Part 2/10:

KLM Flight 867 set off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport just after 8:30 AM, bound for Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan, with a scheduled refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska. The 747-400 was a state-of-the-art aircraft, having been released earlier that same year, boasting advanced technological features like a glass cockpit that housed six screens— a significant upgrade from the numerous analog dials of its predecessors. Automated flight engineer functions allowed the plane to be operated by a reduced crew of just two: Captain Karl Van Der Elst, a 51-year-old veteran with over 13,000 flying hours, and two first officers, Imme Visscher and Walter Vuurboom, both in their 20s.