No one aboard the KLM aircraft survived, and only 71 people escaped from the Pan Am wreckage. Sixty-one of them survived, including some of the flight attendants - here, we take a look at their story.
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There were initially 70 survivors, but 9 passengers later died of their injuries. Among the survivors were the captain, first officer and flight engineer. Most of the survivors on the Pan Am walked out onto the intact left wing, the side away from the collision, through holes in the fuselage structure.
The deadliest aviation disaster to have had a sole survivor was Northwest Airlines Flight 255, which crashed in Romulus, Michigan, on 16 August 1987, killing 154 of the 155 people on board the aircraft, as well as two people on the ground.
Hawaiian AirlinesHawaiian has been flying planes since 1929 and never once had a fatal accident, making it, if our stats stand up, the longest functioning carrier to have never lost a passenger. It may have suffered two bankruptcies (1993 and 2003) but it has not compromised on safety.
Are there any others? According to Plane Crash Info there are 42 airlines to have never suffered a fatal accident in their history, including pre-jet engines.
Tenerife airline disaster, runway collision of two Boeing 747 passenger airplanes in the Canary Islands on March 27, 1977. The disaster killed more than 580 people. Both planes involved in the crash had been scheduled to depart from Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria.
Singapore Airlines is universally lauded for its high-quality service and efficient operations, and also enjoys a reputation as one of the world's safest airlines since it has been accident-free since 2000. Review: read here my review of Singapore Airlines' new First Class in an Airbus A380.
Pan Am Flight 1736 and KLM Flight 4805On March 27, 1977, two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North Airport), on the Spanish island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The crash killed 583 people, making it the deadliest accident in aviation history.
KLM stands for 'Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij', literally translated as 'Royal Aviation Company'. Despite having merged with Air France in 2004, KLM is still seen as a truly Dutch icon. RELATED: Centenary Celebrations: eight firms that are 100 years old in 2019.