583 : The Tenerife airport disaster , which occurred on March 27 , 1977 , remains the accident with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities . 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted to take off without flight clearance , and collided with a taxiing Pan Am 747 at Los Rodeos Airport on the Canary Island of Tenerife , Spain . There were no survivors from the KLM aircraft and only 61 of the 396 passengers and crew on the Pan Am aircraft survived . Pilot error was the primary cause , as the KLM captain began his takeoff run without obtaining air traffic control clearance . Other contributing factors were a terrorist incident at Gran Canaria Airport that had caused many flights to be diverted to Los Rodeos , a small airport not well equipped to handle aircraft of such size , and dense fog . The KLM flight crew could not see the Pan Am aircraft on the runway until immediately before the collision . The accident had a lasting influence on the industry , particularly in the area of communication . An increased emphasis was placed on using standardized phraseology in air traffic control ( ATC ) communication by both controllers and pilots alike . " Cockpit Resource Management " has also been incorporated into flight crew training . The captain is no longer considered infallible , and combined crew input is encouraged during aircraft operations
Tenerife airport disaster
Tenerife airport disaster
Aviation accidents and incidents