Never Wait for the Fire Truck

Book excerpt: This is a survivors story of the worst aircraft accident in world history. On March 27,1977, two 747's collided on the ground in fog on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The staggering death toll was 544 upon impact with 74 initial survivors. The author was among a subgroup of 14 walking survivors and 1 of 2 photographers that Sunday afternoon. This is his story of survival, recovery and return to flight. Part 2 of the book provides details of improvements to aircraft interior safety. Many of those improvements were the result of an in-flight cabin fire on Air Canada flight 979 in 1983. Non-flammable materials for the interior and stronger seats make a hard landing more survivable. Part 3 of the book discusses runway safety, a very hot topic recently. New technology, ADSB, will greatly improve safety on the ground and replace radar. Controllers and pilots will know where every aircraft is on the ground and in the sky.