Prague – Amsterdam

On April 20, 1936 at 08:10 PM, Prague – Amsterdam experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-2, operated by Ceskoslovenska Letecka Spolecnost - CLS, with the event recorded near Zwolle Overijssel.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

12 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 12 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 9, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. This was the inaugural flight from Prague to Amsterdam for the Czech Company CLS. On approach to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, the captain was unable to locate the airfield due to low visibility caused by night and a cloudy sky (clouds down to 50 meters and visibility established to 2-4 km). He decided to turn over the region between Lelystad and Zwolle when few minutes later, the radio communications were lost because the accumulator failed. With no radio contact, unable to locate his real position and with low fuel reserve, the captain eventually decided to attempt an emergency landing in a wheat field located in Doornspijk, near Elburg. On ground, the aircraft rolled several yards, lost its right engine, hit the ground with its nose and came to rest severely damaged. The pilot and the radio operator were injured while all ten other occupants were unhurt. The aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration OK-AIA, MSN 1581, year of manufacture 1936.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 52.5090°, 6.0944°.