2008 Hewa Bora Airways crash
Encyclopedia
On 15 April 2008, Hewa Bora Airways
Flight 122, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 plane crashed into a residential and market area of Goma
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- immediately south of Goma International Airport
.
(tin oxide ore) from Nord-Kivu
.
The European Union
has placed all DRC airlines on its List of airlines banned in the EU. HBA had held a single exemption for a single Boeing 767
-266ER tail number
9Q-CJD, construction number 193H-1209, but that too had been removed on 11 April 2008. Very similar crashes in the DRC the previous October
in the capital, Kinshasa
and in 1996
also came down in residential or market areas. Because the DRC has so little passable roadway, most freight is moved by air and markets are common near airstrips.
HBA operates a number of different aircraft types, none of them modern. This aircraft was 31 years old.
Goma is on the volcanically active Great African Rift Valley. One volcano, Nyiragongo, is so close that its January 2002 eruption destroyed the north end of runway 18/36, leaving just 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) for aircraft operations. The 1995 metres (6,545 ft) runway is, however, adequate for the DC-9, which was designed to operate off shorter runways. Goma International is at 1551 metres (5,089 ft) elevation, and the mid-afternoon temperature is about 22 °C (71.6 °F). These factors would reduce the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) on the 1995 metre runway from 55 tonnes (121,254.2 lb) to less than 45 tonnes (99,208 lb). Another report asserts that only 1600 to 1800 m of the runway was usable. If the lower of these figures were correct, then the corresponding MTOW would be reduced another 3 tonnes (6,613.9 lb).
in the deployed position.
flight had sixty to seventy passengers aboard and casualty reports varied. Authorities concluded that in the accident, those killed were mainly ground casualties and one registered passenger on the plane died.
The passenger manifest was first said to have "around 100 people", but in the DRC it is common practice to carry extra passengers and cargo beyond the manifest. Eventually a manifest was provided to the US embassy listing 79 passengers and five crew. The entire crew is reported to have escaped the aircraft.
Three days after the crash, 42 dead had been found and the search for the missing was still continuing.
Greek Orthodox
Metropolitan Bishop
of Central Africa
Ignatios was among the survivors of the crash.
Another non-Congolese survivor was an Alcatel
engineer named Selami Mordeniz.
The fourth day more remains were recovered bringing the toll to 44, while 13 were still missing and 60 were rescued. An additional find, coupled with two deaths in hospital, brought the toll to 47 as of April 19.
The Heal Africa clinic treated many of the injured.
The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières
announced that one of its workers was among those missing after 48 hours.
The initial crash response involved several international agencies present in Goma, including several organisations of the United Nations (MONUC, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
, UNICEF, World Health Organization
) and also Médecins Sans Frontières
France and the International Red Cross. Members of the 6th Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry, Indian Army, who were posted there as part of the North Kivu Brigade of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), swung into action to effect a rescue of 6 survivors and retrieve 18 bodies. Indian Army personnel were also involved in initial crowd control and preventing the fire that arose from spreading to thickly populated areas nearby. Both flight recorders were recovered.
One Kinshasa paper, Le phare, reports that airports throughout the country are still using fifty year old infrastructure from the Belgian
colonial era.
Two days after the crash, the DRC government committed to making the runway repairs neglected since January 2002. A local human rights organization laid the blame on the DRC government:
The German government sponsored a , three year project to rehabilitate the 1100 m of buried runway following the Hewa Bora crash, but that work had been suspended when another aircraft, operated by CAA (compagnie africaine d’aviation) overran onto the lava in November 2009.
Hewa Bora Airways
Hewa Bora Airways was an airline based in Barumbu, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was one of Congo's largest airlines and operates regional and domestic services. Its main base was N'djili Airport. "Hewa Bora" is Swahili for "Fresh Air". The company was on the European Commission's...
Flight 122, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 plane crashed into a residential and market area of Goma
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
- immediately south of Goma International Airport
Goma International Airport
Goma International Airport is an airport serving Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.-Airlines and destinations:-2002 Nyiragongo eruption:...
.
Background
The eastern part of the DRC has been war-torn for decades, as various factions seek control of mineral resources. Goma is a center for the air shipping of cassiteriteCassiterite
Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem...
(tin oxide ore) from Nord-Kivu
Nord-Kivu
Nord-Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Goma....
.
The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
has placed all DRC airlines on its List of airlines banned in the EU. HBA had held a single exemption for a single Boeing 767
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
-266ER tail number
Tail number
A tail number refers to an identification number painted on an aircraft, frequently on the tail.Tail numbers can represent:* An aircraft registration number * United States military aircraft serials-See also:...
9Q-CJD, construction number 193H-1209, but that too had been removed on 11 April 2008. Very similar crashes in the DRC the previous October
2007 Africa One Antonov An-26 crash
The 2007 Africa One Antonov An-26 crash occurred when a twin engine Antonov An-26, belonging to the Congolese air carrier Africa One, crashed and burned shortly after takeoff from N'djili Airport in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on October 4, 2007...
in the capital, Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
and in 1996
1996 Air Africa crash
The 1996 Air Africa crash occurred on 8 January 1996 when an overloaded Air Africa Antonov An-32B aircraft, wet leased from Moscow Airways and bound for Kahemba Airport, overshot the runway at N'Dolo Airport in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo after failing to take off...
also came down in residential or market areas. Because the DRC has so little passable roadway, most freight is moved by air and markets are common near airstrips.
HBA operates a number of different aircraft types, none of them modern. This aircraft was 31 years old.
Goma is on the volcanically active Great African Rift Valley. One volcano, Nyiragongo, is so close that its January 2002 eruption destroyed the north end of runway 18/36, leaving just 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) for aircraft operations. The 1995 metres (6,545 ft) runway is, however, adequate for the DC-9, which was designed to operate off shorter runways. Goma International is at 1551 metres (5,089 ft) elevation, and the mid-afternoon temperature is about 22 °C (71.6 °F). These factors would reduce the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) on the 1995 metre runway from 55 tonnes (121,254.2 lb) to less than 45 tonnes (99,208 lb). Another report asserts that only 1600 to 1800 m of the runway was usable. If the lower of these figures were correct, then the corresponding MTOW would be reduced another 3 tonnes (6,613.9 lb).
Crash
The aircraft was departing Goma bound for Kisangani. According to the director of the RVA, the number one engine caught fire after three hundred meters. The fire developed into an uncontained engine failure. The aircraft subsequently overran the runway and crashed at 14:30 local time (12:30 UTC), impacting concrete homes, shops and market stalls. The crash site was located at the Birere market on l’avenue du 20 mai, just beyond the south end of runway 18. Video taken at the crash site shows the aircraft's thrust reversersThrust reversal
Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's exhaust or changing of propeller pitch so that the thrust produced is directed forward, rather than aft. This acts against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration...
in the deployed position.
Casualties
Initial reports indicated that the Hewa Bora AirwaysHewa Bora Airways
Hewa Bora Airways was an airline based in Barumbu, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was one of Congo's largest airlines and operates regional and domestic services. Its main base was N'djili Airport. "Hewa Bora" is Swahili for "Fresh Air". The company was on the European Commission's...
flight had sixty to seventy passengers aboard and casualty reports varied. Authorities concluded that in the accident, those killed were mainly ground casualties and one registered passenger on the plane died.
The passenger manifest was first said to have "around 100 people", but in the DRC it is common practice to carry extra passengers and cargo beyond the manifest. Eventually a manifest was provided to the US embassy listing 79 passengers and five crew. The entire crew is reported to have escaped the aircraft.
Three days after the crash, 42 dead had been found and the search for the missing was still continuing.
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
Metropolitan Bishop
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Central Africa
Central Africa
Central Africa is a core region of the African continent which includes Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda....
Ignatios was among the survivors of the crash.
Another non-Congolese survivor was an Alcatel
Alcatel
Alcatel Mobile Phones is a brand of mobile handsets. It was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China....
engineer named Selami Mordeniz.
The fourth day more remains were recovered bringing the toll to 44, while 13 were still missing and 60 were rescued. An additional find, coupled with two deaths in hospital, brought the toll to 47 as of April 19.
The Heal Africa clinic treated many of the injured.
The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
announced that one of its workers was among those missing after 48 hours.
Response
The airport had no functioning firefighting equipment.The initial crash response involved several international agencies present in Goma, including several organisations of the United Nations (MONUC, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs , is a United Nations body formed in December 1991 by General Assembly Resolution 46/182...
, UNICEF, World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
) and also Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
France and the International Red Cross. Members of the 6th Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry, Indian Army, who were posted there as part of the North Kivu Brigade of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), swung into action to effect a rescue of 6 survivors and retrieve 18 bodies. Indian Army personnel were also involved in initial crowd control and preventing the fire that arose from spreading to thickly populated areas nearby. Both flight recorders were recovered.
One Kinshasa paper, Le phare, reports that airports throughout the country are still using fifty year old infrastructure from the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
colonial era.
Two days after the crash, the DRC government committed to making the runway repairs neglected since January 2002. A local human rights organization laid the blame on the DRC government:
The German government sponsored a , three year project to rehabilitate the 1100 m of buried runway following the Hewa Bora crash, but that work had been suspended when another aircraft, operated by CAA (compagnie africaine d’aviation) overran onto the lava in November 2009.
Investigation
As country of manufacture, the United States is represented on the investigation by the NTSB.External links
- Dozens killed as DC-9 jet crashes in Congo Houston ChronicleHouston ChronicleThe Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
- African air crash kills 75; 15 survive CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- Video footage of disaster
- Crash survivor: God 'still has work for us to do'
- Patrick Smith "Ask the pilot" Salon, page 2 2008-04-25 - ad supported site
- "UN staff among few survivors of deadly plane crash in eastern DR Congo" UN Daily News 2008-04-15