Originally Posted by PresRDC

The KLM 747 was the one on its takeoff roll. The Clipper was taxiing down the runway toward the KLM 747. Because it was foggy and the airport lacked ground radar, ATC could not see the situation unfolding and neither flight crew could see the other aircraft until it was too late. The KLM crew tried to get their aicraft into the air (or to try and "leap frog" over the Clipper) and the Clipper crew tried to drive their aircraft off the runway. Unfortunately, the KLM 747 was not moving fast enough to get airborne and, because it took a few seconds for the Clipper's JT8Ds to spool-up, it did not get out of the way in time. Actually, the KLM 747 came very close to clearing the Clipper -- only its landing gear made contact with the top of the Clipper's air frame. That is what allowed for there to be survivors on the Clipper.

More info:

http://www.airdisaster.com/special/special-pa1736.shtml

The black box transcript:

http://www.airdisaster.com/cvr/tenetr.shtml