| 1935 San Giacomo Douglas DC-2 crash | |
| Date: | 20 July 1935 |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Site: | Pian San Giacomo, Switzerland |
| Origin: | Milano, Italy |
| Destination: | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Stopover: | Frankfurt, Germany |
| Fatalities: | 13 |
| Aircraft Type: | Douglas DC-2 |
| Aircraft Name: | Gaai |
| Operator: | KLM |
| Tail Number: | PH-AKG |
| Passengers: | 9 |
| Crew: | 4 |
| Survivors: | 0 |
On 20 July 1935 a Douglas DC-2 aircraft, registration PH-AKG, operated by KLM, flying from Milano, Italy to Schiphol, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands crashed at Pian San Giacomo, Switzerland, killing all thirteen people on board, in the deadliest KLM accident at that time. It was the company's third international passenger flight accident in one week, which became known as the "black week". This left KLM short of crew and airplanes, and routes were given up; the Amsterdam—Milan route was taken over by Deutsche Lufthansa.
The Douglas DC-2 PH-AKG (named: "Gaai") operated by KLM departed on 20 July 1935 at 11:56am local time for a scheduled international flight from Milano, Italy to Frankfurt, Germany. On board were thirteen people: 9 passengers and 4 crew members.
Flying over Switzerland, the aircraft flew over the pass at San Bernardino from the Moësa valley and would leave it via the northern pass. While flying over the pass, the plane encountered severe weather with heavy thunderstorms, torrential rain and drop in temperature.[1] The pilot decided to fly at a lower altitude. Due to clouds, the pilot was not able to exit the valley via the north exit. The pilot turned and attempted to exit the valley via the southern exit, but this also failed. While flying above San Bernardino they reported over the radio "I'm flying blind and looking for my position"; and later "we have to deal with heavy rain and dense fog". The plane flew in circles in the valley to find an exit for over 20 minutes and the pilot descended further to gain visibility. The pilot decided to make an emergency landing on hilly terrain just outside San Giacomo at 12:30. The landing failed and the plane broke in half.[2] The aircraft was crushed from front to back with only the tailpiece still intact, and the bottom part was heavily damaged.
A Red Cross team from Bellinzona arrived shortly after the accident. Soldiers and Swiss border guards from Bellinzona cordoned off the area, and the wreck remained guarded.
All passengers and crew members were killed in the crash, many mutilated beyond recognition. One flight attendant was not killed immediately, but died shortly after.[3] The bodies were transported by truck to San Giacomo and laid down in coffins at the local Catholic church.
The American-built Douglas DC-2 PH-AKG, named "Gaai", was delivered by Douglas to KLM on 22 March 1935 and flew to New York on this date. From there the airplane was dismantled and shipped by SS "Bremen" to Cherbourg where it arrived on 5 April and arrived three days later in Rotterdam on 8 April. On 30 March 1935, the aircraft was registered in the Dutch civil aviation register. PH-AKG was the first of a series of 14 DC-2s delivered to KLM in 1935.[4]
The four crew members and nine passengers on board died in the crash.
All Dutch victims were buried in the Netherlands on 26 July 1935. The other victims were buried in their home countries.
Many people expressed their condolences including Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands via a telegram,[7] and the government of Ticino.[8]
KLM considered stopping flying over the Alps, and avoiding flying in bad weather. Switzerland also discussed stricter safety measures when flying over the Alps.[9]
Aircraft critics questioned why the plane flew between the mountains and not above them. Also, because the pilot had flown the route already ten times, and knew it was important to fly at a high altitude over the Alps. Aviation "Het Vliegveld" published a review article with comments made in journals worldwide about the accident of the Gaai. It stated among others that the United States uses many of these Douglas airplanes, but switches to other kind of airplanes in bad weather.[10] The official enquiry concluded that the pilot's actions were not at fault.
The disasters was at the time KLM's deadliest accident. The accident was the third major airplane accident in one week after the crash of the "Kwikstaart" in Amsterdam and the "Maraboe" in Bushir.[11] The week of 14 to 20 July 1935 is known as the "black week". In these three crashes KLM lost three airplanes and lost crew in two crashes. With an earlier crash in April of the "Leeuwerik" KLM had lost in 1935 around 15% of its pilots. As a result there was a shortage of crew members and airplanes. The Amsterdam—Milan flight service had to be taken over completely by Deutsche Lufthansa, with which KLM had previously operated these flights in collaboration.
In the wreck the notebook was found of Jos van Langen, foreign editor of the daily newspaper De Tijd. He had been taking notes until very shortly before the crash.[12] On five pages he wrote initially very clearly and in full sentences, but the notes became shorter and scribbled shortly before the accident.[13]
The relatives of Van Langen gave the notebook to De Tijd newspaper; it was published in August 1935.[14] The notebook is property of the Persmuseum in Amsterdam, and is stated to be one of their main items.[15] [16]
The course of the flight can almost be followed minute-by-minute. It starts with cloud cover above the airport. A regularly ascent through the rainy clouds up to 4500 metres where the blue sky becomes visible. At an altitude of almost 5000 metres there is dense cloud cover. The rain can be heard loudly. At that time it is 11:30am And is everything as normal. But than a boom is heard, not stated if it was thunder or a failure. The plane descends quickly. Only altimeters are noted. The quickly written numbers indicates an unusual event. At 3200 metres ”Snow” is written down, indicating ice formation. A further descent to 2400 meters just above the tree tops, so the plane flies (almost) below the clouds so that the ground can be seen. There is lightning and the last that is written down is 2100.
Van Langen's notes were found to contain important information, and were used in the investigation to answer why the plane flew between the mountains and not above them.
The investigation was done by the Dutch Government Study Service for Aviation (Rijksstudiedienst voor de Luchtvaart) and led by Dr. Ir. van der Maas and Ir. van der Heijden. Fifteen minutes after departure from Milan the plane was at an altitude of 1800 metres. Above the Alps the plane would have been, according to their calculations, at an altitude of around 4000 metres. Due to icing and bad weather, the plane had to descend when it flew over the Alps.
According to the final report the plane came to an altitude of 5000 m (in a thundercloud) in a hypothermic rain. As a result, very strong icing suddenly occurred. Due to the irregular detachment of ice from the propeller blades, strong vibrations of the aircraft occurred and the pilots were forced to turn down the engines. However, with turned down engines, the plane quickly lost altitude. The icing disappeared not above 3000 meters, and at that altitude the plane was surrounded by mountain tops, in very poor visibility due to the bad weather. With the skills of the pilot, he succeeded in obtaining ground visibility at an altitude of around 1600 meters and tried to find a way out of the San Giacomo valley. Presumably because the exit was completely shrouded in mist, the pilot saw no other option than to make an emergency landing. With the engines off, flaps extended and landing gear retracted, he made a belly landing on highly hilly terrain. However, in the left turn before landing, the plane lost too much speed, "tilted" forward and crashed to the ground, killing all occupants.
Partly due to this crash, in November 1935 icing was a main topic at the congress of the International Air Traffic Association.[17]