Riyadh Air Base (, ar, قاعدة الرياض الجوية), formerly known as Riyadh International Airport from its opening in 1946 until 1982, is a military

air base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. It was originally used by Saudia as an

airline hub An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...

before

King Khalid International Airport King Khalid International Airport ( ar, مطار الملك خالد الدولي ', ) is located north of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, designed by the architectural firm HOK, and Arabian Bechtel Company Limited served as the construction manager o ...

opened in 1982.

History

Originally used for commercial flights by Saudi Arabia Airlines, the airport witnessed the destruction of

Saudia Flight 163 Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled Saudia passenger flight departing from Quaid-E-Azam Airport in Karachi, Pakistan bound for Kandara Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia via Riyadh International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that caught fire aft ...

on the night of August 19, 1980. The passengers and crew of the Lockheed L-1011-200, registration HZ-AHK, attempted to evacuate the smoke-filled cabin after landing but were unable to do so, and the aircraft later burst into flames and was destroyed on the tarmac. All 301 people aboard were killed in this disaster. In 1982,

was opened, which led to this airport becoming a

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, ‎الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...

(RSAF) air base.

Current Status

King Faisal Air Academy The King Faisal Air Academy () is a military officer academy and flight school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia founded on 10 January 1968. History Founded on 10 January 1968, by Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Defense and Aviation, King Fai ...

is located at the air base and uses

Pilatus PC-9 The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Designed as a more powerful evolution of the Pilatus PC-7, the PC-9's first flight was made in May 1984 after ...

aircraft for pilot training. The base is also home to the Civil Defense fleet. Riyadh Air Base has two crossing runways, with 19-01 as the primary and 15-33 as the alternate; however, 15-33 is now closed due to ongoing civilian infrastructure construction. The base is also used as a standby base for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

Accidents and incidents

*19 August 1980:

, a Lockheed L-1011-200 operated by Saudia from Quaid-e-Azam International Airport in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

to Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia via Riyadh, suffered a fire just after takeoff from Riyadh. However, due to poor coordination and inexperience, the crew used the entire length of runway 01 instead of performing an emergency stop, and parked on a taxiway at the end of the runway. Additionally, the crew failed to switch off the engines immediately after coming to a stop, preventing firefighters from approaching. The engines were shut down three minutes later, but no evacuation was attempted (likely due to the crew and passengers being either incapacitated or dead from smoke inhalation) and firefighters were unable to gain access into the interior of the aircraft for an additional 23 minutes. The aircraft burst into flames three minutes after firefighter entry, and all 301 persons aboard died. This was the most lethal accident involving an L-1011 and the deadliest aviation accident in Saudi Arabia as of 2021. *24 February 1985: An RSAF KC-130H Hercules aerial refueling tanker was too high when approaching the airport's runway 01. The air traffic controller on duty requested that the aircraft make a 360-degree turn to decrease speed and altitude. However, the pilot instead decided to lose altitude by

side-slipping In jazz improvisation, outside playing describes an approach where one plays over a scale, mode or chord that is harmonically distant from the given chord. There are several common techniques to playing outside, that include side-stepping or ...

, and the shifting of the fuel load caused the pilot to lose control and crash just short of the runway. All eight crew members died.

References

External links

Airports in Saudi Arabia {{SaudiArabia-airport-stub