What Caused the Deadliest Air Disaster of All-Time?揭秘史上最慘空難

On March 27， 1977， the world reeled1 with shock when two packed passenger jets collided at the airport on Tenerife2 in Spain’s Canary Islands.

1977年3月27日，兩架滿載乘客的飛機在西班牙加那利群島的特內(nèi)里費島機場相撞，震驚全球。

Two Boeing 747s—one operated by Dutch carrier KLM， the other by now-defunct Pan American—collided on the runway， causing a catastrophic fire that killed 583 people on both aircraft： an aviation death toll not seen before， or since. Neither of the doomed planes should have been on Tenerife Island， but as fate had it， they were.

這兩架波音747客機分別由荷蘭皇家航空公司和泛美航空公司（現(xiàn)已倒閉）運營，在跑道上相撞后，引發(fā)災難性大火，共造成583人遇難。死亡人數(shù)在航空史上空前絕后。兩架失事客機本不該降落在特內(nèi)里費島，但一切都是命中注定。

The Pan Am plane and the KLM plane were both heading to Gran Canaria， another of the Canary Islands. But a bombing at Gran Canaria airport by a local separatist group forced air traffic to divert to the usually quiet regional airport on Tenerife—the first unfortunate event that would set the runway calamity in motion.

泛美客機與荷航客機的目的地均為大加那利島——加那利群島中的另一座島嶼。由于大加那利島機場遭到當?shù)匾粋€分裂主義組織的炸彈襲擊，當日航班被迫轉降至平日較為清靜的特內(nèi)里費島地區(qū)機場——這一變更成為引發(fā)跑道撞機災難的首個原因。

A prelude to disaster

災難的前奏

A few hours after both planes were diverted to overwhelmed Tenerife airport， Gran Canaria was finally back in business. The Pan Am plane was ready to take off but its path was obstructed by the KLM plane， which was ahead and needed refueling. By the time it had refueled， a heavy fog settled over the airport at Tenerife. As pilot and author Patrick Smith3 wrote in his analysis of the disaster， had Pan Am been able to take off when it was ready， it would have beaten the fog.

兩架客機轉降到不堪重負的特內(nèi)里費島機場，數(shù)小時后大加那利島機場恢復運營。泛美客機做好了起飛準備，但跑道卻被前方等待加油的荷航客機擋住。待荷航客機加滿油，濃霧籠罩了整座機場。飛行員出身的專欄作家帕特里克·史密斯在分析報告中寫道，如果泛美客機能在準備就緒后起飛，本可避開濃霧。

The bad weather meant neither aircraft could see the other， and the air traffic control tower couldn’t see either of them. At this regional airport， there was no ground tracking radar.

惡劣天氣導致兩架客機看不見彼此，空中交通管制塔臺也看不到它們。特內(nèi)里費島的這座地區(qū)機場沒有裝配地面跟蹤雷達。

Another complication was congestion at the airport， which had cut off the usual access to runway 304， which the planes were using to depart.

引發(fā)災難的另一個因素是機場擁堵，通往30號跑道的常用通道因此受阻，而這條通道正是飛機離場的必經(jīng)之路。

To take off， each plane had to taxi5 down runway 30， get to the end， make a 180-degree turn， and take off in the direction it had taxied from—similar to how models walk and turn on a catwalk. As both aircraft taxied down runway 30， preparing for departure， KLM was in front， with Pan Am trailing behind. KLM reached the end of the runway and turned， awaiting clearance to take off. Pan Am was to move into a left-hand taxiway， so the runway was clear for KLM’s takeoff. At least， that was the plan.

若要起飛，每架飛機必須沿30號跑道滑行到頭，然后掉頭，逆著滑行方向起飛——如同模特在T型臺上行走再轉身。兩架客機在30號跑道上滑行，準備離場。荷航客機在前，泛美客機隨后。荷航客機先滑行到跑道盡頭，再掉頭，然后等待起飛許可。泛美客機要駛入左側滑行道，為荷航客機讓出跑道。至少計劃是這樣的。

“That son of a bitch is coming”

“那個白癡沖過來了”

As the KLM plane sat at the end of runway 30， in position and holding for takeoff， the Pan Am pilots missed the taxiway they were meant to turn into. They could use the next turn， but it meant they were on the runway for longer.

荷航客機在30號跑道盡頭就位，等待起飛，但泛美飛行員錯過了駛入指定滑行道的轉彎口。他們可以在下一個轉彎口駛出，但這意味著泛美客機在跑道上的滯留時間變長。

Meanwhile， the pilots in KLM got a route clearance from air traffic control. The route clearance had come unusually late， due to the unusual circumstances of the day. The KLM pilots mistook it for takeoff clearance. Poor communication between both cockpits and air traffic sealed6 the terrible fate of both aircraft and everyone on board.

與此同時，荷航飛行員收到管制員發(fā)出的航路放行許可。由于當天情況特殊，航路放行許可發(fā)出得異常晚，荷航飛行員誤以為是起飛許可。飛行員與管制員之間的溝通不暢導致兩架飛機和機上所有人注定面臨悲慘命運。

As Smith explained， communication was via two-way VHF7 radios， and on these radios， if two transmissions were sent simultaneously， they cancelled each other out—leading to words being missed and messages misunderstood.

史密斯解釋道，陸空通話基于雙向甚高頻無線電。如果雙方同時發(fā)送，無線電波就會相互抵消，造成部分通話聽不清，從而誤解信息。

The Pan Am crew and air traffic control knew Pan Am was still on the runway， and despite efforts to tell KLM， the KLM crew—thinking they were cleared for takeoff， and unable to see due to fog—didn’t realize.

泛美機組和管制員都清楚泛美客機仍在跑道上。雖然管制員設法告知荷航機組，但后者以為已獲準起飛，加之大霧蒙蔽視線，所以并未發(fā)現(xiàn)異常。

It was only as the KLM jet started thundering down runway 30 towards Pan Am as it tried to take off that the horrible reality of the situation set in. “There he is！” Pan Am Captain Victor Grubbs yelled， in a cockpit voice recording. “Look at him！ Goddamn， that son of a bitch is coming！” With that， the two mighty jets collided in a catastrophic crash.

荷航客機執(zhí)行起飛，在30號跑道上轟鳴加速駛向泛美客機，這時人們才發(fā)現(xiàn)大禍臨頭。“他來了！”在駕駛艙錄音中可聽到泛美機長維克托·格拉布斯大喊，“快看！該死，那個白癡沖過來了！”話音剛落，這兩架巨型飛機猛烈地撞到一起。

The briefly airborne KLM’s undercarriage and engines hit the top of the Pan Am jet， ripping off the top of the fuselage8 down the center. The KLM plane stalled9， rolled， hit the ground and slid. And with its full fuel load， it erupted into a fireball that blazed for hours.

荷航客機剛剛起飛，起落架和發(fā)動機撞到泛美客機頂部，將機身頂部從中間撕開。荷航客機在失速、翻滾后撞向地面，繼續(xù)前沖。加滿油的飛機炸成一團火球，熊熊燃燒了數(shù)小時。

Both planes were destroyed. All 248 KLM passengers and crew died， along with 335 passengers and crew on Pan Am. There were 61 survivors， all on Pan Am， including captain Victor Grubbs and Robert Bragg.

兩架客機都徹底損毀。荷航客機上的乘客和機組人員全部遇難，共248人。泛美客機上的乘客和機組人員共有335人遇難，有61人幸存，其中包括機長維克托·格拉布斯和副駕駛羅伯特·布拉格。

The crash that changed everything

改寫歷史的空難

After an international investigation， the fundamental cause of the crash was deemed to be KLM captain Veldhuyzen van Zanten’s attempt to take off without clearance.

經(jīng)國際調(diào)查認定，撞機的主要原因是荷航機長費爾德赫伊曾·范贊滕未獲許可便試圖起飛。

But there was a raft of contributing causes—the fog， the interference of the radio transmissions and the use of ambiguous phrases， the fact that Pan Am had not left the runway， and that the airport was overwhelmed with large aircraft.

此外，還有多個間接原因，包括大霧、無線電傳輸受到干擾而且措辭模棱兩可、泛美客機未駛離跑道、機場內(nèi)的大型飛機數(shù)量超過接納能力。

The refueling of KLM， which made the plane heavier and less capable of clearing Pan Am as they were heading for collision—and the fact that it fueled the fire — has also been noted.

另外引起注意的是，荷航客機的加油操作使得機身重量增加，進而導致其在與泛美客機相撞前躲避不及，同時加劇了火災。

But the issue that had lasting consequences for the aviation industry was the misunderstandings between the cockpits and air traffic control.

然而，對航空業(yè)產(chǎn)生持久影響的是飛行員與管制員之間的誤解。

Part of this was the two-way radio. At one point before KLM took off， air traffic control told the flight deck， “OK， stand by for takeoff， I will call you”. The KLM pilots only heard the word “OK”.

首先是雙向無線電傳輸問題。荷航客機起飛前，管制員曾告知飛行員：“好的，準備起飛，我會通知你們?！焙珊斤w行員只聽到“好的”。

Another factor was the use of ambiguous phrases by the pilots. When KLM thought it was ready to take off， the first officer said， “We are now at takeoff”. That phrase wasn’t standard pilot-speak. In the cockpit recordings， the Pan Am pilots spoke English and the KLM pilots spoke Dutch.

其次是飛行員措辭模棱兩可。荷航飛行員認為已做好起飛準備后，副駕駛說：“我們現(xiàn)在起飛。”這不是飛行員的標準用語。駕駛艙錄音顯示，泛美飛行員說英語，而荷航飛行員說的是荷蘭語。

The accident led to the development of so-called Aviation English， which is the language used by pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide.

這起事故推動了“航空英語”的發(fā)展——這種英語成為全世界飛行員和管制員的通用語。

Cockpit rules also changed so words like “OK” and “Roger” were no longer sufficient when accepting messages—key parts of the message now have to be read back in the reply.

駕駛規(guī)則也有所改變。飛行員接收信息時，不能只回答“好的”或“收到”，必須復誦信息中的關鍵內(nèi)容。

These were some of the lessons learnt from the worst aviation accident the world had seen—so it would forever remain the deadliest the world would see.

以上是從史上最慘烈的空難中吸取的一些教訓。希望紀錄就此封存，悲劇不再重演。

（譯者單位：南京航空航天大學外國語學院）

1 reel感到震驚。" 2 特內(nèi)里費島是西班牙加那利群島中的第一大島。

3 2002年至2012年，帕特里克·史密斯為《沙龍》（Salon）雜志的Ask the Pilot（請教機長）專欄撰文。" 4機場跑道根據(jù)磁方位角命名，基本原則是取跑道磁方位角的前兩位數(shù)或者四舍五入后取前兩位數(shù)，通常在01至36之間。" 5 taxi（飛機）緩慢滑行。

6 seal使成定局。" 7 = very high frequency甚高頻，介于30MHz到300MHz之間的射頻。

8 fuselage（飛機）機身。" 9 stall（飛機）失速。

The Worst Plane Crashes in History

1985 Japan Airlines Flight 123 Crash

Cause： Mechanical failure" Deaths： 524

The crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 is the deadliest aviation accident to include a single vehicle， killing the vast majority of passengers on board.

1996 Air Africa Crash

Cause： Unclear， possibly negligence

Deaths： Between 225 and 348

The flight had actually been taking off illegally， as Africa Air did not have the required clearance and papers needed to operate the flight. Investigations also concluded the pilots operating the flight were not qualified to operate a cargo plane and may have been intoxicated at the time of the takeoff.

2024 Jeju Air Flight 7C2216

Cause： Potential bird strike" Deaths： 179

The plane was unable to lower its nose gear and， when it skidded on the runway， it went past the path and struck a nearby wall. It burst into flames， killing all but two individuals on board. Two of the crew members in the rear of the plane survived.