25 Jan

Last Flight of Captain Maarten Verbeek @ KLM

Captain Maarten made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. After a career of about 33 years CUR was his final destination and retourflight to Amsterdam. This special flight was operated with First Officer Jorrit van Waalwijk van Doorn and Second Officer Mark Hollink as his ‘Wingmen’. KL733 heading to CUR with B777-200 reg PH-BQB and runway 36L for departure. Backflight KL734 got operated with the B777-200 reg PH-BQF and landing at runway 18R with position Echo24 Videostills…………

Continue Reading 0

12 Dec

Last Flight of Captain A330 Noël Nieuwlands @ KLM

Captain Noël Nieuwlands made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Together with First Officer Thijs Sijl as his ‘Wingman’ a final retourflight ot Washington. I operated the pushback ( push & pull ) from gate Echo 5. Once I reached Echo 5 with the pushbacktruck with callsign KJ , his son Bart told about the surprise of Bokito. KL651 heading to IAD Washington with A330-300 reg PH-AKA and a RWY18L departure. Happily I was able to film the takeoff as well from Echo-buffer Echo77. His final landing with the PH-AKE on RWY27 and final gate Echo2. Videostills………

Continue Reading 0

08 Nov

Last Flight of Captain Peter Boender @ KLM

Captain Peter Boender made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. A retirementflight after a phenomenal career of about 36 years. Started flying as First Officer the DC9 in 1984, thereafter FO B737//B747-400. In 1994 Peter became Captain starting at the Fokker 100. Thereafter Captain B767//B747//B777-200/300//B789-787-10. His last flight was a retourflight to Bogota-Cartagena and back Amsterdam. Flight KL741 ,with a RWY24 departure operated with a B787-9 reg PH-BHL. Peter’s final backflight KL749 got a nice RWY27 arrival , final gate Echo7 and operated with a B789 reg PH-BHM. The complete career will be showed below the video and […]

Continue Reading 0

13 Oct

Last Flight of Captain Tim ten Velde @ KLM

Captain Tim made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. As phenomenal 747 pilot Tim ended his career flying the Triple7. All KLM B747 Combi’s and Full Pax got phased out last year. Final destination Curacao and assisted by gooed friend and Captain Christophe Knaepen as ‘Wingman’ and operating as Co pilot this flight. I operated his last pushback at Schiphol Airport at gate Echo22 with pushbacktruck KI-Kilo India. A huge V8-16L machine. Flight KL735 , callsign KL125 , got a runway 09 departure and operated with the B777-300ER reg PH-BVK. Backflight KL736 got a lovely runway 27 landing, […]

Continue Reading 0

28 Sep

Last flight of Captain Jos de Pee @ KLM

Captain Jos made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Together with Captain Jaap Blijleven and First Officer Duco van der Werf as his ‘Wingmen’ , Jos’ final flight with SXM-CUR ( St Martin – Curacao ) as destination and back to Amsterdam. Flight KL789 departed to SXM-CUR on RWY24 and operated with the A330-200 reg PH-AOB. Backflight KL789 CUR-AMS got a RWY 18R landing and operated with the A330-300 reg PH-AKF. Videostills…………

Continue Reading 0

01 Sep

Last Flight of Cpt B747F Xander del Prado @ Martinair Cargo

Captain Xander del Prado made his last flight due to retirement at MartinairCargo. AMS-MIA-AMS. His last flight got operated with the B747-400ERF with reg PH-CKA Flight MP6141 with a one hour delay departed at RWY36L together with ‘Wingmen’ FO Sander de Kok and FO Jaap Schnitker. Back- and final flight MP7762 , callsign ‘DelPrado029’ , departed with a 24hr delay , and got a RWY06 arrival and supported by his ‘Wingman’ FO Charles Boom. On this flight as well…Martinair Captain Roelof van Dam and Captain André Kager.(non flying) I got appreciated by a phenomenal ‘Bokito Call’ at ATC as ‘Bokito […]

Continue Reading 0

28 Jun

Last Flight of Captain B747 Francois Luxembourg @ Martinair Cargo

Captain Francois made his last flight at Martinair Cargo due to his retirement. Flight MP6141 with an RWY36L departure and operated with the B747F reg PH-MPS. Final flight MP6162 got a RWY06 arrival and operated with the PH-CKA. Videostills……

Continue Reading 0

31 May

Last Flight of Captain Ron van Houten @ KLM

Captain Ron made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. A flight to Curacao togehter with First Officer Ben Fukur and Second Officer Pim de Wolf as his ‘Wingmen’ KL735 , callsign KLM129-Heavy, departed on runway 24 and was operated with the B777-300ER reg PH-BVP. His final landing was on runway 06 and docking at gate/VOP Echo22 , operated with the PH-BVI. Videostills………

Continue Reading 0

27 May

Last Flight of Captain Maarten Pledet @ KLM

Captain Maarten made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Flight KL771 heading to BON-AUA. Bonaire-Aruba and operated by the B777-200 reg PH-BQP. RWY 24 with a ‘Bergi-1-Siera’ departure………full wet runway and cloudbusting during climbout. Wingmen on this flight First Officer Jan Post and Second Officer Mark Hollink Videostills………

Continue Reading 0

14 May

Last Flight of Captain Kees van Til @ KLM

Captain Kees van Til made his last flight due to retirement at KLM and together with Captain Dimitri van der Vieren as ‘Wingman’. His final flight was a retourflight to Athene. Flight KL1581 departed after several runwaychanges on RWY 36 Center, Zwanenburgbaan. He would depart on RWY24 ,thereafter RWY09 ( and so was I positioned for the 09 takeoff) but got recleared finally. Flight KL1581, callsign KLM44Q , was operated with the B737-800 reg PH-BCL. Backflight KL1576 , callsign KLM 32E, got several runwaychanges for landing as well. RWY36R……………RWY18C………….and shortly befor turning homebase they got also diverted to RWY06 due […]

Continue Reading 0

17 Apr

Last Flight of Captain ‘MD11’ Han Smid @ KLM

Retirementflight of Captain Han Smid. Captain Han was chief at the mighty MD11 for 17 years. Co-pilot at this flight,and passed away couple of months later, RIP Jeroen Vissers. Flight KL671-672 heading to YUL – Montreal and back Amsterdam.

Continue Reading 0

17 Apr

Last Flight of Captain A330 Peter de Bruin @ KLM

Captain Peter de Bruin made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Flight KL789 heading to SXM and CUR,thereafter back Amsterdam. Flight KL789 got a pushback at VOP D47 operated by KLM Aircraft Towing Department and a RWY36C departure. Final landing was on RWY 06 and all operated with the Airbus A330-200 reg PH-AOB. This last flight was assisted by ‘Wingmen’ First Officers Jan Nap and Second Officer Paul van den Berk. Videostills……….

Continue Reading 0

15 Apr

Last Flight of Captain Bouke Rypma @ KLM

Cpt Bouke made his final flight due to retirement at KLM. Flight KL741 with special callsign ‘Bouke-01’ , from Cartagena heading to Amsterdam. CTG-AMS Captain Bouke got 3 ‘Wingmen’ with him to perform this remarkable flight. First Officers Onno Veltkamp & Bart Stopel and Second Officer Swayze Raj De Heij. And mentioning Cabin Attendant CA I Natalie Ritte. This flight got a landing on RWY06, Kaagbaan, and was operated with the B789 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD KL741// CTG-AMS, Cartagena-Amsterdam. Videostills…………

Continue Reading 0

10 Apr

Last Flight of First Officers Adrian Herbert @ KLM

First Officer Adrian Herbert made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Together with ‘Wingwoman’ Captain Lieve Vanhellemont and ‘Wingman’ SO Beau Dollé heading to CUR and back Amsterdam. Flight KL735 , callsign KL129, with a crosswind departure on runway 24 and operated with a B777-200 reg PH-BQC. Backflight KL736 was also with heavy wind conditions and so was Adrian operating his final landing with a nice crosswind at runway 18 Center. KL736 was operated with a B77-200 as well and reg PH-BQA Videostills…..KL129 Videostills KL736…

Continue Reading 0

06 Apr

Last Flight of Captain Peter de Kuiper @ KLM

Captain Peter de Kuiper made his last flight due to retirement at KLM Final destinations were Curacao and San Francisco, both operated with First Officer Dennis Jansen as his ‘Wingman’ . On this flight they got assisted by Second Officer Boy Tap. Captured the landing of KL736 , Curacao-Amsterdam, with a RWY 18 Center landing and operated with the B777-300ER reg PH-BVO Videostills……… His final and last flight was KL606 , San Francisco-Amsterdam, with standard callsign KL282 and final callsign ‘KLM-Peter-One’. This flight was operated with the B789 with reg PH-BHL and assisted by Second Officer Robert Schenderling. […]

Continue Reading 0

24 Feb

Last Flight of Captain Onnebert Bieringa @ Transavia

Captain Onnebert made his retirementflight to ALC-Alicante and back Amsterdam. Flight HV6143 ,callsign TRA-31-Golf with a RWY24 departure. Backflight HV6144, callsign TRA-44-Alpha got a visual approach on request at RWY 18 Center. Both flights with his friend Willem van Ingen as Wingman and operated with the B737-800 reg PH-HZW Videostills…………

Continue Reading 0

15 Feb

Last flight of Captain Theo van Keulen @ Transavia

Captain Theo made his retirementflight at Transavia and together with Captain Onnebert as his ‘Wingman’. His last flight was a retourflight to Alicante- ALC. Flight HV6143 with callsign Transavia-31-Golf , got a runway 18L departure. Backflight HV6144, callsign Transavia-44-Alpha, got runway 18 Center for landing. Captain Theo docked the aircraft for the very last time at gate C13. Both flights got operated with the B737-800 reg PH-HXG Videostills……….

Continue Reading 0

29 Nov

Last flight of Captain Robert Adriaens @ KLM

Captain Robert made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. His ‘Wingmen’ were F/O Gert Jan Blaauwendraat and S/O Frank Coumans. Final destination on this retourflight was JNB – Johanneburg. Pilots call this a ‘Joburg’. Flight KL509 , AMS-JNB , stand Echo75 and RWY18L. This was a ‘Cargoflight’ and operated with a B777-200 reg PH-BQN. Final and backflight KL592 got a RWY18R arrival,operated with a B777-300ER reg PH-BVS. When entering the Dutch airspace the callsign of KL592 changed to ‘Robert-One’ Videostills……………..

Continue Reading 0

28 Nov

Last flight of Captain Ed Keil @ KLM

Captain Ed Keil made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Final destination for this retourflight was YYZ -Toronto. Special note, the place to live with his wife…… Backflight KL692 , calsign KLM86-Heavy, got a RWY18R arrival and was operated with the B777-200 reg PH-BQD Videostills………………

Continue Reading 0

27 Nov

Last flight of Captain Chris van den Broek @ KLM

Captain Chris van den Broek made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Final destination and retourflight headint to GIG – Sao Paulo and back to homebase Amsterdam. Flight KL792 , with ‘Wingwoman’ as First Officer Inge van Son. His last landing on RWY 18R and operated with the B777-300ER reg PH-BVI. Videostills…………

Continue Reading 0

27 Nov

Last flight of Captain Arjen Simmelink @ KLM

Captain Arjen made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. His final destination as retourflight heading to GIG – Rio de Janeiro. Arjen’s ‘Wingmen’ are First Officer Yuri Zorge, Second Officer’s Richard Kolk and Merijn Kuijpens. Backflight KL706 , GIG-AMS , with a RWY18R arrival and operated with the B789 Dreamliner reg PH-BHD. Videostills………..

Continue Reading 0

27 Nov

Last flight of Captain Henno Sprajc @ KLM

Captain Henno made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Flight KL592 , Johannesburg-Amsterdam, with an RW18R arrival and operated with the ‘Orange Pride ‘ – PH-BVA. With thanks to his pal First Officer Ruiz Asin . Videostills………….

Continue Reading 0

27 Nov

Last Flight of Captain Gerard Havekes @ KLM

Captain Gerard ‘Haaf’ Havekes made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. Together with his ‘Wingman’ Jos van Doorn heading to ICN – Seoul. Flight KL831,RWY36L , and operated with the B777-300ER reg PH-BVN. Backflight KL856 got an other and master callsign after entering the Dutch airspace………..’Grasshopper One’. Captain ‘Haaf’ made his final landing at runway 18R………..with the PH-BVD. Videostills…………..

Continue Reading 0

26 Nov

Last Flight of Captain Jan Lok @ KLM

Captain Jan Lok made his last flight due to retirement at KLM after a career of 35 years!!! Mexico City was the last destination and back to Amsterdam. Captain Jan was accompanied by his daughter ‘Wingwoman’ Sharon (FO Easyjet) and assisted by ‘Wingmen’ First Officer Albert de Jong and Second Officer Gerard Brandenburg ( son in law ) Flight KL685 with a RWY36L departure and operated with a B789 ‘Dreamliner’ reg PH-BHM. Backflight KL686 , callsign KLM72-Yankee, was operate with the PH-BHA His final landing SPL got an awesome visual approach on RWY 18R. Videostills…………… […]

Continue Reading 0

22 Nov

Last flight of Captain A330 Arthur Waller @ KLM

Captain Arthur Waller made his last flight due to retirement at KLM. His last destination in career was St Maarten – SXM. Arthur got assisted by his ‘Wingmen’ First Officer Frank Zuidam and Second Officer Danny van Engeldorp Gastelaars. His final pushback at SPL operated by my colleague tugdriver Ron Pauw with an AM500 pushbacktruck. I was assisting as tugdriver in training. Both flights got operated with the A330-200 reg PH-AOC. Flight KL729 AMS-SXM and KL730 SXM-AMS with a runway 18R landing. Videostills………

Continue Reading 0