In 1940 the Netherlands East Indies airline KNILM opened a Java - Netherlands New Guinea route, via Celebes (Sulawesi) and the Moluccas. Two Grumman G-21A Goose amphibians soon turned out to be too small and two S-43s were ordered of a twin-tailfin variant. A third example was acquired from Hawaiian Airlines. Note the NEI reg with X prefix, which was required by US authorities for pre-delivery test flights. One year later on 26 December 1941, PK-AFT was lost to strafing Zero fighters at Lake Tondano, Sulawesi while apparently operating in support of a Dornier Do 24 unit of the Dutch navy. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution