Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten

Jacob Louis "Jaap" Veldhuyzen van Zanten (5 February 1927 – 27 March 1977) was a Dutch aircraft captain and flight instructor. He was the captain of KLM Flight 4805 involved in the Tenerife airport disaster and died in the collision, which is the deadliest accident in aviation history. He was KLM's chief instructor and commonly appeared on advertising.

Biography Born in Lisse, Netherlands, Veldhuyzen van Zanten obtained his private pilot's licence on 21 June 1947, and his commercial pilot's licence on 18 April 1950. That year, he began working for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as a flight director, and in 1951, he commenced duty as a first officer on the Douglas DC-3. He then obtained his Flight Radio Telephone Operator's Licence on 22 September 1952, Airline Transport Pilot's Licence on 19 October 1956, and Flight Navigator's Licence on 6 August 1963.

On 23 January 1971, Veldhuyzen van Zanten was type-rated on the Boeing 747. That same month, he and two colleagues went to Seattle to take delivery of KLM’s first 747, christened the Mississippi (registration serial PH-BUA). In addition to his duties as a regular airline pilot, he had been promoted to chief flight instructor for the Boeing 747. At the time of his death, he was in charge of training all of KLM's pilots on this type of aircraft and the head of KLM's flight training department.

Jan Bartelski, a KLM captain until 1978 and later president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, was a contemporary of Veldhuyzen van Zanten and knew him personally. In his book Disasters In The Air, he describes Veldhuyzen van Zanten as: And adds that: quotation |He believed in partnership, to the extent that he insisted on his first officers addressing him during flight as "Jaap" and not "Captain Van Zanten". While this has been attributed to his high position within KLM, Jan Bartelski argues that Veldhuyzen van Zanten was photographed simply because he was the only captain available (due to his responsibilities as a flight instructor) to KLM public relations, as others were away flying.

Veldhuyzen van Zanten lived in Sassenheim, Netherlands, with his wife and two children. He was a motorsport enthusiast who frequently visited Circuit Zandvoort and owned cars manufactured by BMW, Porsche, and Ferrari throughout his life.

Veldhuyzen van Zanten was buried with the rest of KLM Flight 4805's passengers and crew at Westgaarde Cemetery in Amsterdam. His name is written on a tombstone listing him as one of the aircraft's 62 occupants whose remains were never identified individually.

Aircraft type ratings Veldhuyzen van Zanten was rated for the following aircraft: Douglas DC-3 from 28 September 1951 to 20 June 1962 Convair CV240/340 from 23 August 1952 to 20 June 1962 Lockheed Constellation from 1 October 1952 to 20 June 1962 Douglas DC-6 from 12 February 1957 to 20 June 1962 Douglas DC-7C from 6 June 1957 to 20 June 1962 Vickers Viscount 803 from 11 June 1959 to 21 July 1967 Douglas DC-9 from 16 March 1967 to 9 June 1971 Boeing 747 from 23 January 1971 to 27 March 1977

In popular culture Captain Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten appeared in the documentary Seconds from Disaster Season 1: Episode 12 (2004) called "Collision on the Runway". American actor Kevin Hare portrayed Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten in the Canadian TV series Mayday Season 16: Episode 3 (2016) called "Disaster at Tenerife", Air Crash Investigation Special Report Season 1: Episode 1 (2018) called "Communication Breakdown" and Dutch-English actor Michael Hofland portrayed Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten in the earlier in-depth 90-minute special "Crash of the Century" (2005). Footage of Hofland's performance were reused in the TV film "Tenerife" (2005), and the American TV series Nova Season 34: Episode 3 (2016) called "The Deadliest Plane Crash".