Date:	Friday 10 October 1947
Time:	20:25 UTC
Type:	de Havilland DH-89 Dragon Rapide
Owner/operator:	Air Charter Ltd
Registration:	G-AFHY
MSN:	6417
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Minor
Category:	Accident
Location:	Pijnacker, near Rotterdam, South Holland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey (EGCR)
Destination airport:	Evere Airfield (Haren Airport), Evere, Brussels, Belgium
Investigating agency:	RvdL
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
c/no. 6417: Registered as G-AFHY [C of R 8546/1] 1.7.38 to The Anglo-Iranian Oil Co Ltd, Abadan, Persia (Gipsy Six engines #6883/6885). C of A 6387 issued 1.9.38; delivered 10.10.38-19.10.38. Registration cancelled and re-registered (C of R 8546/2) 23.9.46 to Aircraft & Engineering Services Ltd, Old Coulsdon, Surrey (based at Croydon Airport). Registration cancelled 9.1.47 and re-registered (C of R 8546/3) on 28.3.47 to Air Charter Ltd, London W1 (based Croydon). Damaged at Croydon Airport, Croydon, Surrey 22.4.47; repaired and returned to service.

Damaged in forced landing on highway near Pijnacker, Rotterdam 10.10.47. According to a rough translation from Dutch into English of a contemporary accident report (see link #4 for the original Dutch text)

"10 October 1947,
G-AFHY
de Havilland D.H.89A Dragon Rapide
6417, Pijnacker

The intention was to fly from Croydon to Evere near Brussels, with an expected arrival time of 18:50 GMT. When the aircraft was passing Dunkirk on the French coast, radio communication became very poor—so poor that the pilot could no longer establish his position or accurately determine his course. The pilot continued flying using the compass but was unable to adjust for wind drift. Convinced he had long passed Evere, he changed course northwards, then westwards, aiming to reach the coast and perform an emergency landing if needed.

Visibility was good. After about three hours of flying, they passed over a reasonably large town intersected by a canal, presumably Tilburg. At 20:25, they circled above a large (port) city. As the fuel supply was critically low, the pilot signaled SOS with the aircraft’s lights.

Suddenly, he saw a major road below. Without hesitation, he landed the plane there, utilizing a brief lull in traffic. He landed behind a car passing below him, overtook it, briefly lifted the aircraft to clear the car, and landed again ahead of it.

The only damage was a small dent in the right lower wing, caused by a collision with a small tree. The five passengers continued their journey to Brussels immediately, and the plane took off from the road the next morning, heading to Rotterdam".

Another contemporary report (again, translated from Dutch into English) confirms that there were eight persons on board (pilot plus seven passegners):

"Friday evening, 11 October 1947, at half past nine, an English aircraft made a successful emergency landing on the busy traffic route between The Hague and Rotterdam. The aircraft landed about 5 kilometers south of Delft, in the Pijnacker area. The emergency landing was completely successful, despite the darkness.

The landing, carried out by the English pilot on the highway, was a rare feat of courage and confidence, which was rewarded with complete success. Not only did all passengers—two Englishmen and five Belgians—escape unscathed, but the plane itself landed without any damage.

Moreover, none of the dozens of cars that were on that section of the highway at that time were hit. A slight twist of fate could have resulted in a terrible disaster as the aircraft descended onto one of our busiest roads".

According to a contemporary newspaper story ("de Leeuwarder Courant" 11.10.1947 - see link #6) when G-AFHY landed, there was less than 30 litres of fuel left in the aircraft's tanks. The incident occurred at 20:25 UTC (or 21:25 local time).

Pijnacker is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is bordered by Zoetermeer to the north, by Nootdorp to the northwest, by Delfgauw to the southwest, by Rotterdam (specifically Overschie) to the south and by Berkel en Rodenrijs to the east.

Probably repaired late 1947-early 1948, as C of A renewed 23.2.49. Registration G-AFHY cancelled 9.6.50 as 'sold abroad'. Believed sold to Cie Belge de Transport but no Belgian registration known. According to one source (see link #8) G-AFHY was not re-registered, as it had been acquired by Cie Belge de Transport for use as a source of spares. As such it was broken up for spares at Brussels on or after 9.6.50.

1. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2023/03/22/bijlage-3-inventaris-van-de-archieven-rvdl-en-bvoi-2-16-107
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File BT217/2014: "Accident to DH 89 Rapide aircraft G-AFHY; near Rotterdam, Holland: report by Netherlands authorities" at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C576168
3. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh89.pdf
4. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AFHY.pdf
5. https://www.hdekker.info/Nieuwe%20map/1947.htm#10.10.1947
6. de Leeuwarder Courant 11.10.1947.
7. Facebook (photo of incident): https://www.facebook.com/groups/189130371452047/posts/2211137725917958/
8. A Fleeting Peace: https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-gb-registers-g-af/g-af-part-1?highlight=WyJnLWFmaHkiXQ==
9. Accident at Croydon 22.4.47: https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=20043.0
10. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-AFHY.html
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haren_Airport
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pijnacker
.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
30-Aug-2024 17:19	ASN	Added
08-Mar-2025 19:54	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, ]
08-Mar-2025 19:56	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total occupants, Source, Narrative, ]