Ras Al-Mishab Airport
Encyclopedia
Ras Al-Mishab Airport is a small military airfield in the naval complex of Ras Al-Mishab on the Persian Gulf
about 200 km north of Dammam
in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia
. It occupies an area of around 2.8 km² and is one kilometer away from the shore.
The naval facility was used during the 1990 Gulf war
by the US Armed Forces. A Royal Saudi Air Force
C-130 Hercules crashed during approach to the airport during the same war. The plane crashed in the dark and fog at 4:45 a.m. on March 21, 1991. U.S. Marines on guard duty from from Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines noticed a C-130 do a loop then an S-turn looking like it was coming in for a landing. Suddenly, it exploded. The Marine sentries immediately rushed to awaken other Marines and Navy medical personnel in the compound. The C-130 was a Saudi Air Force transport plane flying back to Mishab after taking Senegalese soldiers on a visit to Mecca. The official assessment of the probable cause of the crash was the thick black smoke from hundreds of burning oil wells nearby in Kuwait, which combined with the dark and fog obscured the flight crew’s visibility. 92 Senegalese and 6 Saudis died in the crash.
support. Several zones allocated near the runway for aircraft parking.
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
about 200 km north of Dammam
Dammam
Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...
in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. It occupies an area of around 2.8 km² and is one kilometer away from the shore.
The naval facility was used during the 1990 Gulf war
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
by the US Armed Forces. A Royal Saudi Air Force
Royal Saudi Air Force
The Royal Saudi Air Force , is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabian armed forces. The RSAF has developed from a largely defensive military force into one with an advanced offensive capability...
C-130 Hercules crashed during approach to the airport during the same war. The plane crashed in the dark and fog at 4:45 a.m. on March 21, 1991. U.S. Marines on guard duty from from Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines noticed a C-130 do a loop then an S-turn looking like it was coming in for a landing. Suddenly, it exploded. The Marine sentries immediately rushed to awaken other Marines and Navy medical personnel in the compound. The C-130 was a Saudi Air Force transport plane flying back to Mishab after taking Senegalese soldiers on a visit to Mecca. The official assessment of the probable cause of the crash was the thick black smoke from hundreds of burning oil wells nearby in Kuwait, which combined with the dark and fog obscured the flight crew’s visibility. 92 Senegalese and 6 Saudis died in the crash.
Facilities
The airfield has one runway, 3,351 meters long and 30 meters wide, with lights and ILSInstrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
support. Several zones allocated near the runway for aircraft parking.