One missing letter caused deadly plane crash in perfect storm of tragic coincidences

45 years have passed since an unfortunate error led to a Boeing 127 crash in Tenerife, Spain that tragically took the lives of all 146 passengers and crew on board

It was 1980 when one misheard letter led to unimaginable tragedy.

A Boeing 127 carrying British tourists to Tenerife in the Canary Islands flew off course in the fog and crashed into the side of the La Esperanza mountains.

The lives of all 146 passengers and crew were tragically taken - and the circumstances behind it stem from an unfortunate miscommunication.

Tenerife North Airport, formerly known as Los Rodeos Airport, was host to the deadliest aircraft accident in history just three years prior.

Two fully loaded Boeing 747s, that were diverted from Gran Canaria, collided on the runway and killed 583 people.

Fallout of the event was still being dealt with by the time Dan-Air flight 1008 departed Manchester at 9:22am - bound for the same infamous airport. But what made it so dangerous?

The airport's location first and foremost as it was situated on a saddle over 2000ft above sea level, meaning it often bore the brunt of Tenerife's unpredictable weather.

Fog was commonplace around the high peaks of the island, which eventually would make its way over the airfield and take away any visibility.

On the day of the Dan-Air disaster, the winds were blowing from the east which meant incoming aircraft was forced to land on the rarely used runway 12.

And it turned out Captain Arthur 'Red' Whelan, one of the three pilots on board who has over 15,000 hours of flying experience, had never landed there in any of his 58 past visits.

At the time, however, flight 1008 was not the only plane approaching as they discovered at 1.15pm that Iberia flight 711, a slower turboprop operated by Spain’s national airline, was just ahead of them.

It's understood the 727 was flying considerably faster than normal for this part of the approach and were almost set to overtake.

The controller on job at Tenerife North was Justo Camin, 34, who was yet to catch on to the developing problem.

They had no access to radar and were reliant on listening to reports from pilots, noting down their progress on pieces of paper.

Once it became obvious, when flight 1008 had passed TFN, a VHF radio beacon northeast of the airport, he decided to put them into a holding pattern to give the slower plane enough time to get out of the way.

A problem with this though was that it was made up completely on the spot as no holding patterns had been drafted for the runway 12 approach.

It required the Dan-Air flight to fly out to the northwest and loop around, and in response to a report from First Officer Michael Firth, who had around 3,500 flying hours, Justo mistakenly said: "Roger, the standard holding pattern overhead Foxtrot Papa is inbound heading one five zero, turn to the left, call you back shortly.”

The error in question was just one single letter. He meant to say "turns to the left" instead of "turn to the left", which the crew on board took as an order, and Captain Whelan instead turned left to enter what he thought was the hold 20 seconds later, not parallel to the runway leaving everyone manning the 127 confused.

Once Justo was informed by the crew of Iberia flight 711 that they had started their turn on approach to runway 12, he authorised Dan-Air flight 1008 to descend from 5,000ft, but little did he know they weren't where he though they were.

Upon realisation they were flying away from their destination and descending to below the height of La Esperanza to the right of the plane, the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) was set off.

Instead of going up, thinking they were heading towards the mountain instead of being right next to it, he made a right turn and the warning ceased.

The plane's GPWS was convinced by passing a valley that they were no longer close to the ground.

After seeking clarification from air traffic control, it all went quiet - the Dan-Air flight 1008 slammed headlong into the side of La Esperanz, obliterating most of the aircraft almost instantaneously with no survivors.

Afterwards, the black box was recovered by British and Spanish authorities in the hope of learning the cause of the crash.

A number of causes contributed to the tragedy, first the high speed of the Dan-Air 747 on approach, the holding pattern created on the spot, the poor decision making by Captain Whelan - and a missing letter that caused such drastic confusion and miscommunication.

After the tragedy was retold on YouTube, many rushed to have their say.

One wrote: "RIP to everyone on board."

While one said: "I was a Dan Air stewardess at the time, flying out of Manchester, and I will never forget the truly sickening feeling and the disbelief, horror and shock on learning what had happened.

"The loss of colleagues who were also friends and of so many people looking forward to their holidays was hard to take in, and I remember thinking back to my training course when we had to complete a form detailing any identifying features or jewellery that was worn permanently, such as a wedding ring, should identification ever be needed in the event of an incident.

"I left my job shortly afterwards - not out of fear, but because I found it hard to deal with and it was difficult to stay focused and keep smiling when working. I will always remember the date (I always think of it as 'black Friday') and those who lost their lives."

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