Investigation Summary
The flight was the second leg of a scheduled service from Amsterdam to Stockholm. During the intermediate stop at Copenhagen, the aircraft was parked in moderate winds of approximately 40 km/h. To prevent wind damage to the control surfaces, a 19 year old ground technician, who had only been on the job for 19 days, installed wooden locking pins in the rudder and elevators. When the aircraft was prepared for departure, the technician removed the rudder lock but overlooked the elevator pins, which had been placed by another technician. The flight crew, led by Captain G. J. Geysendorffer, did not conduct a physical walk-around inspection of the exterior nor did they verify the freedom of movement of the flight controls during their pre-takeoff checks. As the aircraft accelerated and rotated, the elevators remained fixed in a position that forced the nose upward. The resulting aerodynamic stall was unrecoverable at the low altitude reached by the aircraft.
Final Conclusions
The investigation concluded the primary cause was the failure to remove the elevator locking pins prior to flight. Contributing factors included the lack of experience and incomplete instructions provided to the ground technician, and the failure of the flight crew to perform mandatory pre-flight inspections and control surface checks. The accident remains one of the most significant in Danish aviation history due to the high-profile nature of the victims.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
KLM Douglas DC-3 (PH-TCR) Crash Aftermath Footage | 26 January 1947 Copenhagen, Denmark — Historical footage and report on the 1947 KLM DC-3 crash at Kastrup Airport, featuring aftermath scenes and a summary of the investigation findings.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Systems & Failure Modes
Elevator Gust Locks
External wooden pins used to secure the elevators while the aircraft is parked to prevent wind from slamming the control surfaces against their stops.
Flight Controls
The mechanical linkage between the cockpit yoke and the tail surfaces; in this case, the elevators were physically immobilized by external hardware.
Interesting Facts
- 01The crash killed Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, who was second in line to the Swedish throne at the time.
- 02The ground technician responsible for the locks had only started his job on January 7, 1947.
- 03The aircraft was a Douglas C-47A converted to a DC-3C, manufactured in 1944.
- 04Wind speeds at the time of the accident were reported at 40 km/h from the northeast.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Pre-flight Inspection Rigor
The accident reinforced the critical necessity for pilots to conduct a physical walk-around and 'free and correct' control checks before every takeoff.