KLM Flight 633 was a passenger flight from

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. On 5 September 1954, immediately after takeoff from

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport ( ga, Aerfort na Sionainne) is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest ai ...

, the Super Constellation Triton ditched on a mudbank in the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Sha ...

. 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 The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...

''Triton'' (

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) was piloted by Adriaan Viruly, 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. 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 A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled ...

had ruptured during the crash. The fuel fumes rendered many passengers and crew unconscious, who then drowned in the rising tide. In the end, three crew-members (all the cabin crew) 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 2½ hours after the plane fell. 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 - 4½ 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

External links

*
Dutch site dedicated to the crash

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klm Flight 633 1954 in Ireland Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed Constellation Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure Aviation accidents and incidents in 1954 Aviation accidents and incidents in Ireland 633 Airliner accidents and incidents involving ditching