3.27.2021

FSX CLS 747-200 repaint: KLM 747-200B PH-BUF "Rijn/The Rhine" (KLM Flight 4805)

 




Repaint of PH-BUF "Rijn/The Rhine" in its condition during the Tenerife Airport Disaster on March 27, 1977 for the payware CLS 747 HD. This was tested in FSX, but it should work for Prepar3D v1-3 (and v4-5 ports of this add-on).

The aircraft depicted in this repaint, PH-BUF, was the 6th 747 delivered to KLM and one. It first flew in September 14, 1971 and was delivered to the airline on October 19 that same year. As part of the naming scheme for KLM's early JT9D-powered 747-200s, PH-BUF was christened "Rijn," which was the Dutch name for the Rhine River.

On March 27, 1977, PH-BUF was operating KLM Flight 4805, a charter flight from Amsterdam to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. A terrorist bombing in Grand Canaria Airport forced the aircraft and all other incoming flights to divert to Los Rodeos Airport (now Tenerife North) in Tenerife. By the time they were cleared to return to Grand Canaria, fog started rolling in as Flight 4805 taxied through the runway for takeoff, reducing visibility for both the pilots and ATC. Concerned with crew service times, the captain of the flight, Jacob Veldhuyzen Van Zanten, took off without clearance from the tower controller. Unknown to the crew, a Pan Am 747-100 operating as Flight 1736 was taxiing on the active and about to turn off onto the taxiway as they began their takeoff roll. Despite all evasive maneuvers attempted by the crew of both aircraft, PH-BUF smashed into the upper right side of the Pan Am 747 and crashed at the end of the runway. All 248 people on board KLM 4805 perished, while only 61 out of 396 occupants on Pan Am 1736 survived, making this the deadliest aviation disaster with a total of 583 fatalities.