Summary
- A FlyCAA flight within the Democratic Republic of Congo suffered a runway tour and got here to a stop with all landing gears on soft ground.
- Witnesses claimed the crew reported technical issues with the aircraft before landing on the dilapidated runway in Bunia.
- FlyCAA is certainly one of the main carriers within the DRC, operating scheduled flights to fifteen domestic destinations from Kinshasa.
A flight operated by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s FlyCAA on October 11 led to tragedy, as its ATR72 aircraft suffered a runway tour after touching down at a domestic airport in Bunia.
Aftermath of a regional flight
The ATR72-500F, registration 9S-ACE, was operating flight BU-1844 from Isiro Matari Airport (IRP) to Bunia Airport (BUX). In keeping with Flightradar24, flight BU-1844 was scheduled to depart IRP at 16:30 and arrive at BUX at 17:45 local time.
Upon landing on the domestic airport, the aircraft veered off the runway and got here to a halt with all landing gears on the grass. The crew disembarked safely with no injuries. The photographs shared on X (formerly Twitter) don’t show any significant damage to the aircraft.
In keeping with the Aviation Herald, local residents who witnessed the incident stated that the crew had reported technical issues with the aircraft just before landing. Satellite images and native reports suggest that the runway at BUX is seriously dilapidated, a possible explanation for the incident.
Imagery: ©2023 Airbus, Maxar Technologies, Map data ©2023 | Google Maps
Runway 10/28 is an asphalt runway measuring 6,070 ft (1.85 km) in length at an elevation of 4,045 ft (1.2 km). The airport serves Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. BUX doesn’t see much activity but steadily handles FlyCAA flights.
The aircraft involved within the incident
The ATR-72 involved within the October 11 incident is a 16-year-old freighter currently operated by FlyCAA and leased from Aergo Capital. It was inbuilt June 2006 and first delivered to NAYSA (Binter Canaries) that very same month with registration EC-KGI. It left the NAYSA fleet in February 2018, went to CanaryFly, and was converted to a freighter in 2021.
The Congolese airline took delivery of the aircraft in December 2022, when it became 9S-ACE. It’s certainly one of two ATR72-500Fs operated by FlyCAA. The opposite aircraft (9S-AIB) is about 16 years old and leased from Aergo Capital as well. Nevertheless, the carrier received 9S-AIB in April 2021.
FlyCAA has two more ATR72-500s, which it owns and uses for scheduled passenger services. The remainder of its fleet comprises three Airbus A320-200s, one A330-200, and one A330-300 leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners. It’s expecting delivery of a further A330-300 for its domestic operations.
One country, 15 destinations
FlyCAA is certainly one of five energetic scheduled carriers based within the DRC. Nevertheless, it’s the just one with a fleet of no less than five aircraft. It has its base at Kinshasa N’djili Airport (FIH), the biggest international airport within the country. From there, it operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights to fifteen domestic destinations, including Lubumbashi (FBM), Goma (GOM), and Kisangani (FKI), the opposite international airports within the country.