48 years ago today, on March 28, 1977 (February 9, 1977 lunar calendar), a major air crash occurred on Tenerife Island. Two 747s were engulfed in a sea of fire, and onlookers were terrified. On March 28, 1977, two 747 jumbo jet planes collided head-on over the Canary Islands, causing the death toll to rise to 574 today. This is the worst air disaster in history. Seventy survivors were taken to Tenerife for treatment, some of them in critical condition. The disaster happened on the island of Tenerife on the 27th. All 248 vacationing passengers and the entire crew of the Spanish Airlines plane were killed in the accident. 326 passengers died on the Pan Am plane, a charter flight from Los Angeles. The Air Spaniard plane collided with the Pan Am plane as it taxied and prepared to take off as it took off at high speed on a foggy runway. It was not immediately clear who was directly responsible for the accident.