Jan Hondong earned his military pilot's license on 12 July 1921, with the Dutch Luchtvaartafdeeling. He joined KLM on 18 February 1925. His first flight to the Dutch East Indies took place in 1929.[2]
In 1934, KLM outfitted a Fokker F.XVIII named Snip (PH-AIS) with six additional fuel tanks to enable a transatlantic crossing. Hondong, with co-pilot Jan J. van Balkom, radio operator Simon van de Molen, and flight engineer Leonardus D. Stolk, flew via Marseille, Alicante, Casablanca, and Porto Praia to Paramaribo in just 17 hours. On 22 December, they arrived at Hato Airport in Curaçao via La Guaira, Venezuela.[3] The flight was a major success, and all crew members received Royal honors[nl] for their achievement. However, the triumph was overshadowed by the 1934 KLM Douglas DC-2 crash, the crash of the Douglas DC-2Uiver on 20 December 1934.[4][5]
Later flights
In 1935, Hounding was involved in the 1935 KLM Bushehr incident; an accident with the DC-2 PH-AKM Maraboe on the return leg from the Dutch East Indies. The aircraft's landing gear was damaged during takeoff from a rough airstrip in Bushehr, resulting in a crash and fire. All passengers survived, but the aircraft and most of the mail was lost.[6]
On 18 May 2002, a relief sculpture was unveiled on the corner of Bagijnenstraat and Hoofschestraat in Grave, on the wall of his childhood home, created by sculptor Jan Ketterings.
In 2004, a short film was produced in Curaçao about the 1934 Snip flight. Part of it was filmed at the Curaçao Museum in Otrobanda, Willemstad, where since 1992 the restored cockpit of the Snip has been on display. Hondong was portrayed by helicopter pilot and author George S.D. Tielen.
.jpg)
