A last attempt to avoid the collision
The PanAm crew applied full throttle to leave the runway as quickly as possible, but they were already too late. The KLM captain then spotted the PanAm jumbo jet on the runway:
17 :06 :47 (KLM captain) – Oh shit
The Dutch 747 was travelling at over 270 km/h. The captain applied full back-stick pressure in an attempt to take off and fly over the other 747. The nose pitched up, the tail struck the runway and produced a shower of sparks. The aircraft rose one meter above the ground, but it was not enough.
The collision on the runway at Los Rodeos
The 350-tonne aircraft collided. The forward landing gear wheels of the Dutch 747 struck the right side of the PanAm 747 and tore into the fuselage. The left wing sliced through the vertical stabilizer at rudder level. Passengers saw the partitions open around them, the ceiling disappear and the floor collapse. The right-wing fuel tanks were torn apart and the fuel ignited.
The KLM 747 rose slightly before crashing, completely broken apart. No one on board survived.
In the PanAm 747, a few people escaped from the burning aircraft. Some 64 people, including the captain and everybody on the flight deck, survived out of 396. The intense heat from the fire cleared the fog one kilometer around the crash scene.
583 fatalities and 64 survivors
In all, some 583 people died in the crash. Only 64 people survived.