Date & Time: Jun 23, 1949 at 1055 LT
Type of aircraft:
Lockheed L-749 Constellation
Operator:
Registration:
PH-TER
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Jakarta – Port-Louis – Cairo – Amsterdam
MSN:
2541
YOM:
1947
Location:
Bari
Apulia
Country:
Italy
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
11
Crew fatalities:
11
Pax on board:
22
Pax fatalities:
22
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
33
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft christened 'Roermond' left Cairo Airport at 0508LT bound for Amsterdam with an ETA at 1445LT. While cruising along the east Italian coast at an altitude of 5,000 meters, the airplane went out of control and entered into a dive. During the near vertical descent, the tail broke off, the aircraft came upside down and eventually crashed into the Adriatic Sea, some 1,5 to 2 km off shore, near Bari. The wreckage sank by 35 meters deep and only few debris were found. All 33 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Johan Cornelis (Hans) Plesman, pilot (son of Albert Plesman, Director of KLM),
Jacobus Tuyt, pilot,
Jan van Kuyk, pilot,
Albert George Modard, pilot,
Leendert Post, radio operator,
Jacques Marinus Willem Hout, radio operator,
Dirk Martinus Grandia, flight engineer,
Johan Albert van der Meer, flight engineer,
Pieter Jelles Overbeek, steward,
Cornelia Antoinette Timmermans, stewardess,
Jan Hendrik Ross, cooker.
Probable cause:
As only few debris were found, investigations were unable to determine the exact cause of the accident. Nevertheless, it was the opinion of the experts that the loss of control may have been caused by a failure of the automatic pilot system.