The ‘extremely sweet’ Hanneke (57) was there for everyone. But yesterday her neighbors heard that the pilot from Alkmaar died in an accident with her glider. A great sadness for the Rembrandt quarter, while the tears for the 5-year-old girl who died in an accident two weeks ago have barely dried there.
It was around 2 p.m. yesterday when a glider ran into problems just before landing at Terlet airfield near Arnhem. The plane crashes and may hit a row of trees.
The sole occupant does not survive the crash. It is Hanneke, a very experienced pilot, on the road with the Castricumse Eerste Zaanse Gliding Club. The cause of the accident is being investigated by the Aviation Department and the Dutch Safety Board, but whatever the outcome: the hole in the close-knit Alkmaar street has already been made.
“This is a blow. A shock. It comes in very hard.” Some good neighbors are sitting together today at a kitchen table in the street where Hanneke’s family lives. Neighbors that you can also call friends, who have a weekly movie night with each other.
The front garden is full of bicycles: all day long family, friends and neighbors come to the family in the Rembrandtkwartier. And that’s not surprising. “She was a very sweet mother of two teenagers. But she was also there for everyone.”
“As outspoken and colorful as her appearance was, was her heart”
If something had to be arranged, for example a street party or a pancake meal, she was at the front, neighbors describe her. “Every neighborhood has such a core with involved people, right? She was part of that. She was incredibly cordial.”
Her colleagues also write this on their website. “It is with great sadness and disbelief that we have learned that our beloved colleague has passed away during her great passion for glidingShe was the ‘beating heart’ of the care organization for youth, can be read.
Two fatal accidents
“She found it a challenge to ensure that children and young people develop optimally and that families enjoy each other. Her heart was as outspoken and colorful as her appearance was. Real, authentic, no-nonsense and passionate is how we know and will remember.”
Hanneke’s sudden death hits this neighborhood especially hard. The tears are far from dry from what happened two weeks ago with another neighbor.
A 5-year-old girl dies around the corner from her home that Saturday afternoon in a car accident a cargo bike and a motorcycle. At that spot, less than 100 meters from Hanneke’s house, there is still an impressive sea of cuddly toys, flowers and candles.
“That was a drama. A young child. Everyone stood here with balloons at her farewell,” said the neighbors. How do streetmates help each other in times of such great sadness?
“Especially with the practical things. Today, for example, we drove to the glider airfield with a number of people to pick up some cars and belongings that had been left behind. And we are also considering whether we will fly the flags at half-mast again.”
‘Indonesian food for the neighbourhood’
Another memory that comes to mind, about Hanneke’s role in the neighborhood. “Her husband is of Indonesian descent and at children’s birthdays everyone really looked forward to their rice table. He was already baking three days in advance. And when the neighborhood was with champagne on New Year’s Eve, they came by with the snack bala bala. He can cook very well, but Hanneke arranged everything for it to happen.”
NH has spoken with a neighbor whose details are known to the editors.
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