A terrorist activity at Gran Canaria International Airport, miscommunication, bad weather and pilot error led to a risky flight decision of KLM Flight 4805 pilot, Jacob Louis Veldhuyzen van Zanten, who mistakenly considered he was cleared for takeoff by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) causing the Tenerife Airport Disaster in 1977 (AirCrashMayday, 2017). This is considered the worst accident in the history of aviation as a result of poor visibility from considerable fog. Consequently, the pilot collided with a Pan Am flight killing five-hundred and eighty-three individuals on both planes (AirCrashMayday, 2017).
The DECIDE Model in Explaining Jacob’s Mistake of Believing to have been Cleared for Takeoff by the ATC
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DETECT –The KLM Flight 4805 pilot discovered that change had occurred since he was taxiing on the runway with Pan Am flight, which he did not see until the last minute due to fog (AirCrashMayday, 2017).
ESTIMATE – Therefore, the pilot assessed the need to counter the change of being on the runway with Pan Am flight. Normally, overreaction and paranoia eliminate a safe outcome.
CHOOSE –Consequently, the pilot chose a desirable outcome and course of action. In this case, the pilot’s objective was to pull up the flight to avoid colliding with Pan Am flight, which was still taxiing down the runway.
IDENTIFY –The pilot formulated a plan that would take him to this objective. Pertaining to this case, there was only one course of action to ensure a successful outcome, and Jacob was not to be paranoid to exclude decision-making.
DO- The pilot selected the most appropriate partway to a good resolution, which was an early-take off after a sixty-five feet tail drag in an extreme rotation (AirCrashMayday, 2017).
EVALUATE – After implementing the early-take off decision, it is evident that it was not correct since KLM Flight 4805’s fuselage hit the top of Pan Am fuselage, ripping both planes. Consequently, the KLM aircraft soared on, but crashed out of control one hundred and fifty meters further on, gliding another three hundred meters, and busted into flames (AirCrashMayday, 2017).
How I could have Mitigated this Impact
To mitigate this impact, I could have been keener on my job and put my safety and that of the passengers first. I could not have left anything to chance by waiting for clear communication from the ATC before taking off. It is evident that the KLM captain was facing a declining mental status because of the hurry to deliver passengers to their final-destination leading to poor decision making (Kellam, 2017).
Conclusion
Risky flight decisions are made by pilots leading to adverse situations. In the Tenerife Airport Disaster aviation report, Jacob mistakenly considered he was cleared for takeoff by the ATC causing KLM Flight 4805 to collide with Pan Am flight. Despite employing the DECIDE Model in his decision-making process, the accident was bound to transpire because of the existent poor weather conditions that made the other plane invisible to Jacob. Nonetheless, if I was in that situation, I could have kept calm and put into consideration our safety by carefully listening to the ATC instead of hurrying up to leave the airport to go and deliver passengers.
References
AirCrashMayday. (2017). #OnThisDay in 1977, KLM Flight 4805 collides with Pan Am Flight 1736 at Tenerife Los Rodeos Airport. AIRLIVE.net . Retrieved from https://www.airlive.net/otd-in-1977-klm-flight-4805-collides-with-pan-am-flight-1736-at-tenerife-los-rodeos-airport/
Kellam, S. (2017). Human Factors in Aviation: Mitigating the Danger of Distraction. High-Performance Aviation, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.flyhpa.com/2017/07/human-factors-in-aviation-mitigating-the-danger-of-distraction/
