On the importance of the Language Proficiency Requirements
Probable cause
The investigation concluded that the fundamental cause of the accident was that the KLM captain took off without takeoff clearance. The investigators suggested the reason for his mistake might have been a desire to leave as soon as possible in order to comply with KLM's duty-time regulations, and before the weather deteriorated further.
Other major factors contributing to the accident were:
The sudden fog greatly limited visibility. The control tower and the crews of both planes were unable to see each other.
Simultaneous radio transmissions, with the result that neither message could be heard.
The following factors were considered contributing but not critical:
Use of ambiguous non-standard phrases by the KLM co-pilot ("We're at take off") and the Tenerife control tower ("OK").
Pan Am mistakenly continued to exit C-4 instead of exiting at C-3 as directed.
The airport was (due to rerouting from the bomb threat) forced to accommodate a great number of large aircraft, resulting in disruption of the normal use of taxiways.[11]
Dutch response
The Dutch authorities were reluctant to accept the Spanish report blaming the KLM captain for the accident. The Netherlands Department of Civil Aviation published a response that, whilst accepting that the KLM aircraft had taken off "prematurely", argued that he alone should not be blamed for the "mutual misunderstanding" that occurred between the controller and the KLM crew, and that limitations of using radio as a means of communication should have been given greater consideration.
In particular, the Dutch response pointed out that....
This NASA segment focuses on the importance of air travel in today’s society. Currently, over 600 million people travel on airplanes and it is expected that over a billion people will use air transportation in the near future. Attention is turning to ways to improve what is an already crowded transportation system. A unique government and commercial plan develops the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NGATS. The Joint Planning Development Office (JPDO) is designing a multi-stage approach to not only handle an increase in the large number of passengers, but minimize air and noise pollution.
Pilots killed in fighter jet crash at Polish air show
WARSAW (AP) — A Belarusian fighter jet crashed Sunday during an air show in central Poland, killing both pilots, officials said.
The two-seat Su-27 jet was performing maneuvers at the festival inRadom, 65 miles south of Warsaw, when it went down.
Two Belarusian pilots on board were killed in the crash, the air show's organizers said in a statement. Experts were investigating the cause of the accident.
The Su-27 was not near the tarmac or crowds attending the air show when it crashed.
Footage broadcast on state television showed the plane turning in the air, then dropping behind trees. A cloud of black smoke then appeared on the horizon.
The jet was one of two Belarusian planes taking part in the show, said Andrzej Sikorski, a spokesman for Poland's Air Force. The other aircraft was a transport plane.
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