1924 KLM Fokker F.III disappearance

1924 airplane disappearance July 2023 1924 KLM Fokker F.III disappearance 1924 04 24 y H-NABS.jpg 1.15 H-NABS, the Fokker F.III involved in the accident. Unexplained disappearance Accident English Channel Croydon Airport, United Kingdom Waalhaven, the Netherlands 3 Fokker F.III KLM H-NABS 3 2 1 0 On 24 April 1924, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) operated the Fokker F.III H-NABS on an international passenger flight from Croydon Airport in the United Kingdom to Waalhaven, the Netherlands. The plane, its pilot, and the two passengers on board disappeared while flying over the English Channel. Despite a large search operation, the plane was not found, and is presumed to have crashed into the Channel. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB27:017889045:mpeg21:a00005 Het vermiste vliegtuig. De nasporing vruchteloos. De Avondpost 26 April 1924 Delpher nl The plane's disappearance was the first major accident for KLM, founded four years earlier, and is described in many historical overviews of the flag carrier airline. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMCC01:048164001:mpeg21:a00117 K.L.M. ziet Abraham. Plesman maakte de KLM groot. De Nieuwe Limburger 1 October 1969 Delpher nl https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010618257:mpeg21:a0160 Logboek vijftig jaar vliegen Leeuwarder Courant 29 September 1969 Delpher nl https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010851281:mpeg21:a0088 25 jaar K.L.M. geschiedenis Van Eysselsteyn Ben De Waarheid 21 January 1948 Delpher nl Background KLM began operations on 7 October 1919, one of the first commercial airline companies in the world. KLM had rigorous safety measures for the time and a strict policy for the selection of pilots. At the time of H-NABS' disappearance, KLM aircraft had successfully completed 2,734 flights over the North Sea between Rotterdam and Croydon, 3,000 flights between Belgium and the United Kingdom, and 7,000 flights between Croydon and Paris. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=KBDDD02:000205061:mpeg21:a0007 De vermiste vliegmachine Nog geen spoor van de Fokker ontdekt Het onderzoek schitterend geleid Voorwaarts 26 April 1924 Delpher nl Flight On 24 April 1924, H-NABS departed at 10:43 from Croydon Airport with three people on board, the pilot Adriaan P.J. Pijl and two passengers, W. J. van Hien and C. J. M. Modderman.Fokker F.III aircraft investigation passenger aircraft https://www.aircraftinvestigation.info/airplanes/Fokker_F.III.html 2024-01-09 www.aircraftinvestigation.info Foggy conditions forced a stopover at Lympne Airport in Kent. The aircraft departed from Lympne at 13:34, headed for its final destination, Waalhaven Airport in Rotterdam. H-NABS was not equipped with a radio set, so H. Nieuwenhuis, the official in charge at Waalhaven, was alerted only after the aircraft failed to arrive on time. Pilot and passengers The pilot was Adriaan Pieter Johannes Pijl (born 22 November 1895 in Amersfoort). As a military aviator he had flown 750 hours before he started working at KLM on 1 April 1922. As a KLM pilot he had logged 1,220 additional flight-hours, and had flown over the English Channel 215 times. Pijl was described as a very good, calm pilot with a lot of aviation knowledge. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010277496:mpeg21:a0155 Het vliegongeluk op de Noordzee. De Indische Courant 24 May 1924 Delpher nl Passenger W. J. van Hien was the son of W. H. J. van Hien, who worked as acting director at the time of Dutch state taxesNot idiomatic English January 2024 in Amsterdam. He was married and lived in Folkestone (and not in Amsterdam indicated by some sources). Van Hien was en route to Amsterdam for business. Passenger C. J. M. Modderman, approximately 40 years old, was an engineer, working on architecture and lived in Amersfoort. He'd previously travelled to London multiple times on business and it wasn’t his first trip by airplane. Modderman had originally planned to return after this business trip to the UK by boat. He was married and had one child. Search operation After the plane failed to arrive, KLM made extensive efforts to find the plane in the days after the disappearance, enlisting all of the aviation centers along the Belgian coast, the north of France and the southeast coast of the United Kingdom via radio. Telephone and telegraph services were used in attempt to gain more information about the plane and its whereabouts. The head of the Dutch radio service, J. Strijkers, worked all night, gathering information. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB19:002118118:mpeg21:a00004 Een verkeersvliegtuig verongelukt. Sumatra-bode 23 May 1924 Delpher nl English Channel patrol boats, lightships and coastguards were asked to look out for the airplane. 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. 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. In the afternoon French aircraft too, searched along the French coast. Four airplanes (F-ADBI, F-GEAB, F-AECU en F-AEFC) on scheduled flights searched the flight path as well. The next day seaplanes of the Dutch Royal Air Force went out again to search for the plane. 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. 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. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010884027:mpeg21:a0009 Een wrak op de zandbank van Goodwin? De Telegraaf 26 April 1924 Delpher nl However, the message turned out to be incorrect. https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010884027:mpeg21:a0009 Het vermiste vliegtuig der K.L.M. Nieuwsblad van het Noorden 28 April 1924 Delpher nl KLM director Plesman was publicly praised by the media for the extensive search. The efforts of H. Nieuwenhuis and J. Strijkers were also praised.https://www.hdekker.info/Nieuwe%20map/1924.htm#24.04.1924 24.04.1924 H-NABS Fokker F.III 1535 Het Kanaal hdekker.info nl Reactions The accident sparked discussion around the safety of air travel. Since KLM had never had such an accident, it was feared that it would set back air transport in general. Cause 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. 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 International aviation conference. References Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1924 Category:1924 in the Netherlands Category:1924 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:April 1924 in Europe Category:KLM accidents and incidents Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in England Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Category:Missing aircraft Category:History of the English Channel