Dorothy Kelly

Pan Am flight attendant, Dorothy Kelly, was witness to the worst commercial aviation disaster in history. On March 27, 1977 Dorothy was working as a Purser (flight attendant in charge) on a Pan Am 747 charter flight to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. A bombing at the Las Palmas terminal caused a diversion to the neighboring island of Tenerife. Also diverted was a KLM, Royal Dutch Airlines 747 from Amsterdam to Las Palmas. The above photo is of the two jumbo jets minutes before the accident.

When Las Palmas airport reopened a thick fog had decended on the Tenerife airport. The KLM plane struck the Pan Am plane while taking off without proper control tower authorization. All 248 passengers & crew on the KLM plane perished.

Of 396 aboard the Pan Am flight, 61 survived, including Dorothy Kelly and 6 other active crew. Upon impact Dorothy directed passengers out and away from the burning aircraft and assisted wounded passengers both at the crash site and later at the hospital.

Dorothy Kelly’s first person knowledge of the events of that day give her a unique perspective on the worst accident in commercial aviation history when 583 lives were lost. Dorothy is available for in-person meetings and interviews in New York City.