KLM flight 608
| KLM flight 608 | |
|---|---|
 An identically constructed Douglas DC-6 from KLM |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | unexplained |
| place | North Sea , approx. 19 km west of Egmond aan Zee |
| date | 23rd August 1954 |
| Fatalities | 21st |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-6B |
| operator | KLM |
| Mark | PH-DFO |
| Surname | Willem Bontekoe |
| Departure airport |
 New York Idlewild Airport
|
| Stopover |
 Shannon Airport
|
| Destination airport |
 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
|
| Passengers | 12 |
| crew | 9 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On August 23, 1954, a Douglas DC-6 crashed on KLM Flight 608 over the North Sea for reasons unknown . All 21 occupants were killed in the accident.
the accident
The 1952 built KLM Douglas DC-6B named Willem Bontekoe was on the KL608 scheduled flight from New York via Shannon to Amsterdam . After the stopover in Ireland , the aircraft took off at 09:29 UTC from Shannon Airport for the onward flight to Amsterdam. The aircraft rose to a cruising altitude of approximately 3,500 meters (11,500 feet ). The weather on the flight route was bad, with low cloud cover and heavy rain. At 12:22 p.m. local time (11:22 a.m. UTC), the DC-6 entered Dutch airspace. Three minutes later, the pilots informed the Dutch air traffic control that they would reach the Spijkerboor radio beacon north of Amsterdam at 12:37 p.m. The crew then received permission to fly over the radio beacon at 5,500 feet. The air traffic controller changed the default to 4,500 feet and finally to 3,500 feet shortly thereafter. All three clearances were confirmed by KLM flight 608, which at that time was still over the North Sea . When the air traffic controller asked the pilots to descend to 2500 feet at 12:35 p.m., there was no response. At 1:15 p.m. a search was started at the last known position. At 5:10 p.m., ships found the first debris about 15 kilometers (8 NM ) off the coast of Bergen aan Zee . In the following days, debris was washed up between Bergen aan Zee and Egmond aan Zee . In addition, two bodies could be recovered. No survivors were found.
Accident investigation
Eyewitnesses
After the crash, witnesses from Egmond aan Zee reported to the local police that they had seen a four-engine aircraft coming from the North Sea at around 12:35 p.m., which was at an unusually low altitude. This information was consistent with the time that KLM Flight 608 was supposed to reach the coast. In the following weeks around 90 testimonies were collected, through which the flight path was reconstructed after the last radio contact. The DC-6 initially flew inland, changing course and altitude several times. The latter ranged roughly between 30 meters (100 feet) and 365 meters (1200 feet). At 13:01 p.m., witnesses saw the machine fly over the town of Egmond aan Zee a second time, this time in the direction of the North Sea. Shortly afterwards they heard a loud bang off the coast. According to the investigators, the course changes over North Holland were not carried out by the autopilot .
Salvage
The plane hit the water surface with great force and was torn into small pieces. A cabin door was one of the largest salvaged debris. Due to the degree of destruction, only about half of the wreckage could be found and lifted. The rescue operation, which lasted from August 24 to November 25, 1954, was carried out with trawls .
Cause of accident
Upon examining the salvaged debris, it was found that the DC-6 hit the water intact and with the engines running . The impact occurred at a shallow angle with a slight incline to the right. The cause of the random flight of flight KL608, which ended in the crash, could not be clarified because of the incomplete debris. The investigators suspected that the crew was temporarily or permanently incapacitated during the descent. They named the explosion of a compressed air cylinder in the cockpit or a smoldering fire with heavy smoke development as possible reasons . However, the examination of the rubble and the autopsy of the two recovered victims did not reveal any evidence of a fire on board.
See also
- KLM flight 592 , on which a Douglas DC-6 crashed while approaching Frankfurt am Main Airport in 1952 . The cause of this accident could not be clarified either.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f ICAO Circular 50-AN / 45, pages 17 to 19 (in English) , International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal 1957. Retrieved April 12, 2017
- ^ Accident report DC-6B PH-DFO , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on May 15, 2017.
- ^ Willem Bontekoe in de Noordzee verongelukt; KLM DC-6B PH-DFO verdwijnt t / h van Egmond in de Noordzee op 23 augustus 1954 ( nl ) aviacrash.nl. Retrieved April 12, 2017.