- N'djili Airport
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N'djili Airport
Aéroport de N'djili
IATA: FIH – ICAO: FZAA Location of Airport in Democratic Republic of the Congo
FIHSummary Airport type Public Location Kinshasa Elevation AMSL 1,027 ft / 313 m Coordinates 04°23′08.7″S 15°26′40.45″E / 4.38575°S 15.4445694°ECoordinates: 04°23′08.7″S 15°26′40.45″E / 4.38575°S 15.4445694°E Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 06/24 15,420 4,700 Concrete N'djili Airport (IATA: FIH, ICAO: FZAA), also known as N'Djili International Airport and Kinshasa International Airport, serves the city of Kinshasa and is the largest of the four international airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It serves as hub for Hewa Bora Airways and Wimbi Dira Airways.
In 2004, the airport served 516,345 passengers (+17.9% vs. '03).
It is an alternative landing site for NASA's Space Shuttle.
The airport is supposed to go through a major refurbishment and modernization plan to upgrade the over 50 year old airport's buildings and facilities. The airport has barely been maintained or upgraded and is still using the infrastructure built by the Belgians during the colonial era.[1] The airport offers wireless internet access.
Contents
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Airlines Destinations Afriqiyah Airways Tripoli Air France Paris-Charles de Gaulle Air Mali Abidjan, Bamako Benin Golf Air Cotonou, Pointe-Noire Camair-co Douala [Begins 1 December] Brussels Airlines Brussels Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Entebbe, Goma, Kananga, Kindu, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Mbandaka, Mbuji-Mayi Congo Express Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa, Brazzaville Ethiopian operated by ASKY Airlines Brazzaville, Cotonou, Douala, Lagos, Lomé Kenya Airways Nairobi Royal Air Maroc Casablanca, Douala RwandAir Kigali Stellar Airways Goma, Lubumbashi South African Airways Johannesburg TAAG Angola Airlines Luanda Zambezi Airlines Lusaka Cargo
Airlines Destinations Avient Aviation Sharjah Cargolux Luxembourg Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa Accidents and incidents
- On 18 August 1968, Douglas DC-3D 9Q-CUM of Air Congo was destroyed by fire.[2]
- On 28 August 1984, Vickers Viscount 9Q-CPD of Zaire Aero Service crashed after takeoff.[3]
- On 15 April 1997, a Douglas DC-3 was hijacked at N'djili Airport. There were six to eight hijackers.[4]
- On 4 October 2007, Antonov An-26 9Q-COS of Africa One crashed shortly after take-off from N'djili Airport, killing at least 51 people and injuring a further 30.
- On 2 January 2010, Boeing 727-231F 9Q-CAA of Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation was substantially damaged when it departed the side of the runway.[5]
- On 21 June 2010, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 601, operated by McDonnell Douglas MD-82 9Q-COQ burst a tyre on take-off. Hydraulic systems and port engine were damaged and the nose gear did not lower when the aircraft returned to N'djili. All 110 people on board escaped uninjured. The airline blamed the state of the runway for the accident, but investigators found no fault with the runway.[6]
- On 4 April 2011, a Canadair CRJ-100ER 4L-GAE of Georgian Airways operating under an UN mission as flight 834 from Bangoka International Airport, Kisangani to Kinshasa missed the runway on landing at Kinshasa. The aircraft subsequently broke into pieces and caught fire. Only one survivor is reported out of 29 passengers and 4 crew. The airport was experiencing torrential rain, thunderstorms and low visibility at the time.[7]
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Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) at Kinshasa International Airport
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Terminal building at Kinshasa International Airport
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N'Djili airport at night
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- ^ http://www.cinqchantiers-rdc.com/English/interview6.html
- ^ "9Q-CUM Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19680818-2. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19840828-0. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
- ^ "Hijacking description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19970415-0. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20100102-0. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ^ Hradecky, Simon (21 June 2010). "Accident: Hewa Bora MD82 at Kinshasa on Jun 21st 2010, burst tyre on takeoff, hydraulic failure, runway excursion on landing". The Aviation Herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=42d3b7f5&opt=0. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ^ "Georgian Airways CRJ1 at Kinshasa on Apr 4th 2011, missed the runway and broke up". The Aviation herald. http://avherald.com/h?article=43a6f804&opt=1. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
External links
- Accident history for FIH at Aviation Safety Network
- Airport information for FZAA at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
- Current weather for FZAA at NOAA/NWS
- Airport information for FZAA at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
Categories:- Airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Airports in Central Africa
- Space Shuttle landing sites
- Buildings and structures in Kinshasa
- USAAF Air Transport Command Airfields - Central and South Africa
- Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces
- Central Africa airport stubs
- Democratic Republic of the Congo stubs
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