Sabena Flight 877
Airbus A330-223 · Damaged by gunfire from Hutu rebels during landing
From Brussels Airport (BRU) to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
Event
- 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
- Incident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 170
- Survivors
- 170
- 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
- 2
- 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
- Airline
Airbus A330-223
- Flight
- SN877
- Aircraft type
- Airbus A330
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- 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
- OO-SFR
- Operator
- Sabena
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Brussels Airport (BRU)To Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO)
Approximate · Estimated position: Bujumbura Melchior Ndadaye International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
Sabena Flight 877 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels Airport, Brussels, Belgium to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya via Bujumbura International Airport in Bujumbura, Burundi. On 4 December 2000, Hutu rebels fired machine guns at the Airbus A330 operating the flight as it landed in Bujumbura, damaging the aircraft and injuring two of the 170 people on board. There were no fatalities.
Incident
Flight 877 was cleared to land at Bujumbura at 17:23 local time. Out of the 158 passengers on board, 76 had Bujumbura as their final destination, while the remaining 76 would head to Nairobi.
The aircraft passed over Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on approach to runway 17 at Bujumbura Airport, rather than landing on runway 35, which involves passing over Lake Tanganyika. This may have been done due to faulty runway lights or the fact that runway 17 is preferred for landing in Bujumbura due to surrounding terrain and ILS installation.
At 17:56, just 330 ft from the runway, machine guns were fired at the aircraft, lasting 20 seconds, after which the aircraft landed. Two people were injured.
The aircraft's nose wheel hydraulics system had been damaged by the gunfire, resulting in difficulty in taxiing after landing.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Burundi's attorney general set up a commission to investigate the incident. The airport and its surrounding area were investigated. Airport employees, soldiers, as well as passengers and crew were interviewed.
Burundian authorities blamed the shooting on Hutu rebels who were dissatisfied with a peace agreement signed the previous month. The rebels believed that the aircraft was carrying weapons. Three people were prosecuted for their role in the incident, and another four were arrested.
On 21 December 2000, in accordance with aviation law, Belgian judicial police traveled to Bordeaux (where the aircraft was being repaired) to assess the damage to the aircraft.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sabena Flight 877” (revision 1363683265, 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
Sources
Wikipedia article: Sabena Flight 877
- Article
- Sabena Flight 877
- Revision
- 1363683265 · 2026-07-11 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q105757603
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Sabena Flight 877" (page 69254946, revision 1363683265)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- airline flight number in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.