Rotterdam | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The airplane departed RAF Wattisham at 1430LT on an operation to Rotterdam. Over the target area, it was hit by the German Flak and crash landed in Kethel, in the suburb of Rotterdam. All three crew members became PoW.
Crew:
P/O Fitzroy Montague Veich Johnstone,
Sgt R. Evans,
Sgt Reginald George Drake.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IV in Rotterdam: 3 killed

Date & Time: Aug 28, 1941 at 2002 LT

Type of aircraft:

Bristol 142 Blenheim

Operator:

Registration:

Z7445

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

Site:

City

Schedule:

Attlebridge - Attlebridge

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The airplane departed RAF Attlebridge at 1739LT on an operation to Rotterdam. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed onto houses located in the district of Schiedam. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt James Okeden Alexander, pilot,
F/Sgt Alexander James Hardy, observer,
F/Sgt John Lionel Briggs, wireless operator.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IV in Rotterdam

Date & Time: Jul 16, 1941 at 1730 LT

Type of aircraft:

Bristol 142 Blenheim

Operator:

Registration:

Z7362

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

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Schedule:

Oulton - Oulton

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The airplane departed RAF Oulton at 1600LT on an operation to Rotterdam. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed at Kruisstraat. All three crew members were rescued and became PoW.
Crew:
S/L Eric Sydney-Smith, pilot,
P/O Richard Adrian White, observer,
F/Sgt Edmund George Caban, wireless operator.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IV in Rotterdam: 3 killed

Date & Time: Jul 16, 1941 at 1700 LT

Type of aircraft:

Bristol 142 Blenheim

Operator:

Registration:

V6267

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Bombing

Survivors:

Site:

City

Schedule:

Norwich - Norwich

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The airplane departed RAF Horsham St Faith at 1517LT on an operation to Rotterdam. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in the Noordsingel. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
W/Cdr Thomas Noel Partridge, pilot,
Sgt George Arthur Dvorjetz, observer,
F/Sgt John Oscar Noel Smith, wireless operator.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Junkers JU.88A-2 near Rotterdam: 2 killed

Date & Time: May 10, 1940

Type of aircraft:

Junkers JU.88

Operator:

Registration:

4D+?L

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Oldenburg - Oldenburg

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The aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a Dutch fighter and crashed near Rotterdam. Two crew members were killed and two others were injured.
Crew:
Uffz H. Hobik, pilot,
Uffz S. Schreiber, observer, †
Ogfr F. Baumgarten, radio operator,
Gfr E. Schröder, air gunner. †

Probable cause:

Shot down by a Dutch fighter.

Crash of a Junkers JU.88 in Rotterdam

Date & Time: May 10, 1940

Type of aircraft:

Junkers JU.88

Operator:

Registration:

4D+?H

Flight Phase:

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Circumstances:

The aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances in Rotterdam. All four crew members were injured.

Crash of a Waco UIC in Mont-l’Évêque: 4 killed

Date & Time: Jan 19, 1937 at 1445 LT

Type of aircraft:

Waco UIC

Operator:

M. A. G. van der Leeuw

Registration:

PH-MAG

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Private

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Paris – Rotterdam

MSN:

3790

YOM:

1933

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The single engine airplane departed Paris-Le Bourget Airport at 1415LT on a flight to Rotterdam with two passengers and two crew members on board. Thirty minutes into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 300 metres, the aircraft rolled to the left, entered a dive and crashed in a swampy area located in Mont-l'Evêque, east of Senlis. All four occupants were killed. The crew was repatriating the aircraft to The Netherlands as his owner, Mr. M. A. G. van der Leeuw, died in another Waco crash near Rotterdam 3 December 1936.
Crew:
Joachim Tissot, pilot,
Albertus Sommer, pilot.
Passengers:
Adriamis Hoertens,
Jacob Maltha.

Probable cause:

The accident is attributable to an in-flight breakup of the left airframe following, it seems, a resource following either a spin or a spiral and nose-down descent. The pilot who, at a given moment was in the clouds, would thus have, for a cause that the commission could not specify, lost the control of the plane. The aircraft would then have entered a spin or a steep dive and the pilot would have pulled it up sharply in sight of the ground, coming out of the clouds. It should be noted that the maximum load of 1'540 kilos indicated on the certificate of airworthiness was largely reached and that the speed of the aircraft must, at the time it was righted, have been very close to the speed limit of 300 km/h and that it could not, under these conditions, resist the acceleration due to a brutal resource.

Crash of a Waco CUC-1 in Rotterdam: 1 killed

Date & Time: Dec 3, 1936 at 1635 LT

Type of aircraft:

Waco CUC

Operator:

M. A. G. van der Leeuw

Registration:

PH-VDL

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Private

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

MSN:

4304

YOM:

1935

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Circumstances:

The pilot was flying from England to Ypenburg, near The Hague. While approaching The Netherlands, he was informed about the poor weather conditions at destination so he decided to divert to Rotterdam-Waalhaven Airport. On approach, weather was poor so he decided to make a go around. On the second attempt, he decided to abandon again the descent and started a second go around. While climbing, the single engine aircraft adopted a high angle of attack then rolled to the left, stalled and crashed in an open field located near the airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and the pilot was killed.

Probable cause:

The aircraft was completely destroyed in the accident, which severely hampered investigations. However, investigators were able to establish that the accident was caused by a pilot error.

Ground accident of a Fokker F7b/3m in Haamstede

Date & Time: Jul 15, 1936 at 1500 LT

Type of aircraft:

Fokker F7

Operator:

Registration:

PH-AEZ

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Haamstede - Rotterdam

MSN:

5122

YOM:

1929

Location:

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Circumstances:

As the weather conditions were deteriorating, the board of the Dutch National Company KLM decided to move the aircraft that was parked in Haamstede to a safe place in Rotterdam, and asked three technicians to do so. While taxiing, the aircraft was caught by strong winds, went out of control and came to rest upside down. All three occupants were uninjured and the aircraft named 'Zwaluw' was damaged beyond repair.

Probable cause:

Caught by strong winds while taxiing.

Crash of a Fokker F9 in Rotterdam

Date & Time: Aug 4, 1931 at 1210 LT

Type of aircraft:

Fokker F9

Operator:

Registration:

PH-AFK

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

London – Rotterdam – Amsterdam

MSN:

5241

YOM:

1930

Location:

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Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Rotterdam-Waalhaven Airport, bound for Amsterdam-Schiphol, the crew encountered technical problems with the engine n°1. The captain decided to return to the airport when the engine n°3 lost power. On final approach, at a speed of 100 km/h, the airplane lost height and impacted a 7 metres high light pole, causing the left wing to be partially torn off. The airplane stalled and crashed on a railway line. All 13 passengers evacuated safely while both crew members were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Probable cause:

The exact cause of the n°1 engine failure could not be determined but investigators did not exclude the possibility that it was the consequence of a technical issue with the fuel system.

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