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• Email sent to you Peter!

  By johnobrien (19/02/2024)

• I sent John O’Brien an email today (17-2) I hope he has arrived.
  Greetings Peter Kuijpers

  By Peter (17/02/2024)

• Hi Peter,
  Members of our group will be very happy to meet you when you visit Shannon and we will arrange for you to meet some people who have done particular studies on air crashes associated with the airport during the early years.
  I have emailed you separately.
  John O’Brien

  By johnobrien (08/02/2024)

• Hello
  My name is Peter Kuijpers and Dutch. I work in my spare time for a local newspaper for which I write articles. On 14 August 1958, KLM flight 607-E a Lockheed Constellation with registration number PH-LKM, known as Hugo de Groot crashed not long after take-off into the Atlantic Ocean 180 kilometres west of Shannon in Ireland. All 99 occupants were killed. Two of those passengers were my cousin Piet and his pregnant wife Erica who were on their way to New York. Their bodies were identified and later buried in my home town of Veghel. I myself was 12 at the time and was staying at a boarding school in the south of the Netherlands those days. Did not get much of the funeral and events for that reason.
  Heartfelt wish
  It has always gnawed at me. Two years ago, my wife and I took a coach tour of Ireland. I had never been there before and fell madly in love with the country. We passed very close to Shannon but considering we were with a travelling party, we couldn’t stop. I would have loved to visit the airport but unfortunately that was not possible. I want to do a story on that in consultation with my newspaper. Also want to come to Shannon for that to complete my story.
  My questions:
  Can I still speak to anyone at the airport?
  Can I still see the runway where the Constellation took off
  Are there any veterans still alive who worked at the airfield at the time in 1958
  Is there a museum where there are still mementos of it.
  Maybe you have a referral for me?
  Kind regards
  Peter Kuijpers
  Veghel Netherlands

  By peter Kuijpers (07/02/2024)