Air Karibu Lockheed L-188 Electra accident
Air Karibu for Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo Lockheed L-188 Electra · The Air Karibu Lockheed L-188 Electra accident occurred on 8 February 1999
From Ndjili International Airport (FIH) to Mbandaka Airport, Democratic Republic of the Congo
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
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 7 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Lockheed L-188 Electra
- Aircraft type
- Lockheed L-188
- 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
- 9Q-CDI
- Onboard fatalities
- 7
- Route
- From Ndjili International Airport (FIH)To Mbandaka Airport, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge
- Organizational issues › Management
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Kinshasa, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Air Karibu Lockheed L-188 Electra accident occurred on 8 February 1999. On that day a Lockheed L-188 Electra of the airline Air Karibu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was operating a cargo flight from Kinshasa-Ndjili Airport to Mbandaka, went out of control while attempting to return to the departure airport and crashed to the ground. All seven crew members were killed in the accident.
Accident sequence
The aircraft had been chartered by the Congolese armed forces to transport fuel to Mbandaka. The aircraft, overloaded by six tonnes, was also carrying live ammunition including bombs. Shortly after takeoff, engine No. 3 had to be shut down because of an engine failure. The captain tried to return to the airport, but the aircraft lost altitude and control was lost. The aircraft crashed about three minutes after takeoff on the grounds of the electricity works of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Investigation and cause
Cause
A decisive factor in the accident was the fact that an underqualified crew was deployed: since no first officer was present, the flight engineer performed the duties of the first officer and a ground mechanic the duties of the flight engineer.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Lockheed L-188 Electra der Air Karibu” (revision 232684580, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall einer Lockheed L-188 Electra der Air Karibu
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 232684580 · 2023-04-11 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q97940190
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall einer Lockheed L-188 Electra der Air Karibu" (page 11388705, revision 232684580), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): An airline's Electra on a cargo flight chartered by the armed forces; the aircraft and crew stayed with the airline, so it is an airline cargo charter. The article: "a Lockheed L-188 Electra of the airline Air Karibu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was operating a cargo flight"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.