Narrative:The DC-2, named "Gaai" operated on a passenger service from Milan, Italy to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The aircraft took off at 11:36 hours, bound for Frankfurt, Germany, which was the next planned stop.
Cruising at 5000 m altitude, ice accretion forced the crew to descend. At 3000 m the flight was out of icing conditions. However the aircraft was now flying between clouds shrouded mountains. Attempting to navigate visually, the flight continued at low altitude. Likely the crew entered the wrong mountain pass. They circled a valley, looking for a way out but low clouds and rain made it very difficult to continue flight.
The captain likely decided to perform a gear-up forced landing in the valley. Flaps were selected down and engine power was decreased. In a left hand turn the aircraft stalled and impacted the ground.
The four crew members and the nine passengers died.
Classification:
VFR flight in IMC
Gear-up landing
Forced landing outside airport
Sources:
»
Opsomming van de bekende ongevallen en incidenten in 1935 / Herman Dekker»
aviacrash.nl
Photos
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
accident date:
20-07-1935type: Douglas DC-2-115E
registration: PH-AKG
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.