PK-AFM  Lockheed 14-F62   KNILM                                     (c/n  1411)

                                 

                                     In 1938 Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij (KNILM - Royal Dutch
                                     Indies Airways) ordered five Lockeed 14 Super Electras.  PK-AFM was the first.  They were
                                     used on flights from Batavia to various points, including Sydney.  It is seen above at Brisbane's
                                     Archerfield Aerodrome in this photo from the Barry Flood collection, possibly on the first sched-
                                     uled flight from Batavia.  Immediately after the rapid Japanese invasion in early 1942 they were
                                     used on evacuation flights from NEI to Australia.    PK-AFM was lost on  26 March 1942 when
                                     it departed Brisbane for Darwin.   Having refueled at Daly Waters it  failed to arrive at Batchelor,
                                     NT.   The crew became disoriented in the dark, since there was no beacon at Batchelor. A wheels
                                     up landing in the bush tore the wings off.        A RAAF search aircraft found it near Katherine NT.
                                     Food and water were despatched by the KNILM DC-3 PK-ALT.  The crew, all unharmed, were
                                     picked  up by truck two days later.
                                    



photo barry flood