2012 Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash
Gulfstream IV · Runway excursion on landing due to Pilot error
From Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) to Bukavu Kavumu Airport (BKY)
Event
- NTSB case
- DCA12RA037
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Unknown · led by another country; figures from NTSB notifications
- Event fatalities
- 6 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 2
- Occupants
- 12
- Survivors
- 8
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 5
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Unknown
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Not recorded
Gulfstream IV
- Aircraft type
- Gulfstream IV
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N2SA
- Operator
- Katanga Express
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM)To Bukavu Kavumu Airport (BKY)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Not recorded
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Not recorded
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 12 February 2012, a Gulfstream IV aircraft operated by Katanga Express crashed in a plantation approximately twenty metres from Kavumu Airport near Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo while attempting to land. Both pilots and two passengers were killed in the crash. Two farmers near the impact site also died after being struck by the aircraft.
Events
A private domestic flight departed from Kinshasa with an intermediate stop in Goma to board additional passengers and refuel. The aircraft carried twelve individuals, including two crew members and ten passengers. Upon arriving in Bukavu, it touched down approximately 1,200 meters along the airport's 2,000-meter runway but did not come to a stop. It continued beyond the runway's end, descended an embankment, and came to rest in a ravine. The aircraft broke into two sections and did not catch fire.
Photographs taken at the accident site indicate that the flaps were extended and thrust reversers on both engines were deployed.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation revealed that the airplane touched down about 1,200 meters past the threshold of the 2,000 meter runway. The 800 meters left for the landing rollout was insufficient to safely land a Gulfstream IV.
Probable cause
The investigation determined that the flight crew did not maintain focus on the landing procedure during the approach phase, resulting in the aircraft being significantly above the intended glide path. Although reverse thrust was activated on both engines after touchdown, the spoilers were not deployed. The crew did not initiate a go-around or apply engine-and-air procedures. As a result, the aircraft overran the runway and crashed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2012 Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash” (revision 1345305000, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
NTSB narrative
On February 12, 2012 at about 1120 UTC, a Gulfstream, G-IV, registration N2SA, operated by Trident Aviation of Wilmington, Delaware, crashed at Bukavu-Kamenbe Airport (BKY), Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The domestic private flight departed Kinshasa with an intermediate stop at Goma to enplane passengers and to refuel. During the landing at BKY, the airplane overran the runway, went down an embankment and came to rest in a ravine. Of the 12 persons on board, there were four fatalities, including the pilot, copilot and two passengers. The airplane was substantially damaged and there was no fire.
As the State of manufacturer and registry of the airplane, a U.S. Accredited Representative has been appointed. The investigation is being conducted by the Government of the DRC. All inquiries should be directed to:
Direction de l'Aéronautique Civile Ministère des Transports et Communications Building Ontara, boulevard du 30 juin B.P. 3304 Kinshasa/Gombe République démocratique du Congo
Verbatim NTSB factual narrative from the NTSB dataset
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2012 Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash
- Revision
- 1345305000 · 2026-03-25 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q4625955
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
NTSB record DCA12RA037
- Event ID
- 20120213X82241
- Case number
- DCA12RA037
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2012 Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash" (page 34949286, revision 1345305000); merged with NTSB case DCA12RA037 (events / aircraft)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports); gaps and aircraft details from NTSB record DCA12RA037
- Operation
- not stated in the Wikipedia article's infobox or opening paragraph
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia: Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (2)
- One occurrence in two sources, merged: the Wikipedia article "2012 Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash" and NTSB case DCA12RA037, matched by the same aircraft registration and date. For this event outside the United States Wikipedia's values are used where the two differ; each value names its source.
- No bulk values were replaced by the NTSB case API.