Word: aircraft
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...passengers and the 14 crew members of the KLM plane perished. There were 67 survivors from the Pan Am plane?most of them from California, where the flight had originated. One woman died aboard the military aircraft sent to fly the injured back to the U.S. At week's end nine remained in critical condition, suffering severe burns. The accident almost certainly will involve the highest insurance claims for any non-natural disaster. Estimates from London insurers placed the potential payout at $240 million. Survivors in California already have filed a class action suit against KLM, Pan Am and Boeing...
...sister aircraft that had so disastrously converged in the distant Canary Islands fell victim to split seconds of bad luck. There was every evidence that KLM Pilot Veldhuizen had heroically pulled the nose of his huge craft abruptly into the air to leapfrog over the Clipper. Pilot Grubbs was also violently yanking his ship to the left to get out of the way. Experts estimate that the KLM plane needed only 25 ft. of added altitude to avoid the collision, saving the Pan Am passengers. Whether Veldhuizen could have controlled his plane to avoid crashing is questionable. "He probably knew...
...runway. The Clipper had passed C3, which headed back toward the terminal in a difficult turn for a big plane. Another sharp turn onto the taxiway would be required. Pan Am officials were later to explain that the crew considered C-l inactive because it was blocked by aircraft and assumed that the final turn was the "third intersection" the tower meant the plane to take. Pan Am was only about 475 ft. away from its safe exit when all hell broke loose. Captain Grubbs and First Officer Bragg saw lights blurred by fog on the runway ahead of them...
...large part, the vast improvement in air safety was brought about by the same factor that created the vast increase in air travel: the development of the jet airliner. Flying in a modern jet is ten times as safe as flying in the noisier and slower piston-en-gined aircraft of the mid-'50s. Over the years, airframes have become sturdier and engines not only much more powerful but much more reliable. The FAA, the manufacturers and the airlines poured millions into developing better flight control equipment?sophisticated radars and navigation aids. Military innovations were adopted for commercial...
...PLANES. Today's jet is a marvel of engineering and safety. Based on actuarial records for new aircraft, Lloyd's of London had expected the Boeing 747 to have at least two fatal accidents during its first two years. But only one commercial crash has occurred since the jet was introduced in 1970?in Nairobi in 1974?and that was because the Lufthansa pilot did not extend the proper wing flaps while taking off. The 747 was blameless, of course, for the catastrophe at Tenerife. Leaving aside Nairobi and Tenerife, a total of 297 of these jets, operated...