Amsterdam – Prestwick – Gander – New York

On October 20, 1948 at 11:32 PM, Amsterdam – Prestwick – Gander – New York experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-049 Constellation, operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, with the event recorded near Prestwick Ayrshire.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

40 people were known to be on board, 40 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 10, crew fatalities: 10, passengers on board: 30, passenger fatalities: 30, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The descent to Prestwick Airport was completed by night. On final approach to runway 32, the captain encountered strong winds and decided to start a go around and to follow a holding pattern. He later obtained the permission to start an approach to runway 26. On final, the four engine aircraft christened 'Nijmegen' went into few patches of fog when the pilot said on the frequency: 'we hit something, try to get height'. Shortly later, the aircraft crashed in flames in a field located 5 km short of the runway threshold. A passenger was seriously injured while 39 other occupants were killed. The only survivor died from his injuries few hours later.

Aircraft reference details include registration PH-TEN, MSN 2083, year of manufacture 1947.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 55.4983°, -4.6113°.