KLM Flight 633

KLM Flight 633
	A KLM L-1049 similar to the one involved in the crash.
Accident
Date	September 5, 1954
Summary	Mechanical failure
Site	Shannon, Ireland
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-1049C-55-81 Super Constellation
Aircraft name	Triton
Operator	KLM
Registration	PH-LKY
Flight origin	Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam
Stopover	Shannon, Ireland
Destination	Idlewild Airport, New York City
Passengers	46
Crew	10
Fatalities	28
Injuries	20
Survivors	28

KLM Flight 633 was a passenger flight from Amsterdam to New York City. On 5 September 1954, immediately after takeoff from Shannon Airport, the Super Constellation Triton ditched on a mudbank in the River Shannon. 28 people were killed in the accident. It was caused by an unexpected re-extension of the landing gear, possibly compounded by pilot error.

Triton disaster

The Lockheed Super Constellation Triton (registration PH-LKY^[1]) was piloted by Adriaan Viruly [nl], one of the airline's most senior pilots. After a refuelling stop at Shannon, the plane took off for the transatlantic leg of the flight at about 02:40.^[2] There were 46 passengers and ten crew on board. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reduced power from maximum to METO (Maximum Except Take Off). The pilot was unaware that the landing gear was not retracted, and as result the aircraft descended to touch down in the Shannon estuary. It turned around on impact and broke into two sections.

The aircraft was partially submerged, and at least one of the fuel tanks had ruptured during the crash. The fuel fumes rendered many passengers and crew unconscious, who then drowned in the rising tide.^[2] In the end, three crew-members and 25 passengers perished.

Even though the crash occurred less than one minute after the plane took off from Shannon Airport, airport authorities remained unaware of the disaster until the mud-caked third pilot (navigator) of the craft, Johan Tieman, stumbled into the airport and reported, "We've crashed!" That was 2+1⁄2 hours after the plane fell.^[3] Mr. Tieman had swum ashore and floundered painfully across the marshes to the airport, whose lights were clearly visible from the scene of the crash. It was not until 7 o'clock in the morning - 4+1⁄2 hours after the crash - that the first launch reached the survivors, who were huddled on a muddy flat in the river.

Cause of the accident

The official investigation concluded that the accident was caused by an unexpected re-extension of the landing gear and the captain's incorrect behaviour in this situation. Viruly, who had been only one year from retirement, rejected the responsibility for the crash and was bitter about his subsequent treatment by KLM. In an interview he later stated that there simply had not been enough time to react.

References

^ "Civil aircraft register (PH-LKY)". Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport.
^ ^a ^b "25 dödsoffer vid flygkatastrof" [Death toll 25 at air disaster]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Vol. 1954-09-06. Sep 6, 1954. pp. 3, 7. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
^ "25 satt fastspända inne i katastrofplanet" [25 belted inside plane wreck]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Sep 6, 1954. p. 4. Retrieved May 27, 2020.

External links

[1] "Civil aircraft register (PH-LKY)". Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport.

[SvD-2] "25 dödsoffer vid flygkatastrof" [Death toll 25 at air disaster]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Vol. 1954-09-06. Sep 6, 1954. pp. 3, 7. Retrieved May 27, 2020.

[AB-3] "25 satt fastspända inne i katastrofplanet" [25 belted inside plane wreck]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Sep 6, 1954. p. 4. Retrieved May 27, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Lockheed Constellation family
Model numbers	L-049 L-051 L-084 L-104 L-139 L-149 L-249 L-349 L-449 L-549 L-649 L-749 L-849 L-949 L-1049 A B/F L-1149 L-1249 L-1449 L-1549 L-1649
Names	Constellation (I) Constellation (II) Constellation (III) Speedfreighter Starliner Super Constellation (I) Super Constellation (II)
Military designations	B-30 C-69 C-121 F EC-121 PO R7O/R7V -2 WV W2V
Accidents and incidents	TWA Flight 513 (1946) TWA Flight 6963 (1946) Pan Am Flight 121 (1947) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948) Air France Flight 009 (1949) TWA Flight 903 (1950) Air India Flight 245 (1950) Pan Am Flight 151 (1951) Air France Flight 152 (1953) Air France Flight 178 (1953) KLM Flight 633 (1954) Air India Flight 300 (1955) El Al Flight 402 (1955) LAV Flight 253 (June 1956) TWA Flight 2 (1956) LAV Flight 253 (November 1956) KLM Flight 844 (1957) KLM Flight 607-E (1958) Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959) TWA Flight 891 (1959) Avianca Flight 671 (1960) Air France Flight 343 (1960) TWA Flight 266 (1960) Air France Flight 406 (1961) TWA Flight 529 (1961) IA Flight 201/8 (1961) FTL Flight 739 (1962) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964) EAL Flight 853 (1965) LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
Notable aircraft	Avion Pirata Columbine II Kashmir Princess
Topics	Operators Variants

v t e KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Alliance	SkyTeam
Parent company	Air France-KLM
Subsidiaries	Cygnific KLM Cityhopper Martinair Transavia France
Destinations	KLM Transavia France
Accidents and incidents	1924 KLM Fokker F.III disappearance 1925 KLM Fokker F.III Forêt de Mormal crash 1927 KLM Fokker F.VIII crash 1928 KLM Fokker F.III Waalhaven crash 1934 KLM Douglas DC-2 crash 1935 Amsterdam Fokker F.XXII crash 1935 KLM Bushehr incident 1935 San Giacomo Douglas DC-2 crash 1936 KLM Croydon accident 1946 Amsterdam KLM Douglas C-47 crash 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 Copenhagen disaster 1948 KLM Constellation air disaster KLM Flight 592 KLM Flight 607-E KLM Flight 608 KLM Flight 633 KLM Flight 844 KLM Flight 823 KLM Flight 861 KLM Flight 4805 KLM Flight 867 KLM Cityhopper Flight 433
People	Albert Plesman Anthony Fokker Peter Hartman Camiel Eurlings Pieter Elbers
Related	Air France-KLM‎ Air France Delta Air Lines KLM Open List of KLM Delft Blue houses
Defunct	Air Antwerp‎ KLM uk

v t e Airliner accidents and incidents involving ditching
1950s	Pan Am Flight 526A (April 1952) Swissair Convair CV-240 crash (June 1954) KLM Flight 633 (September 1954) Pan Am Flight 845/26 (March 1955) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 (April 1956) Pan Am Flight 6 (October 1956)
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 366 (August 1963) Japan Airlines Flight 2 (November 1968)
1970s	ALM Flight 980 (May 1970)
1990s	Faucett Perú Boeing 727 disappearance (September 1990) Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (November 1996)
2000s	Marsa Brega Short 360 crash (January 2000) Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 (May 2000) Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 (January 2002) Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 (November 2002) Tuninter Flight 1153 (August 2005) US Airways Flight 1549 (January 2009)
2010s	Angara Airlines Flight 9007 (July 2011)
2020s	Transair Flight 810 (July 2021)

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Ireland
1940s	TWA Flight 6963 (December 1946) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (April 1948)
1950s	KLM Flight 633 (September 1954) KLM Flight 607-E (August 1958)* Pan Am Clipper Panama (June 1959)
1960s	Alitalia Flight 618 (February 1960) President Airlines Douglas DC-6 (September 1961) Aer Lingus Flight 712 (March 1968)
1970s	British Army Gazelle downing (February 1978)# American Airlines Flight 293 (June 1979)
1980s	Air India Flight 182 (June 1985)* template British Army Lynx shootdown (June 1988)#
1990s	British Army Gazelle shootdown (February 1990)# British Army Lynx shootdown (March 1994)# Irish Marine Emergency Service Rescue 111 (July 1999)
2010s	Manx2 Flight 7100 (February 2011) Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 (March 2017)
Accidents with the pound sign (#) occurred in Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom, while others occurred in the Republic of Ireland. Accidents with asteriks (*) occurred in the ocean near Ireland