In 1977 two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife, killing 583 people. It remains the deadliest accident in aviation history. Investigations led to major changes in crew resource management, radio phraseology, and runway safety procedures.

The disaster changed how writers and the public understood mass air travel: not as individual daring but as complex systems vulnerable to language and hierarchy. It gives sombre context to literature about technology, trust, and collective fragility.