A woman who miraculously survived the deadliest plane crash in history revealed the ominous joke her boyfriend told her before disaster struck.
On March 27, 1977, 583 people lost their lives when two planes collided on the runway of Tenerife’s Los Rodeos Airport (now called Tenerife North).
The devastating incident occurred after a terrorist attack at an airport in Gran Canaria led to flights destined for the island being re-routed to the nearby Los Rodeos.
However, due to the smaller size of the airport, it soon started to become overwhelmed by the increase in traffic. This – combined with poor weather conditions and a miscommunication between air traffic control and two pilots – soon led to a disaster that sent shockwaves in the aviation world.
The incident unfolded when KLM Flight 4805 attempted to take off, but accidentally collided with the Pan Am Flight 1736, which had been using the runway to taxi.
Both aircraft erupted in flames and pandemonium unfolded. All 248 passengers and crew aboard the KLM flight were killed and 335 fatalities were recorded on the Pan Am plane.
Only 61 passengers managed to survive the catastrophe.
One of those fortunate to survive was Joani Feathers, who was traveling with her then-boyfriend, Jack, to the Canary Islands for a two-week Mediterranean cruise.
Feather, who was 27 at the time, recalled to The Daytona Beach News-Journal that she was sat in her seat with her seatbelt fastened. That’s when she saw the KLM aircraft also on the runway.
She admitted to feeling nervous about being able to see the other plane – completely unaware that it was actually barrelling towards them at 140mph.
When she told boyfriend Jack that she wished she couldn’t see the KLM plane, Jack jokingly replied: “Don’t worry, if he hits us, you won’t feel a thing.”
An unfortunate comment given the devastation that would follow just moments later.
After the collision, Feathers recalls seeing debris everywhere, as fires broke out.
“All my rings had come off my fingers,” she said. “My shoes came off.”
Jack was also alive, but injured – suffering a gash to his head.
They were the fortunate ones.
In front of them Feathers recalls seeing a woman wearing hair curlers on fire, and another woman who had been cut in half by her seatbelt.
“I just didn’t want to burn up,” Joani said, saying she and Jack “rallied” to undo her seatbelt and get out of the plane.
After a nasty fall out of the what was left of the entryway, Feathers started to run – repeating: “No. No. I can’t believe this is happening.”
An investigation by Spanish authorities (Subsecretaria de Aviacion Civil) later determined that the KLM captain was the primary cause of blame, per the Federal Aviation Administration.
Investigators say he took off without clearance and failed to comply with the “stand by for take-off” request from air traffic control in the tower. Additionally, it was found that the KLM captain may have proceeded with take off due to new time limitations on crew introduced by the Dutch government – which could have seen him face penalization.
