1924 KLM Fokker F.III disappearance
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Comment: by nominator: title has a typo, should be “disappearance”. 109.37.152.3 (talk) 20:25, 30 August 2023 (UTC)
 Similar KLM owned Fokker F.III as the involved airplane | |
| Disappearance | |
|---|---|
| Date | 24 April 1924 |
| Site | English Channel |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Fokker F.XXII |
| Operator | KLM |
| Registration | H-NABS |
| Flight origin | Croydon Airport, United Kingdom |
| Destination | Waalhaven, the Netherlands |
| Passengers | 2 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On 24 April 1924 KLM operated Fokker F.III H-NABS was an international passenger flight from Lympne Airport, United Kingdom to Waalhaven the Netherlands. The plane with the pilot and two passengers on board disappeared while flying over the North Sea. After a large search operation the plane was not found. It is presumed the plane crashed into the English Channel.[1]
Four years after its foundation, it was the first main accident of the KLM. The accident is described in many historical overviews of the KLM.[2][3][4]
Background
KLM became on 7 October 1919 one of the first commercial airline companies. KLM had strict safety measures and a strict policy for the selection of pilots. The KLM passed 2734 times the North Sea without problems between Rotterdam and Croydon and furthermore 3000 times between Belgium and the United Kingdom and 7000 times between Croydon and Paris. This accident was the first main accident of the company.[5]
Flight
On 24 April 1924 the Fokker F.III H-NABS was an KLM operated international passenger flight from Croydon Airport, United Kingdom to Waalhaven, the Netherlands. There were three people on board, pilot Pijl and two passengers. The plane departed at 10:43 from Croydon. Due to fog it made a stopover at Lympne Airport. The plane departed from Lympne Airport at 13:34. As this type of airplane didn’t have radio communication, H Nieuwenhuis, who was in charge at Waalhaven airport noted that something had happened after the plane didn’t arrive at the correct time.[5]
Pilot and passengers
- The pilot was Adriaan Pieter Johannes Pijl (born 22 November 1895 in Amersfoort). As a militairy aviator he had flown 750 hours before he started working at KLM on 1 April 1922. As KLM pilot he had made another 1220 flight hours. He had already flown 215 times over the North Sea.[5] He was described as a very good, calm pilot with a lot of aviation knowledge.[6]
- Passenger W. J. van Hien. He was the son of W. H. J. van Hien, who worked as acting director at the time of Dutch state taxes in Amsterdam. He was married and lived in Folkestone (and not in Amsterdam indicated by some sources[6]). He was en route to Amsterdam for businesses.[1]
- Passenger C. Modderman (around 40-years old). He was engineer, working on architecture and lived in Amersfoort. He went multiple time to London for business and it wasn’t his first time he did it by airplane. He originally planned to return after this business trip by boat. He was married and had one child.[7]
Search operation
After H. Nieuwenhuis had notice something had happened, all available possibilities were used by the KLM to find the plane in the days after the disappearance.[5] All aviation centers along the entire Belgian coast; the north of France and south east coast of the United Kingdom were contacted over the radio. Telephone services and telegraph services were used in attempt to gain more information about the plane. Head of the radio service J. Strijkers worked all evening and night to gather information.[5][8] Canal patrol boats, lightships and coastguards were asked to look out for the airplane.[5]
During the night an organization was formed to conduct the search operation. After sunrise three Dutch seaplanes of the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service stationed at De Kooy Airfield, a Dutch torpedo boat, three seaplanes of the Royal Air Force and KLM airplanes N-NABJ and H-NABX searched the English Channel and the Dutch coast.[1] Nieuwenhuis searched together with a photographer using the plane that was normally used for making photographs. Several sandbanks had run dry due to low water, but the aircraft, or parts of it, were not found.[5] In the afternoon also French aircrafts also searched along the French coast. Four airplanes (F-ADBI, F-GEAB, F-AECU en F-AEFC) on a scheduled flight have also searched the flight path accurately. All ships at the Canal were signaled to look out for the plane.[5][9]
The next day seaplanes of the Dutch Royal Air Force went out again to search for the plane Also Dutch seaplanes stationed in Veere searched but without a sign of the plane. At the end of the search that day all hope was given up that the aircraft would be found.[5]
On 26 April a Telegram was received that a Dutch plane was found at a sandbank of Goodwin and a British plane saw oil in that area.[7] However, the message turned out to be incorrect.[10] The KLM director Plesman was publicly praised by the media for the extensive search. Also the works of H. Nieuwenhuis and J. Strijkers was praised.[5] [9]
Reactions
The accident sparked the discussion if air traffic is safe. Since KLM had never had such an accident, it was feared that it would set back air transport in general.[5]
Cause
The plane would be able, after landing on water, to float on the water on the wings for 24 hours.[1] If the plane crashed with the propeller down, it is almost certain that it would have sunk immediately.[1] If the plane had landed on water, it would have been found.[6]
Because the plane had made a stopover because of the fog, it is possible that the plane entered a layer of fog after takeoff. As the pilot has no reference in the fog at the time, he cannot flying in the fog. To gain visual reference the pilot then flies to the bottom of the fog layer, which is often at 20-30 metres above the water. What was assumed is that the fog has been even lower.[2][6] This type of aircraft could not fly above the fog because it had no visual reference there That was only possible with airplanes with radio on board, and this type of aircraft did not have that.[5] The investigative committee stated, as the only possible explanation, that the pilot must have hit the water flying at full speed under the fog. This may be confirmed by a witness who saw the plane coming over at Sandgate, where the visibility was good, but due to the fog over the sea the horizon wasn't visible. The wing must have shattered that it has lost buoyancy and that the hull sank immediately.[9]
Measures
According to experts, the plane wouldn't have crashed if the plane had a radio communication system on board, as it could have been used to fly above the fog. After the accident, all KLM airplanes got a radio communication system. Having a radio communication system on board was made compulsory from 1 October 1924 after the internal aviation conference.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Het vermiste vliegtuig. De nasporing vruchteloos". De Avondpost (in Dutch). 26 April 1924 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b "K.L.M. ziet Abraham. Plesman maakte de KLM groot". De Nieuwe Limburger (in Dutch). 1 October 1969 – via Delpher.
- ^ "Logboek vijftig jaar vliegen". Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 29 September 1969 – via Delpher.
- ^ Van Eysselsteyn, Ben (21 January 1948). "25 jaar K.L.M. geschiedenis". De Waarheid (in Dutch) – via Delpher.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "De vermiste vliegmachine | Nog geen spoor van de Fokker ontdekt | Het onderzoek schitterend geleid". Voorwaarts (in Dutch). 26 April 1924 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b c d "Het vliegongeluk op de Noordzee". De Indische Courant (in Dutch). 24 May 1924 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b "Een wrak op de zandbank van Goodwin?". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 26 April 1924 – via Delpher.
- ^ "Een verkeersvliegtuig verongelukt". Sumatra-bode (in Dutch). 23 May 1924 – via Delpher.
- ^ a b c "24.04.1924 H-NABS Fokker F.III 1535 Het Kanaal". hdekker.info (in Dutch).
- ^ "Het vermiste vliegtuig der K.L.M." Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 28 April 1924 – via Delpher.
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1924 Category:1924 in the Netherlands Category:1924 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:April 1924 events Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the North Sea Category:KLM accidents and incidents Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in England Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain