1935 San Giacomo Douglas DC-2 crash

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 Milan, 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. 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. The aircraft was crushed from front to back with only the tailpiece still intact, and the bottom part was heavily damaged. The bodies were transported by truck to San Giacomo and laid down in coffins at the local Catholic church. ==The aircraft==

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. ==Victims==

The four crew members and nine passengers on board died in the crash. Crew • Johannes Simon Wilhelm Van der Feijst (born 17 October 1904 in Scheveningen) was the first pilot of the airplane. He started working at KLM on 1 May 1932 and had made 3,200 flying hours. He made ten return flights to the Dutch East Indies as co-pilot and many European flights as captain. He was an experienced pilot who had flown this Amsterdam-Milan route several times. Van der Feijst was married, had 2 children and lived in Heemstede. • Rudolf Aafjes (born on 19 April 1907 in Bussum) was the radio operator. He started working at KLM on 22 October 1934. He was married, had no children and lived in in Haarlemmermeer. • Flight attendant Hermanides was buried in Noordwijk. • Gerard Jacques Philips and his wife Virginia Philips-Hurtubis were buried in a family grave in Zaltbommel. • Sybe Hoogstra was buried at the cemetery in Dordrecht. ==Reactions==

Many people expressed their condolences including Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands via a telegram, and the government of Ticino. KLM considered stopping flying over the Alps, and avoiding flying in bad weather. Aircraft critics questioned why the plane flew between the mountains and not above them. The official enquiry concluded that the pilot's actions were not at fault. ==Black week and consequences==

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. 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. ==Notebook of Jos van Langen ==

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. On five pages he wrote initially very clearly and in full sentences, but the notes became shorter and scribbled shortly before the accident. The relatives of Van Langen gave the notebook to De Tijd newspaper; it was published in August 1935. The notebook is property of the Persmuseum in Amsterdam, and is stated to be one of their main items. 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 then 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. ==Investigation==

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. ==References==