Accident
On July 8, 2011, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 952, a Boeing 727 passenger jet with registration 9Q-COP, was operating a domestic flight from Kinshasa to Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The aircraft departed Kinshasa's N'djili Airport with 112 passengers and 6 crew members on board. At approximately 15:00 local time, the flight attempted an approach to Kisangani's runway 13 but discontinued. It then approached the opposite runway 31 but impacted terrain about 400 meters from the runway threshold. Thunderstorms and poor visibility were reported in the area, and Kisangani Airport lacked a published instrument approach procedure, although a VOR/DME procedure was available commercially. The final casualty count was 77 fatalities and 38 injuries.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-022, serial number 18323, first delivered to United Airlines in 1965. It subsequently served with Korean Air, World Airways, and Ladeco before being acquired by Hewa Bora Airways in April 2010. Previously operated in the DRC under Swaziland registration 3D-BOC, which was canceled in 2005, and later under São Tomé and Príncipe registration S9-DBM, investigators could not obtain a certificate of registration for that transfer. In 2010, the aircraft was registered in the DRC as 9Q-COP. At the time of the accident, the 45-year-old Boeing 727 had accumulated over 52,000 flight hours.
Casualties
Among the victims was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Isangi, Camille Lembi Zaneli. Early investigation revealed that five victims were not listed on the aircraft's manifest, and some passengers were using tickets registered under other names.
Aftermath
The Ministry of Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo suspended Hewa Bora Airways' air operator's certificate, citing repeated accidents, including Flight 122 on April 15, 2008, and an accident involving Flight 601 at N'djili Airport on June 21, 2010.
Investigation
A commission was established to investigate the accident. A preliminary report issued in August 2011 lacked data from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which had been sent to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board for analysis. The commission found that the crew of Flight 952 had misjudged the weather conditions at the destination and that weather information provided by air traffic controllers at Kisangani was incorrect. Additionally, the captain's type rating for the Boeing 727 had expired and was pending renewal; he was licensed for the MD-82. The control tower at Kisangani was understaffed, and some air traffic controllers were not properly licensed. Both facilities that should have recorded all air traffic radio communications in the tower were inoperative.