Douglas DC-2

While descending to Newark from the west, the aircraft was passing successively 6,000, 4,000 and 2,000 feet. The pilot was unable to localize Camden and was unaware of his real position due to marginal weather conditions. While descending to 1,400 feet, the left wing impacted trees. The aircraft stalled and crashed in a wooded area located on a hill some four miles northeast of Milford. All 11 occupants were rescued and the aircraft was destroyed.

The airport of Croydon was shrouded in fog with visibility fluctuating at around 50 metres and all aircraft were operating under so-called "QBI" (a Q code denoting that all operations have to be performed under instrument flight rules) conditions. Crews were following a white line laid out approximately East-West on the grass surface of Croydon's landing area during their take-off runs (a normal procedure at several airports in the United Kingdom at the time, that had been in use at Croydon since 1931). A number of departures by this method had already been made that day by the time the KLM DC-2 took off, including a Swissair DC-2 about 25 minutes beforehand. The KLM DC-2 named 'Lijster' started its takeoff run along the white line but after about 200 yards (183 m), it veered off the line to the left and on becoming airborne headed south towards rising ground instead of in the normal westerly direction. After flying over the southern boundary of the airport, the aircraft hit the chimney of a house on Hillcrest Road, Purley, then crashed into an empty house on the opposite side of the street. The aircraft, the house and an adjoining house (also empty at the time) were destroyed in the crash and ensuing fire. One passenger and the stewardess survived while all 15 other occupants were killed, among them Admiral Salomon Arvid Achates Lindmann, former Prime Minister of Sweden, and Juan de la Cierva y Cordoniu, the inventor of the Autogyro in 1923 and the vertical takeoff in 1934. At this time, this accident was considered as the worst air crash in the UK in terms of the number of fatalities.
Crew:
Ludwig Hautzmayer, pilot,
Pieter Cornelis van Bemmel Valentijn, radio operator,
Jaap Verkerk, flight engineer,
Hilde Bongertman, stewardess.

While descending to La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City, while on a mail flight from San Salvador-Comalapa, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain located near San José Pinula, about 13 km southeast of La Aurora the airport. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
A. Paschal, pilot,
Al Palmer, copilot,
J. P. Neyman, radio navigator.

Difficulty was first encountered in the vicinity of Goshen, Indiana, approximately 100 miles from Chicago, when the oil pressure on the left engine raised to 90 lbs. and then gradually dropped to below 50 lbs. As the altitude at this time was about 3000 feet, the pilot climbed to 4000 feet on both engines and throttled the left engine back. He continued to climb on up to 4700 feet using the right engine alone. He advised Columbus of his trouble and was given the option of landing at South Bend, Indiana. He elected to proceed on to Chicago, his reasons for this being that direct radio communication with the South Bend airport was impossible and the lighting there was not as good as at Chicago. The flight continued until within the vicinity of Chicago Municipal Airport, with the right propeller in high pitch, the left engine stopped and the left gasoline valve shut off to save fuel. At this time, Pilot Smith requested and obtained clearance from the control tower to come into the field. He was granted the right of way over other aircraft. The surface wind over the airport was eight miles per hour. However, due to a recent thunderstorm, it was gusty and at an altitude of 2000 feet, increased to a velocity of 34 miles per hour. In approaching the airport at an elevation of about 2000 feet, using the right engine only, the wing flaps and undercarriage were lowered and the air-speed was reduced to about 80 miles per hour in preparation for landing. The winds above the airport were much stronger than the pilot had anticipated and it soon became apparent that the airplane was losing altitude too fast to reach the airport. The pilot attempted to correct this situation by use of the one engine. The effect was to turn the airplane to the left and, due to the reduced air-speed, full control movement proved ineffective against it. Before the speed of the airplane could be increased by Getting the flaps and undercarriage raised and the left engine started, it became evident that it would be impossible to reach the airport and the pilot attempted to head due south and land in an open area. The right wing struck a tree, causing the airplane to collide with a house and then strike the ground. While the aircraft was destroyed, all occupants were injured.

This was the inaugural flight from Prague to Amsterdam for the Czech Company CLS. On approach to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, the captain was unable to locate the airfield due to low visibility caused by night and a cloudy sky (clouds down to 50 metres and visibility estimated to 2-4 km). He decided to follow a holding pattern over the area between Lelystad and Zwolle when few minutes later, radio communications were lost because the accumulator failed. Without radio contact, unable to fix his exact position and with low fuel reserve, the captain eventually decided to attempt an emergency landing in a wheat field located in Doornspijk, near Elburg. Upon touchdown, the aircraft rolled for few dozen metres, lost its right engine, nosed down and came to rest. The pilot and the radio operator were injured while all 10 other occupants evacuated safely. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew initiated the descent to Pittsburgh-Allegheny County from the southeast in poor weather conditions. While descending to the altitude of 3,800 feet south of Uniontown, the aircraft impacted the slope of Mt Chestnut Ridge located 5 km from Fairchance. A stewardess and a passenger were seriously injured while 12 other occupants were killed.
Crew:
Otto Ferguson, pilot, †
Harry C. Lewis, copilot, †
Nelly H. Granger, stewardess.
Passengers:
Donald D. August,
S. W. Bayersdorfer, †
C. G. Challinor, †
C. R. d'Arcy, †
Robert Evans, †
Frank Hardiman, †
George W. Hefferman, †
Crawford T. Kelly, †
John O'Neill, †
Charles H. Smith, †
M. C. Ellenstein.

Just after lift off from Dübendorf Airport, the captain Walter Mittelholzer noted the aircraft was unable to gain sufficient altitude as the speed was too low. He decided to land past the runway but the aircraft hit a fence, lost its left main gear and slid for few dozen metres before colliding with trees and coming to rest in an orchard. The captain, the radio navigator and two passengers were injured while all four other occupants were unhurt. The aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair as the right wing was partially torn off and the left wing severely crushed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with snow falls and icing that probably reduced the aircraft performances upon takeoff.

While cruising at low altitude and at a speed of 290 km/h in darkness, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a wooded and swampy area located some 4 miles from Goodwin. The aircraft was destroyed and all 17 occupants were killed. While there was no post crash fire, a flash bulb from a photographers camera did ignite gasoline that had spilled. This was the first fatal commercial aircraft accident in the state of Arkansas.
Crew:
Gerald V. Marshall, pilot,
Glenn Freeland, copilot,
Perla Casparini, stewardess.
Passengers:
Charles Altschul,
Mrs. Samuel Horowitz,
Seba Horowitz,
Mrs. B. Horowitz,
W. R. Dyess,
R. H. McNair Jr.,
Frank C. Hart,
J. C. Cahn,
J. S. Gremillion,
W. S. Hardwicke,
A. D. Chernus,
H. W. plato,
Sam Schwartz +1.

The crew was flying back to his base in California. Shortly after takeoff from Salt Lake City Airport, while climbing, the aircraft went out of control and plunged into the Great Salt Lake. The aircraft sank quickly but all three occupants were able to evacuate the cabin. Unfortunately, they drowned while trying to reach the shore. The aircraft was owned by the Standard Oil of California, not the Standard Oil Company, defunct in 1914.

The airplane departed Albuquerque Airport at 1231LT and climbed to 9,300 feet. While the crew was trying to change the fuel feed to the left auxiliary tank, the left engine failed. Shortly later, the right engine failed as well. The crew reduced his altitude and attempted to make an emergency landing. Unfortunately, the aircraft was cruising over a wooded area. It impacted trees and crashed in a rocky field located some 48 km east from Albuquerque. All 11 occupants were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. The failure of the engines was found to be due to the presence of a large amount of water in the 80 octane fuel with which the plane had been serviced at Albuquerque Airport. A check of the fuel storage system at Albuquerque disclosed that on 5,000 gallon underground tank contained about 200 gallons of water. After extensive tests, it was found that with a certain amount of water in the fuel pit, pumping fuel from the underground storage tank would cause water to syphen from the fuel pit into the tank through an air vent running between the two. On the afternoon of the preceding day there had been an unusual amount of rainfall which had flooded the concrete apron and filled the fuel pit with water.