Ian, the pilot was Jan Hondong, not Hongdong. He was one of the great pre-war KLM captains who also pioneered the route from Schiphol to the West Indies across the Atlantic in Fokker F.XVIII PH-AIS “Snip”. His arrival in the West Indies in December 1934 was overshadowed by the loss of DC-2 PH-AJU “Uiver” in the Iraqi desert two days earlier. That appeared to have lost control in severe weather killing all seven aboard. Uiver was the DC-2 that participated in the London to Melbourne race only weeks before.
The Uiver loss was the first in a series of major incidents. Fokker F. XII PH-AFL (Leeuwerik) flew into high ground near Brilon (Germany) on April 6th 1935 killing all five crew (including Smirnoff’s close friend Piet Soer) and both passengers. Fokker F.XXXVI PH-AJQ (Kwikstaart) suffered a double engine failure on take off from Schiphol July 14th, 1935 and hit a dyke in the return to the field. Four crew and two passengers were killed, 13 other passengers and one crew survived. Three days later Jan Hondong had a mishap on take off from Bushir (Iran) with DC-2 PH-AKM (Maraboe) when he hit a bump and the undercarriage partially folded. Although the aircraft burned, all crew and passengers survived. And again three days later DC-2 PH-AKG (Gaai) was lost with all four crew and nine passengers was lost in the Alps when it spun in on an improvised emergency landing in poor weather. This prompted KLM to carry out a complete review of all procedures and embrace safety as a number one priority. On July 21st a meeting was held between KLM director Albert Plesman and his senior pilots Scholte, Smirnoff, Frijns, Tepas, Hondong, Parmentier and Van Balkom. In the wake of this KLM suspended a number of minor routes that were only marginally profitable but had been adding greatly to the operational pressure on pilots and machines.
Sign In
