1942 KNILM Douglas DC-3 shootdown

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1942 KNILM Douglas DC-3 shootdown

Wreckage of Pelikaan
Accident
Date	3 March 1942
Summary	Shootdown
Site	Carnot Bay, Western Australia 17°07′00″S 122°15′20″E / 17.11667°S 122.25556°E / -17.11667; 122.25556
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-3-194
Aircraft name	Pelikaan
Operator	KNILM
Registration	PK-AFV
Flight origin	Bandung, Java, Netherlands East Indies
Destination	Broome, Western Australia
Passengers	8
Crew	4
Fatalities	4
Survivors	8

On 3 March 1942, PK-AFV, a Douglas DC-3-194 airliner operated by KNILM, was shot down over Western Australia by Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service fighter aircraft, resulting in the deaths of four passengers and the loss of diamonds worth an estimated A£150,000–300,000 (the equivalent of A$9.5–19 million in 2010). It is believed that the diamonds were stolen after the crash, although no-one has ever been convicted of stealing them.^[1][2]

The PK-AFV Pelikaan was on a flight from Bandung, Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia), to Broome, Western Australia when it was attacked by Japanese aircraft that were carrying out an attack on Broome. PK-AFV crash-landed on a beach at Carnot Bay, 80 km (50 mi) north of Broome.

The Pelikaan was initially registered as PH-ALP and had been operated by KLM since 25 August 1937. It was based in the Netherlands. On 10 May 1940, while the Pelikaan was en route to Asia, Nazi forces invaded the Netherlands. PK-AFV was transferred to Royal Netherlands Indies Airways (KNILM) and re-registered as PK-AFV. The aircraft is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a C-47 Skytrain or Douglas Dakota, which were names given to the military variant of the DC-3.