Date: | Wednesday 9 December 1936 |
Time: | 10:30 |
Type: | Douglas DC-2-115E |
Owner/operator: | KLM Royal Dutch Airlines |
Registration: | PH-AKL |
MSN: | 1358/F18 |
Year of manufacture: | 1935 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 17 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | London-Croydon Airport -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | Initial climb |
Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
Departure airport: | London-Croydon Airport (-/-) |
Destination airport: | Amsterdam-Schiphol Municipal Airport (AMS/EHAM) |
Narrative:The DC-2, named "Lijster", operated on a KLM passenger service from Croydon to Amsterdam. Visibility at the time of departure was limited due to fog. After running for 600 m along a white guidance line, the aircraft swerved left before becoming airborne at the edge of the airfield. The main undercarriage tore down a fence and wire netting surrounding a tennis court. The DC-2 continued for about 1,500ft (500m) before it struck the roof of one house, ploughed into another semi-detached house and burst into flames.
The stewardess (Hilde Bongertmann) and one passenger (W. Schubach) survived. Juan de la Cierva, the inventor of the Autogyro died.
It was determined by the UK Accidents Investigation Branch that the pilot had failed to maintain directional control of the aircraft, and also demonstrated poor judgement in not throttling down the engines and abandoning the take-off after it had departed the runway.
Sources:
aviacrash.nl Early Aviation Disasters / D. Gero, 2011
Location
Images:
photo (c) Juxy2; Alor Setar Airport (AOR/WMKA); 09 December 1936; (CC:by-sa)
Revision history:
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