Status:	Definitief
Datum:	14 AUG 1958
Type:	Lockheed L-1049H-01-06-162 Super Constellation
Luchtvaartmaatschappij:	KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Registratie:	PH-LKM
Constructienummer:	4841
Bouwjaar:	1958
Aantal vlieguren:	886
Bemanning:	slachtoffers: 8 / inzittenden: 8
Passagiers:	slachtoffers: 91 / inzittenden: 91
Totaal:	slachtoffers: 99 / inzittenden: 99
Schade:	Afgeschreven
Gevolgen:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Plaats:	180 km (112.5 mijl) W van Shannon, Ireland (Atlantische Oceaan)
Fase:	Kruisvlucht (ENR)
Soort vlucht:	Internationale lijnvlucht
Vliegveld van vertrek:	Shannon Airport (SNN/EINN), Ierland
Vliegveld van aankomst:	Gander Airport, NF (YQX/CYQX), Canada
Vluchtnummer:	607E

Beschrijving:
KLM Flight 607E departed Shannon at 03:05 GMT for a transatlantic flight to Gander. Last radio contact with the aircraft (named "Hugo de Groot") was at 03:40 GMT. Nothing more was heard from the flight. Pieces wreckage were found 110 miles NNW off the Irish coast.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "On the basis if the evidence available and the investigation of possible serious threats to safety, the Board cannot establish the cause of the accident with certainty. Moreover, investigation of the possibility that the cause of the accident may have been a bomb explosion has yielded no conclusive facts to support such a hypothesis. The statments in the press to this effect have either been based on misunderstandings or else were tendentious. On the other hand, the Board attributes a high degree of probablility to hypothesis that the cause of the accident is related to 'overspeeding' of one of the outboard propellers resulting from oil polution after a gear had been damaged when the supercharger of the corresponding engine was accelerated (shifted). This probably took place close to the time of the accident. The overspeeding of the propeller, owing to the obstruction of metal particles in the regulator valves may have been such as to cause the propeller pitch to decrease and the propeller could not be feathered. The condition might provoke a flight disturbance which could be corrected only by prompt and powerful handling of aileron and rudder controls. in view of the rapidity with which this defect develops and taking into account that recognition of the nature of this malfunction requires a certain time, it is not always possible for the crew to intervene early enough to restore conditions of controlled flight. With respect to the presumed cause of the accident the Board has no grounds to suppose that the occurrence of the presumed malfunction might be attributable to neglect on the part of maintenance personnel or to incorrect measures taken by the crew or that the crew had been at fault in piloting the aircraft after the malfunction had occurred."

Bronnen:
» ICAO Circular 64-AN/58 (23-30)
» Nederlandse Constallations / H.Dekker
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