Surinam Airways Flight 764 was an international scheduled passenger flight of Surinam Airways from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname. On 7 June 1989, the DC-8-62 serving the flight crashed during approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij, killing 178 of the 187 on board. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in Suriname's history.
Investigation revealed significant deficiencies in the crew's training and judgement. They knowingly attempted to land using an inappropriate navigation signal and ignored alarms warning them of an impending crash. The safety issues stemming from the incident were of such concern that the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The aircraft (named Anthony Nesty in honor of the Olympic swimmer) was a four-engined McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 passenger jet which had first flown in 1969 as part of the air fleet of Braniff International Airways. An NTSB brief shows that while the aircraft was owned by Braniff it was involved in a minor accident in 1979 in which there were no fatalities. The aircraft was sold to Surinam Airways shortly afterwards. The official report into the crash of Flight 764 made no indication that this previous incident contributed in any way to the subsequent fatal crash.
The flight crew consisted of Captain Wilbert "Will" Rogers (66), First Officer Glyn Tobias (43) and Flight Engineer Warren Rose (65). Captain Rogers had a total of 19,450 flight hours, including 8,800 hours on the DC-8. The first officer and flight engineer had 6,600 flight hours and 26,600 flight hours respectively. The flight engineer also had 720 flight hours on the DC-8. There were six flight attendants on board.
The flight departed Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as scheduled at 23:25 on 6 June. The next ten hours of the flight passed uneventfully. The crew received a final weather report and clearance for a VOR/DME (VHF omnidirectional range/Distance Measuring Equipment) approach to runway 10 but instead initiated an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach. During the approach, the plane's no. 2 engine struck a tree at a height of approximately 25 metres (82 ft) above ground level. The outboard right wing then struck another tree, shearing it off and causing the aircraft to roll over and impact the ground inverted. Of the 9 crew and 178 passengers, only 9 passengers survived, leaving 178 dead (including all crew).
Among the dead were a group of Surinamese association football players playing professionally in the Netherlands, organised as an exhibition team known as the Colourful 11 (Dutch: Kleurrijk Elftal). The team was an initiative of Dutch Surinamese social worker Sonny Hasnoe who worked with underprivileged children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Amsterdam. Many people of Surinamese origin lived in the city's Bijlmer district and were isolated from mainstream Dutch society. Hasnoe often found that he could engage the youngsters socially if they saw positive role models that had the same background as they did. He encouraged young boys to join football clubs and noted an improvement in their behaviour when they were playing sports as it gave them an opportunity to interact with their white contemporaries and so helped speed up the process of social integration.
In 1986, Sonny Hasnoe organised the first match between a star selection of Surinamese Dutch professionals and SV Robinhood, champions of the domestic Surinamese competition. The match was a great success and further contests were arranged. The Colourful 11 were to play a match in Suriname in June 1989; however, a number of players were denied permission to travel by their Dutch professional clubs. Among the players who stayed back as a result were Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Aron Winter, Bryan Roy, Stanley Menzo, Dean Gorre, Jos Luhukay and Regi Blinker. A group of eighteen "second stringers" travelled to Suriname instead. Former Ajax players and Dutch internationals Henny Meijer and Stanley Menzo – who ignored his club's decree and went to Suriname on his own accord – had taken an earlier flight and hence did not die.
The following football players were killed in the crash:
Ruud Degenaar, 25, Heracles Almelo
Steve van Dorpel, 23, FC Volendam
Wendel Fräser, 22, RBC Roosendaal
Frits Goodings, 25, FC Wageningen
Jerry Haatrecht, 28, Neerlandia, was travelling in place of his brother Winston Haatrecht who had post-season duties with his club SC Heerenveen.
Virgall Joemankhan, 20, Cercle Brugge
Ruben Kogeldans, 22, Willem II Tilburg
Ortwin Linger, 21, HFC Haarlem, died three days after the crash as a result of his injuries
Elfried Veldman, 23, De Graafschap
Nick Stienstra, 34, RC Heemstede (coach)