ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation PH-TEN Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Wednesday 20 October 1948
Time:23:32 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic CONI model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation
Operator:KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Registration: PH-TEN
MSN: 2083
First flight: 1947
Crew:Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Passengers:Fatalities: 30 / Occupants: 30
Total:Fatalities: 40 / Occupants: 40
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:5 km (3.1 mls) E of Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK) (   United Kingdom)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport (AMS/EHAM), Netherlands
Destination airport:Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK/EGPK), United Kingdom
Narrative:
The Lockheed Constellation, named "Nijmegen", departed Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at 21:11 GMT on a transatlantic flight to New York, USA with an intermediate stop at Prestwick, Scotland.
Arriving near Prestwick, the aircraft was vectored for a Ground Controlled Approach to runway 32. The pilot however wanted to try a visual approach to runway 26. After having overshot runway 32, the aircraft entered the runway 26 downwind leg. At an altitude of 440 feet the aircraft struck high tension cables; the aircraft caught fire and completed a left turn before crashing.

The captain on the flight was a renowned KLM pilot, K.D. Parmentier, who had flown KLM's DC-2 "Uiver" during the London-Melbourne air race in 1934.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "1) That when the pilot started his landing manoeuvre for runway 26 of Prestwick Airport the weather conditions were already below the limits for this manoeuvre but that from the weather forecasts received this could not be known to him and that this could not be personally judged at the time. 2) That, although the landing on runway 26 under the weather conditions, as far as these were known to the pilot, required the greatest caution, the pilot could not be blamed for having commenced that landing procedure. 3) That flying too long on the downwind-leg of runway 26 caused the accident. 4) That, if no unknown circumstances contributed to the extension of the flight on the downwind-leg of runway 26, the extension was due to the delayed action of the pilot after he lost visual approach. 5) That it was not impossible that a stronger wind that the pilot accounted for contributed to the extension of the flight on the downwind-leg of runway 26. 6) That the possibility of other circumstances as mentioned under 4 could not be ruled out, but that no data was available which could give cause for the supposition that they contributed to the extension of the flight at a low altitude on the downwind-leg of runway 26."

Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Ground

Sources:
» Nederlandse Constallations / H.Dekker (p.22)


Photos

photo of Lockheed-L-049-46-25-Constellation-PH-TEN
accident date: 20-10-1948
type: Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation
registration: PH-TEN
photo of Lockheed-L-049-46-25-Constellation-PH-TEN
accident date: 20-10-1948
type: Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation
registration: PH-TEN
photo of Lockheed-L-049-46-25-Constellation-PH-TEN
accident date: 20-10-1948
type: Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation
registration: PH-TEN
 

Video, social media

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport to Glasgow-Prestwick Airport as the crow flies is 702 km (439 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Lockheed L-049

  • 88 built
  • 12th loss
  • 7th fatal accident
  • The worst accident (at the time)
  • 7th worst accident (currently)
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 United Kingdom
  • The worst accident (at the time)
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