Overseas National Airways Douglas DC-8 accident in Niamey
Douglas DC-8-63CF · The Overseas National Airways Douglas DC-8 accident in Niamey occurred on 4 March 1977
From Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) to Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)
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
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- 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
Douglas DC-8-63CF
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-8
- 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
- N8635
- Operator
- Overseas National Airways
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)To Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Niamey, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The Overseas National Airways Douglas DC-8 accident in Niamey occurred on 4 March 1977. On that day an Overseas National Airways Douglas DC-8-63CF cargo aircraft, which was on a flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport to Lagos Airport, was flown into terrain shortly before the planned stopover at Niamey Airport, with two of the four occupants on board killed.
Accident sequence
The DC-8 was operating a cargo flight on behalf of UTA. During the night-time approach to Niamey, the aircraft struck the ground at 03:35 local time 800 metres short of the threshold of runway 09. On impact the landing gear was sheared off and the aircraft slid several dozen metres further before catching fire. Two of the four crew members were killed in the accident and the fire.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It was established that the aircraft had descended below the glide path until it collided with the terrain. The pilots had apparently misjudged the altitude at which they were flying.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall einer Douglas DC-8 der Overseas National Airways in Niamey” (revision 236707792, 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 Douglas DC-8 der Overseas National Airways in Niamey
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 236707792 · 2023-08-24 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q121438746
- 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 Douglas DC-8 der Overseas National Airways in Niamey" (page 12778487, revision 236707792), 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
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- 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.