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1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash

26 Jan 1947 · Kastrup, Denmark

Douglas DC-3 · Failure to properly prepare aircraft for flight

From Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) to Stockholm-Bromma Airport (BMA)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
22 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
22
Survivors
0
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Douglas DC-3

Aircraft type
Douglas DC-3
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
PH-TCR
Operator
KLM
Onboard fatalities
22
Route
From Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)To Stockholm-Bromma Airport (BMA)

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

The 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash refers to the crash of a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Stockholm via Copenhagen on 26 January. It occurred shortly after the Douglas DC-3 took off from Kastrup Airport in Denmark. All 16 passengers and 6 crew members on board were killed.

Among those killed in the crash were Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (at the time of his death, second in line to the Swedish throne), U.S. opera singer Grace Moore, and Danish actress Gerda Neumann. Prince Gustaf Adolf was the father of the present king of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf. Moore's body was first flown to Paris on another KLM aircraft, and then to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she was buried in the Forest Hills Cemetery, during a ceremony attended by around eight thousand people.

The probable cause of the crash was determined to be failure to remove the gust locks that had secured the aircraft's elevators while it was parked. It is still the worst aviation disaster in Denmark.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash” (revision 1363271014, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: 1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash
Article
1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash
Revision
1363271014 · 2026-07-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q1164685
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "1947 KLM Douglas DC-3 crash" (page 41857710, revision 1363271014)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
operator is an airline according to Wikidata
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.