hospital and had to use a non english speaking VOLUNTARY civil cab driver that certainly, the same as you, had to be in some sort of shock after going into the runway and saw the planes. Sorry good friends of America that you had to drink water in cups after,oh my god, finally someone speaking in english (in Spain in the 70's!) brough some water to us that god forbid, could be contaminated, that your fellow american had to share a razorblade because certainly those savages couldn't possibly have access to those modern commodities in this remote place… I'm so, so sorry that a country (yep, we are part of Spain author, not managed by, we are nationals the same as someone in Madrid with access to the same things) where embalming is not customary but to move bodies to another place, we didn't have embalming fluids all of a sudden for 600 people and it had to be delivered overnight (again, wrong data from the author who says it took 48 hours, you can find public documents from the government that prove this). Sorry that when you left we hadn’t removed the burnt remains of two big 747's and paved again the runway so you could bring your big fancy army airplanes and had to leave in a smaller military one because it took us 7 days to do that , not 3 …
Am I being cruel? Of course, these people were in shock and after 40 some over years, the story could be heavily distorted, times change or may be simply the author adorning it but let me tell you one thing. There were more victims there besides the ones on the planes. The young guys removing the bodies were 18 year olds doing mandatory militar service without any prior training on anything but how to mount a riffle in the best case scenario. Civil workers at the airport that went to help (not talking about firefighters or emergency services with training to deal with injuries or bodies but the rest of the people that were there that afternoon) and then, the people embalming bodies for days (which is not something customary here as burials are done quick and embalming is not required to that extreme )without sleep so they could be moved back to their countries and didn't have to be buried here. These were medicine students that did all this work voluntary.
Sorry dear american lady that you had to wait in the floor of the emergency room while the doctors operated and did a triage on other, obviously, more urgent cases while putting aside local emergencies and moved whole schedules for you, which is understandable, just to recieve words like "and we had to send american doctors so they got proper care because there was barely more than an old shaman in this thrird world hospital". Sorry you had to throw your skirt and think there was certainly no place to replace it in this dump in the middle of nowhere and the floors were cold because they were tiled without heating. Sorry we put you in a 5 stars hotel and could not retrieve any personal items while the workers removed the bodies at the airport for days, breathed the fumes without any protection and were dismissed without a sad thank you and after, had to deal with their PTSD on their own, leading many of them to suicide or life long metal health problems. Yet they are always portrayed the same. Without these people you even insult at times, you would've still been coming here to a mass grave in some forgotten old cemetery to honor your dead.
And what about KML? Where there no victims there? Not a single story but that of the girl's that went away and and how bad and evil the captain was? (Certainly today we would be blaming the company putting pressure on him and questioning their policies. Would you be talking like that if the situation was reverse and the one taking off was the Pan Am? Or would you be looking for clues about why someone with such experience and background could've ended doing something that seemed impossible, and maybe, treat him like a human being like the others)
If you write a book, I understand you use the most accessible information first but after internet and communications being what they are today, certainly it wouldn’t have been that difficult to find others with their own point of view. I know for sure a few emails would've located staff that was at the airport that day and are still alive and willing to tell their side of the story. The controller was alive not long ago (not sure if he still is but seems very possible he was in 2018 when the book was published) and if you could not locate him or he didn't want to participate, there's literally tons of info and interviews easily translated just entering his name (the author cites other articles constantly so I assume he built the book this way). The spaniard that was in the PanAm cockpit was alive too, well into the 2010’s giving interviews, the boss of one of the companies at the airport, Spantax, that was a direct witness and a link to most of the communication between both companies and the airport is alive and giving interviews. Hell, a call or an email to someone living in La Laguna, would've easily put him in the path to someone who could’ve given you a deepest point of view of the whole story and I'm sure the same is with the KLM victims. I have translated an interview with Van Zanten's daughter so is not like people are hiding.
I could not finish the book after this, sorry but if this was a victims account, I certainly would've accepted the information, would've been offended the same but I can’t judge someone else's perception of an event as big as this but if you are writting a book you have to be honest and tell the whole story in an objective non emotional way. And is a shame because when you put all the pieces together and leave aside the brave american hero story, there's a lot to learn from this. I made the mistake of buying this book and would never do again unless the author is from the Netherlands or Tenerife, as all the time, is all the same story of how the great americans saved the day.
If in 1977 I would've had all this info I have now, would have told my grandfather, surgeon who was called that day and had to attend the injured people on his day off at a modern, big and well equipped hospital "let them be, don't go to the hospital, they can wait for their wonderful doctors to arrive” as I would to the young soldiers ”Don't go, let them send their awesome army guys to retrieve their bodies, go to the KLM instead, where the victims were less recognizable as human remains, and don't suffer life long mental issues from this”.
That an old lady in the late 70's described the island and it's people like this is insulting but not unexpected with but that a writer does in 2018 is a disgrace. You had the oportunity to write a great book that nobody had before but instead chose to wrote a story that sounds like a bad TV film for Hallmark.
Ps. Curiosity got the worst out of me and I finished the book. I remember very few times where I felt so much rage reading something so I'm editing my review and correcting a few errors too. Sounds stupid but the way it dismisses the pain of those who helped calls home (literally) so close, that I needed to write this review. If by any chance the author reads it, I’ll be happy to correct him for many errors, with official data and information not personal accounts.
The airport wasn't ready to handle that many big planes at once but it was built and recieving tourists since 1926. Those were not the first 747's to land there. Even the nazis used this same airport to bring in their tourists 40 years before the accident. It was small and lacked many things in the 70's compared to big city airports but still one of the main tourist hubs of Europe and no way the portrait of a paved runway with more than a small hut-like terminal the author describes. Airports were managed by the military at the time because of the political situation (end of a disctatorship 2 years before and transitioning to democracy. There was no constitution yet at the time. It was signed the next year) and the workers were civilians and sometimes the desition of grounding a plane was not made by controllers but by someone in the army for whatever reasons they had. This, saddly wasn't either the first big accident (it was the biggest, not the only) there so no, the emergency staff were not unexperienced dealing with this sort of thing, unfortunately. What made this one different was the numbers.
A simple email to the hospital he names wrong all the time or check to the government site, would've made it clear to him, for example, that there's not a "Maternity hospital" but a maternity ward in a large hospital complex. They were probably put there because it was the most quiet building around but what do I know? A simple check on the old spanish news online would’ve made him have a bigger picture of the tragedy. You can't put a regular in patient in the corridor so an american one has the room for themselves, doesn’t matter how bad the situation their injuries happened, specially when the hours passed by and many rescuers had to be treated for respiratory issues or burns too.
All of this is irrelevant information for a casual reader of an article about the accident but if you are writting a book I'm paying for, that pretends to tell the issue in depth, I expect some serious investigation from the author. After all these years I barely know anything about the KLM people. Nothing. They don't exist. Whole families on holiday with their children that unlike the american passengers that died, don’t have their names changed but erased completely.
There were no second class people in this story and I hope someday someone recognizes the effort made by rescuers who ended up in the middle of this whole thing unexpectedly but almost seems they were they ones that caused all the suffering. Many ended up paying with their own lives due to suicides but it seems because they were not americans, it doesn't matter. I wasn't born yet but heard the story from my grandfather more times than I can remember. You can't make these people look like useless and uneducated just because your own ignorance or lack of interest in writting the whole version of the story. I don't know what’s the next level word for biased in english, but if there's one, that's how I'd describe this book.
For the first half part I found the book interesting, maybe excesive on personal details. It's nothing new but if anything, a good read for someone who has never read another book on the accident. Is well documentend (although there's some inconsistencies when talking about the islands, which in my opinion would’ve been easily corrected with a quick internet search given the date of the book) but I don't write books and neither was something to stop reading, just wrong dates, names and mispellings of spanish words and names. I found it very novel like and entertaining as it starts to build up some tension up to the moment of the accident. I found the chapter on the responses to people to extreme situations very interesting although he repeats the same paragraphs here and made me doubt if my kindle was malfunctioning at times, but why the 1 star then?
Well, as any other book, documentary or writing about the accident it's always written from the same perspective, the american one. Of course, is understandable given the author is american and all the survivors were too, that's the most interesting and easiest accessible info the writer has but again and again, like most of the pieces on the accident it portraits my city, my island like some place in the middle of nowhere where inhabitants were little more than peasants. I could excuse that on the older articles or books one read early on, contacting people involved must’ve been imposible during the following years but with the internet widely available as it is now, I can’t understand it.
It was a Sunday where (I suposse it is in most places, hospitals only have ER and minimun services going on. scheduled surgeries happen during the week unless they are urgent so medical staff is not the same as in a Monday morning). Sorry miss America, we didn’t have a limo driver to drive you to the hospital and had to use a non english speaking VOLUNTARY civil cab driver that certainly, the same as you, had to be in some sort of shock after going into the runway and saw the planes. Sorry good friends of America that you had to drink water in cups after,oh my god, finally someone speaking in english (in Spain in the 70's!) brough some water to us that god forbid, could be contaminated, that your fellow american had to share a razorblade because certainly those savages couldn't possibly have access to those modern commodities in this remote place… I'm so, so sorry that a country (yep, we are part of Spain author, not managed by, we are nationals the same as someone in Madrid with access to the same things) where embalming is not customary but to move bodies to another place, we didn't have embalming fluids all of a sudden for 600 people and it had to be delivered overnight (again, wrong data from the author who says it took 48 hours, you can find public documents from the government that prove this). Sorry that when you left we hadn’t removed the burnt remains of two big 747's and paved again the runway so you could bring your big fancy army airplanes and had to leave in a smaller military one because it took us 7 days to do that , not 3 …
Am I being cruel? Of course, these people were in shock and after 40 some over years, the story could be heavily distorted, times change or may be simply the author adorning it but let me tell you one thing. There were more victims there besides the ones on the planes. The young guys removing the bodies were 18 year olds doing mandatory militar service without any prior training on anything but how to mount a riffle in the best case scenario. Civil workers at the airport that went to help (not talking about firefighters or emergency services with training to deal with injuries or bodies but the rest of the people that were there that afternoon) and then, the people embalming bodies for days (which is not something customary here as burials are done quick and embalming is not required to that extreme )without sleep so they could be moved back to their countries and didn't have to be buried here. These were medicine students that did all this work voluntary.
Sorry dear american lady that you had to wait in the floor of the emergency room while the doctors operated and did a triage on other, obviously, more urgent cases while putting aside local emergencies and moved whole schedules for you, which is understandable, just to recieve words like "and we had to send american doctors so they got proper care because there was barely more than an old shaman in this thrird world hospital". Sorry you had to throw your skirt and think there was certainly no place to replace it in this dump in the middle of nowhere and the floors were cold because they were tiled without heating. Sorry we put you in a 5 stars hotel and could not retrieve any personal items while the workers removed the bodies at the airport for days, breathed the fumes without any protection and were dismissed without a sad thank you and after, had to deal with their PTSD on their own, leading many of them to suicide or life long metal health problems. Yet they are always portrayed the same. Without these people you even insult at times, you would've still been coming here to a mass grave in some forgotten old cemetery to honor your dead.
And what about KML? Where there no victims there? Not a single story but that of the girl's that went away and and how bad and evil the captain was? (Certainly today we would be blaming the company putting pressure on him and questioning their policies. Would you be talking like that if the situation was reverse and the one taking off was the Pan Am? Or would you be looking for clues about why someone with such experience and background could've ended doing something that seemed impossible, and maybe, treat him like a human being like the others)
If you write a book, I understand you use the most accessible information first but after internet and communications being what they are today, certainly it wouldn’t have been that difficult to find others with their own point of view. I know for sure a few emails would've located staff that was at the airport that day and are still alive and willing to tell their side of the story. The controller was alive not long ago (not sure if he still is but seems very possible he was in 2018 when the book was published) and if you could not locate him or he didn't want to participate, there's literally tons of info and interviews easily translated just entering his name (the author cites other articles constantly so I assume he built the book this way). The spaniard that was in the PanAm cockpit was alive too, well into the 2010’s giving interviews, the boss of one of the companies at the airport, Spantax, that was a direct witness and a link to most of the communication between both companies and the airport is alive and giving interviews. Hell, a call or an email to someone living in La Laguna, would've easily put him in the path to someone who could’ve given you a deepest point of view of the whole story and I'm sure the same is with the KLM victims. I have translated an interview with Van Zanten's daughter so is not like people are hiding.
I could not finish the book after this, sorry but if this was a victims account, I certainly would've accepted the information, would've been offended the same but I can’t judge someone else's perception of an event as big as this but if you are writting a book you have to be honest and tell the whole story in an objective non emotional way. And is a shame because when you put all the pieces together and leave aside the brave american hero story, there's a lot to learn from this. I made the mistake of buying this book and would never do again unless the author is from the Netherlands or Tenerife, as all the time, is all the same story of how the great americans saved the day.
If in 1977 I would've had all this info I have now, would have told my grandfather, surgeon who was called that day and had to attend the injured people on his day off at a modern, big and well equipped hospital "let them be, don't go to the hospital, they can wait for their wonderful doctors to arrive” as I would to the young soldiers ”Don't go, let them send their awesome army guys to retrieve their bodies, go to the KLM instead, where the victims were less recognizable as human remains, and don't suffer life long mental issues from this”.
That an old lady in the late 70's described the island and it's people like this is insulting but not unexpected with but that a writer does in 2018 is a disgrace. You had the oportunity to write a great book that nobody had before but instead chose to wrote a story that sounds like a bad TV film for Hallmark.
Ps. Curiosity got the worst out of me and I finished the book. I remember very few times where I felt so much rage reading something so I'm editing my review and correcting a few errors too. Sounds stupid but the way it dismisses the pain of those who helped calls home (literally) so close, that I needed to write this review. If by any chance the author reads it, I’ll be happy to correct him for many errors, with official data and information not personal accounts.
The airport wasn't ready to handle that many big planes at once but it was built and recieving tourists since 1926. Those were not the first 747's to land there. Even the nazis used this same airport to bring in their tourists 40 years before the accident. It was small and lacked many things in the 70's compared to big city airports but still one of the main tourist hubs of Europe and no way the portrait of a paved runway with more than a small hut-like terminal the author describes. Airports were managed by the military at the time because of the political situation (end of a disctatorship 2 years before and transitioning to democracy. There was no constitution yet at the time. It was signed the next year) and the workers were civilians and sometimes the desition of grounding a plane was not made by controllers but by someone in the army for whatever reasons they had. This, saddly wasn't either the first big accident (it was the biggest, not the only) there so no, the emergency staff were not unexperienced dealing with this sort of thing, unfortunately. What made this one different was the numbers.
A simple email to the hospital he names wrong all the time or check to the government site, would've made it clear to him, for example, that there's not a "Maternity hospital" but a maternity ward in a large hospital complex. They were probably put there because it was the most quiet building around but what do I know? A simple check on the old spanish news online would’ve made him have a bigger picture of the tragedy. You can't put a regular in patient in the corridor so an american one has the room for themselves, doesn’t matter how bad the situation their injuries happened, specially when the hours passed by and many rescuers had to be treated for respiratory issues or burns too.
All of this is irrelevant information for a casual reader of an article about the accident but if you are writting a book I'm paying for, that pretends to tell the issue in depth, I expect some serious investigation from the author. After all these years I barely know anything about the KLM people. Nothing. They don't exist. Whole families on holiday with their children that unlike the american passengers that died, don’t have their names changed but erased completely.
There were no second class people in this story and I hope someday someone recognizes the effort made by rescuers who ended up in the middle of this whole thing unexpectedly but almost seems they were they ones that caused all the suffering. Many ended up paying with their own lives due to suicides but it seems because they were not americans, it doesn't matter. I wasn't born yet but heard the story from my grandfather more times than I can remember. You can't make these people look like useless and uneducated just because your own ignorance or lack of interest in writting the whole version of the story. I don't know what’s the next level word for biased in english, but if there's one, that's how I'd describe this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 1, 2019
This is one of the most riveting nonfiction books I’ve read. It reads like a novel and, once I started it, I kept coming back until I reached the end.
From the first few pages onward, I was awed by the amount of research, the number of interviews, and the attention to detail journalist Jon Ziomek devoted to this project. The author clearly is a good organizer of a huge amount of information, a good story teller, and a very good writer.
But what impressed me even more is the evidence the narrative provides that he also is a thoughtful, skilled and trusted interviewer. Ziomek obtained painful memories and very personal feelings and thoughts about this tragedy, and reported what he learned in a matter-of-fact and kind manner.
In addition to reporting the ways some passengers survived the crash and how they were affected by it, the author inserts considerable information about plane crashes, how people tend to react, and what has been done and is yet to be done about aviation safety. I, for one, will forever be more attentive to the safety instructions provided by flight attendants and the seat back card, and learn where the exits are!
I can imagine this book will come to be regarded as a model of reporting to be emulated by aspiring journalists.
From the first few pages onward, I was awed by the amount of research, the number of interviews, and the attention to detail journalist Jon Ziomek devoted to this project. The author clearly is a good organizer of a huge amount of information, a good story teller, and a very good writer.
But what impressed me even more is the evidence the narrative provides that he also is a thoughtful, skilled and trusted interviewer. Ziomek obtained painful memories and very personal feelings and thoughts about this tragedy, and reported what he learned in a matter-of-fact and kind manner.
In addition to reporting the ways some passengers survived the crash and how they were affected by it, the author inserts considerable information about plane crashes, how people tend to react, and what has been done and is yet to be done about aviation safety. I, for one, will forever be more attentive to the safety instructions provided by flight attendants and the seat back card, and learn where the exits are!
I can imagine this book will come to be regarded as a model of reporting to be emulated by aspiring journalists.
April 25, 2019
I give the author a "high five" for his determination and dedication to the grieving families and to the survivors. His detailed documentation is heroic. He lets "the cat out of the bag" when he discribes the mix up between pilots and controllers that by today's standards have been corrected. There has to be more detailed rating of a pilot than hours in the sky.
June 18, 2019
Thorough, intelligent and gripping account of the worst air disaster in history — impossible to put down once you’ve started. The author is an accomplished journalist and educator who spent years collecting information and perspectives, eventually crafting this master account of the factors leading up to the crash as well as the aftermath and key takeaways. Highly recommended.
July 15, 2019
Very well written. The chapters on on the day of the crash and the crash were difficult to read, but very compelling. Enjoy is not the right word for reading this book because it was a tragedy, but the better word would be informative. I had seen a documentary about the crash before I read it, but this book adds quite a bit of detail to what I had seen.
November 30, 2019
Decent material based on interviews with survivors of the worst aviation disaster in history. Lack of photos, maps, and diagrams, however, did very little to bring the story to life.
The middle section includes long chapters on the psychology of trauma, and became repetitive and detracted from the flow of the narrative
The middle section includes long chapters on the psychology of trauma, and became repetitive and detracted from the flow of the narrative
June 29, 2019
Well researched, detailed personal account of this tragedy. I have a clear understanding of what happened and the experience of survivors. I will forever take a different approach to air travel and safety.
February 12, 2019
Coincidence,
It's amazing how such a series of presumably unrelated events can come to fruition as a horrible incident, with such lasting and harmful consequences.
It's amazing how such a series of presumably unrelated events can come to fruition as a horrible incident, with such lasting and harmful consequences.
April 18, 2019
A fascinating, thrilling and very thorough look at the worst airplane disaster in human history. I simply must add this book to my “Disasters Collection”.
January 18, 2025
Really wanted to give this a high rating because it looked at the events of the Tenerife disaster with a much more survivor-focused narrative than you'll usually see from air crash reports, especially given the 4 decades that have passed before this was written. I also liked the angle of exploring the aftermath in terms of the long term effects and psychology for survivors of air disasters.
However, there were just too many flaws to go higher than 3*. The book has a huge bias towards the Pan Am pax. What about the (families of) victims on the KLM 747? Were they not as important to the story just because people ultimately found more fault with the KLM captain's behaviour?
The editing also needs huge work. This is full of excruciating detail in terms of conversations had by pax, context about individual pax on board the Pan Am aircraft etc., but goes so far it caused me to lose focus. I don't need to know about a veteran's habits of going to Church every Sunday because he fought in WW2 and the Korean War; it's not relevant to the story! The tendency to do this also created a level of repetition at points that had me questioning whether whole paragraphs were being rewritten out in full. It felt like the author was going round in circles. It was difficult to draw a logical thread in the section of the book about the psychological effects of human-created accidents because it felt like it just kept saying the same thing.
Also for a book with "How and Why" in its title there's comparatively very little exploration of the actual accident investigation or the conclusions drawn by the Spanish investigation team. I'd argue I didn't come away with any knowledge of this that built on what I've seen on light touch shows like Air Crash Investigation or YouTube coverage, which is just poor form for a book that you pick up expecting to learn more details about *why* the collision happened. It also feels very biased towards the American viewpoint and shows little sympathy for the locals who also had to deal with the fallout of an unprecedented disaster on a small island that wasn't even due to receive this air traffic that day.
I would argue calling this an exploration of how or why the disaster happened is incredibly disingenuous when it's more of a deepdive into why certain survivors fare better in disaster scenarios than those who tragically pass away. In fact the book description here on Goodreads is almost a little misleading too.
And that's fine as an angle, but at least name and blurb it appropriately!
However, there were just too many flaws to go higher than 3*. The book has a huge bias towards the Pan Am pax. What about the (families of) victims on the KLM 747? Were they not as important to the story just because people ultimately found more fault with the KLM captain's behaviour?
The editing also needs huge work. This is full of excruciating detail in terms of conversations had by pax, context about individual pax on board the Pan Am aircraft etc., but goes so far it caused me to lose focus. I don't need to know about a veteran's habits of going to Church every Sunday because he fought in WW2 and the Korean War; it's not relevant to the story! The tendency to do this also created a level of repetition at points that had me questioning whether whole paragraphs were being rewritten out in full. It felt like the author was going round in circles. It was difficult to draw a logical thread in the section of the book about the psychological effects of human-created accidents because it felt like it just kept saying the same thing.
Also for a book with "How and Why" in its title there's comparatively very little exploration of the actual accident investigation or the conclusions drawn by the Spanish investigation team. I'd argue I didn't come away with any knowledge of this that built on what I've seen on light touch shows like Air Crash Investigation or YouTube coverage, which is just poor form for a book that you pick up expecting to learn more details about *why* the collision happened. It also feels very biased towards the American viewpoint and shows little sympathy for the locals who also had to deal with the fallout of an unprecedented disaster on a small island that wasn't even due to receive this air traffic that day.
I would argue calling this an exploration of how or why the disaster happened is incredibly disingenuous when it's more of a deepdive into why certain survivors fare better in disaster scenarios than those who tragically pass away. In fact the book description here on Goodreads is almost a little misleading too.
And that's fine as an angle, but at least name and blurb it appropriately!
April 18, 2022
I've mostly seen documentaries on this horrific crash but there were always weird lingering questions I had. Like what happened to the cruise that all the Pan Am passengers were going on? How and when did the survivors get back to the states? I'd be terrified to even go near a plane after that. This book focuses more on the passengers specifically the American ones. It was confusing at times as the author describes in detail where everyone was sitting. I agree with another reviewer who said a map of the plane would've been handier than just saying where they were seated. The description leading up to the crash was very suspenseful. So many little things went wrong. If only there hadn't been a bomb scare at Gando, if only the KLM pilot hadn't refueled, if only the Pan Am had gotten off at their exit in time or known which exit to use. If only the fog hadn't settled in. But ultimately the fault was of the KLM pilot for not getting permission to take off and the crew for being too afraid to speak up against such a high ranking pilot. This book did answer my odd questions but was far from being a definitive and complete account of the crash. Little to know mention was made of the KLM plane, her passengers and crew. What about the mental health of Robina van Lanschott the only survivor from KLM? Can you imagine the guilt she must've lived with? What about the families of both the victims and survivors and how if affected them? How did Captain van Zanten's wife and family deal with the crash especially knowing that her husband was the cause? I get that pretty much no one from KLM survived but most if not all left friends and family behind. And there was one survivor who they could've looked at. After the crash and the survivors were flown back to the states there was a chapter about how they went on afterwards that would've been a perfect ending but no it went on for longer. Little talk of the investigation and all the politics of having three countries involved would've also made an interesting read just by listening to the documentaries that skimmed over most of it. So while mostly enjoyable it dragged on too long and really should've been subtitled from the view of the American survivors.
September 1, 2020
Very, very thin on the good stuff. With only about 200 pages, it's nearly a hundred before anything much happens (and up until this point it's filled with plenty of irrelevant mundane details about various passengers that don't ultimately add anything to the story). Then you get about 50 pages of action before it's off to a lengthy prologue of the aftermath.
A typical well-worn formula for this genre of book might be to pull in a lot of supplementary details about aviation history, including digression into details about similar emergency catastrophes. To the extent that this is ever done, it's only in the shallowest detail, and often interesting anecdotes about other affairs are aborted right as they start to get interesting.
I picked up this book primarily for the Tenerife collision's harrowing place in the annals of disaster psychology for the infamous paradoxical human "freezing" responses displayed by many of the passengers who couldn't move to save themselves. But I gained little insight beyond what I already had from the sources that inspired me to pick this book up.
In summary, the whole thing is quite fluffy. Would have been much better treated as a Kindle Single.
A typical well-worn formula for this genre of book might be to pull in a lot of supplementary details about aviation history, including digression into details about similar emergency catastrophes. To the extent that this is ever done, it's only in the shallowest detail, and often interesting anecdotes about other affairs are aborted right as they start to get interesting.
I picked up this book primarily for the Tenerife collision's harrowing place in the annals of disaster psychology for the infamous paradoxical human "freezing" responses displayed by many of the passengers who couldn't move to save themselves. But I gained little insight beyond what I already had from the sources that inspired me to pick this book up.
In summary, the whole thing is quite fluffy. Would have been much better treated as a Kindle Single.
December 27, 2021
Admittedly not very festive reading, but this has been on my wishlist for a while. And I am afraid that the title is somewhat misleading.
Yes, there was a description of the how the accident came about - it was an act of terrorism - a separatist group detonated a bomb at Gando airport on Las Palmas (Grand Canary island) meaning that all flights had to be diverted to the smaller airport at Los Rodeos airport (Tenerief North) on Tenereif island.
I won't go into the details of the accident - suffice to say that it remains one of the worst aviation accidents of all time, but I would have liked more information on the accident report and the findings that lead to improvements in aviation safety.
What I actually got was a little bit of detail from the accident report, and rather more of the aftermath from the survivors' viewpoints.
Whilst this was interesting, I didn't feel that it fitted with the title. I was hoping for an in depth discussion of the accident report, what the findings were and the recommendations were and what recomendations have been subsequently implemented.
An interesting read from the survivors point of view, but lacking in technical information.
Yes, there was a description of the how the accident came about - it was an act of terrorism - a separatist group detonated a bomb at Gando airport on Las Palmas (Grand Canary island) meaning that all flights had to be diverted to the smaller airport at Los Rodeos airport (Tenerief North) on Tenereif island.
I won't go into the details of the accident - suffice to say that it remains one of the worst aviation accidents of all time, but I would have liked more information on the accident report and the findings that lead to improvements in aviation safety.
What I actually got was a little bit of detail from the accident report, and rather more of the aftermath from the survivors' viewpoints.
Whilst this was interesting, I didn't feel that it fitted with the title. I was hoping for an in depth discussion of the accident report, what the findings were and the recommendations were and what recomendations have been subsequently implemented.
An interesting read from the survivors point of view, but lacking in technical information.
January 26, 2023
In the spring of 1977, a pair of loaded jumbo jets t-boned on a narrow runway in the Canary Islands and burst into flames, killing nearly six-hundred passengers. It took a bevy of extenuating circumstances to make this tragedy possible: extremely poor visibility, language barriers between pilots and ATC, a lack of ground radar and a political bombing at a nearby terminal, among countless others. The author combines the results of an official investigation with eyewitness testimony (roughly sixty travelers survived the ordeal) to produce an easily-digestible document of the disaster and its aftermath.
I found that the most striking part of the story wasn’t the crash itself, but the dire situation inside the blazing fuselage afterward. To escape the smoke and flame, survivors had to show instant initiative and often create their own exits, climbing through fresh holes in the roof, walls or floor and then navigating the two-story drop to a tarmac that was already littered with dangerous debris. Some may have survived, but none got through it unscathed. Good occasion for a reminder that the crew’s pre-flight safety routines are more than just a song and dance. Moving quickly and decisively, with a good knowledge of the aircraft’s layout, was the difference between life and death for those few lucky souls.
I found that the most striking part of the story wasn’t the crash itself, but the dire situation inside the blazing fuselage afterward. To escape the smoke and flame, survivors had to show instant initiative and often create their own exits, climbing through fresh holes in the roof, walls or floor and then navigating the two-story drop to a tarmac that was already littered with dangerous debris. Some may have survived, but none got through it unscathed. Good occasion for a reminder that the crew’s pre-flight safety routines are more than just a song and dance. Moving quickly and decisively, with a good knowledge of the aircraft’s layout, was the difference between life and death for those few lucky souls.
April 16, 2024
This is a truly amazing book. I have taught emergency response classes for 31 years. I picked this book up thinking that it was going to be another book about another disaster and might give me a few tidbits that I could talk about with my students. Typical of most books in the disaster genre it focuses on the lives and the experiences of several of the surviving passengers and their lives and mistakes that led up to the disaster. What is not typical is the degree to which the author details the psychological as aspects of evacuation, the degree to which airplane safety is ignored, and the importance of training in surviving an emergency. It is always a struggle to get people to truly pay attention to safety training and instruction. The author discusses ways in which this could be improved. I enjoyed the book, but more importantly as an emergency responder and trainer I learned important discussion points to share with my students.
If you are interested in the way people behave in an emergency and why some survive and others do not, this is a highly recommended book. I also strongly recommend this book to safety trainers in general as well as those engaged in emergency response training.
If you are interested in the way people behave in an emergency and why some survive and others do not, this is a highly recommended book. I also strongly recommend this book to safety trainers in general as well as those engaged in emergency response training.
October 28, 2024
I had watched an episode of the excellent Air Disasters show and and am familiar with the basics of this terrible collision. I wanted to know more. The author has compiled a highly detailed account of the disaster with input from survivors and others. We get to know many of the passengers on both planes, and the crews. The sections detailing the aftermath and how the survivors got out are the best part. The aftermath was surprising as well. Particularly the treatment of the injured passengers in the hospitals on the island, it was far less than you would have expected. It also details their struggles to return to a normal life. The author also talks about aviation, important developments that arose out of the disaster and more. It is an exhaustive and complete account of the worst air disaster in history. Narration is good, but can get a bit rote at times.
November 24, 2025
The book clearly answers the central question posed and the local connection was fascinating. However, I noticed more than a few typos which were disconcerting. IT was extensively footnoted but I admit that the constant citation of "wikipedia.com" was grating, since wikipedia is very much not a .com! In my opinion, no serious non fiction should cite wikipedia for anything, and if it does, they should at the very least cite the URL properly. I also felt that it relied a bit too much on Amanda Ripley's The Unthinkable: Who Survives Disaster Strikes and Why, but I understand why, because it is an excellent book.
But still, a comprehensive analysis of a very serious topic and I think he does it well.
But still, a comprehensive analysis of a very serious topic and I think he does it well.
January 4, 2021
A complete telling of not only the mechanical causes of the worst airliner accident in history, but also the human side of the tragedy. An astounding number of things needed to chain together to cause this horrible accident and the author lays out the entire track in detail. The harrowing tales of the few survivors were told in (sometimes gruesome) detail, but the human side of the story was not forgotten.
I don't know if you can call a book like this "enjoyable to read" but it was an interesting one. If you have a curiosity about these type of disasters in history (like myself) this is your kind of book.
I don't know if you can call a book like this "enjoyable to read" but it was an interesting one. If you have a curiosity about these type of disasters in history (like myself) this is your kind of book.
April 13, 2022
On the 45th anniversary of this awful tragedy, I decided to read an incredible account of what happened before, during, and after the worst aviation accident in history.
The author has crafted a fascinating accounting. Moment by moment he recreates the situation in both aircrafts.
Because of his first hand experience in interviewing survivors, he is also able to discuss the aftermath and long-term repercussions.
Lastly, there are extensive discussions regarding not only in the psychological ramifications of survivors, but also changes that have occurred in safety measures overall in commercial flying.
The author has crafted a fascinating accounting. Moment by moment he recreates the situation in both aircrafts.
Because of his first hand experience in interviewing survivors, he is also able to discuss the aftermath and long-term repercussions.
Lastly, there are extensive discussions regarding not only in the psychological ramifications of survivors, but also changes that have occurred in safety measures overall in commercial flying.
September 22, 2024
This was a fascinating read. The hubris and arrogance of the pilot at fault were breathtaking, as was the lack of courage of the other crew members not to speak up, which could have saved so many lives. The witness accounts were chilling. For someone afraid of flying, this one scared me because the dadgum planes never even made it off the ground. I will put a spoiler warning, although I think that information is clear to readers. I can't say this was a "good" read because of the loss of lives, but it is a page-turning account of something too horrific to imagine surviving, as well as such an enormously preventable tragedy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
Excellent retelling of the 747 jumbo jet collision in Tenerife, Canary Islands in 1977. This book humanizes the passengers and crew and gives you a good idea what the event was like. The author is also concerned with safety and the responsibility of passengers in learning the escape route from a disaster. He devotes chapters to the ways people react after a disaster. The passengers of the Pan Am jet were mostly elderly Californians headed to a Mediteranean cruise and did not react well, increasing the death toll. Lastly, the author generously included the personal memoirs of Warren and Carolyn Hopkins who escaped from first class.
April 3, 2021
A thoroughly comprehensive portrait of one of aviation’s most tragic events.
Ziomek does an excellent job of presenting the very personal stories of survivors within the wider aviation industry’s context. Despite the story recounting one of history’s most unfortunate series of coincidences, the individual reader is encouraged, with well researched advice, to take their flying safety into their own hands in partnership with the crew.
This is also probably the most sympathetic analysis of the KLM captain that I’ve come across before.
Ziomek does an excellent job of presenting the very personal stories of survivors within the wider aviation industry’s context. Despite the story recounting one of history’s most unfortunate series of coincidences, the individual reader is encouraged, with well researched advice, to take their flying safety into their own hands in partnership with the crew.
This is also probably the most sympathetic analysis of the KLM captain that I’ve come across before.
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