[1] The plane's disappearance was the first major accident for KLM, founded four years earlier, and is described in many historical overviews of the flag carrier airline.

[5] On 24 April 1924, the H-NABS departed at 10:43 from Croydon Airport with three people on board, the pilot Adriaan P.J.

The H-NABS was not equipped with radio communication, so H. Nieuwenhuis, who was in charge at Waalhaven, was alerted only after the plane failed to arrive on time.

[5] After the plane failed to arrive, KLM made extensive efforts to find the plane in the days after the disappearance,[5] enlisting all of the aviation centers along the Belgian coast, the north of France and the southeast coast of the United Kingdom via radio.

Several sandbanks had run dry due to low water, but the aircraft, or parts of it, were not found.

[5] The investigative committee stated, as the only possible explanation, that the pilot must have hit the water flying at full speed under the fog.

Having a radio communication system on board was made compulsory from 1 October 1924 after the International aviation conference.