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Scibe Airlift was an
"Chaos am Himmel ueber Afrika", ''Die Zeit'', May 1996.
*
Scibe Airlift was an airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
from Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
(today known as Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
), with its base at N'Djili Airport
N'djili Airport (french: Aéroport de N'djili ), also known as N'Djili International Airport and Kinshasa International Airport, serves the city of Kinshasa and is the largest of the four international airports in the Democratic Republic of th ...
, Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
.
History
The airline started activities in November 1976 as SBZ Cargo with a singleVickers Viscount
The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
The Visc ...
. Due to problems concerning the national airline, Air Zaire, Scibe Airlift became the first passenger airline in the country. After covering the whole country, it bought a Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
, which allowed for serving Europe. In the early 1990s Scibe Airlift was at its height, serving a multitude of destinations and leasing its aircraft out to European airlines. In 1992, it operated a DC-10-30 on its Kinshasa-Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
route.
The political instability of the country and the poor financial management of the company brought it to an end. Scibe Airlift ceased its operations on 29 September 1998 when its last aircraft was stored at London Southend Airport
London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of Southend-on-Sea and the Ro ...
.
Accidents and incidents
*On 13 December 1992 aFokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
F-27-400M operated by Scibe Airlift Cargo crashed with 37 fatalities about 10 km (6.3 mls) from Goma
Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...
*On 18 January 1994 a Learjet 24
The Learjet 24 is an American six-to-eight-seat (two crew and four to six passengers) twin-engine, high-speed business jet, which was manufactured by Learjet as the successor to the Learjet 23.
History
The Learjet 24 was designed as an improved ...
D operated by Scibe Airlift Cargo ran out of fuel and crashed on approach on a repositioning flight from Cotonou Airport
Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport is an airport in the Cadjehoun neighborhood of Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, in West Africa. The airport is the largest in the country, and as such, is the primary entry point into the country by air, with fligh ...
(COO/DBBB), Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
to Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
-N'djili Airport
N'djili Airport (french: Aéroport de N'djili ), also known as N'Djili International Airport and Kinshasa International Airport, serves the city of Kinshasa and is the largest of the four international airports in the Democratic Republic of th ...
(FIH/FZAA) killing two crew.
*The 1996 Air Africa crash
The 1996 Air Africa crash occurred on 8 January when an overloaded Zairese Air Africa's Antonov An-32B aircraft, bound for Kahemba Airport, overshot the runway at N'Dolo Airport in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) a ...
killed an estimated 297, mostly on the ground. It was a lease from Scibe."Le Crash d’un Avian cargo sur un marche au Zaïre fait pres de 250 morts", ''Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', 10 January 1996.
Historical fleet
*Beechcraft Super King Air 200
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was dropped in 1996. ...
* Boeing 707-320 and 707-320C
* Boeing 727-100 and 727-100C
* Canadair CL-601-3A
* de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300
* Fokker 27-400M and Fokker 27-500
* Learjet 24D
*Lockheed L-100-30
The Lockheed L-100 Hercules is the civilian variant of the prolific C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft made by the Lockheed Corporation. Its first flight occurred in 1964. Longer L-100-20 and L-100-30 versions were developed. L-100 pro ...
* McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 and DC-10-30
* Pilatus PC-6/B Turbo Porter
* Vickers Viscount 757 and 880C
Further reading
*J Rupert, "Zaïre reportedly selling arms toAngola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
n ex-rebels", ''The Washington Post'', 21 March 1997."Chaos am Himmel ueber Afrika", ''Die Zeit'', May 1996.
*
See also
*Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ground transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has always been difficult. The terrain and climate of the Congo Basin present serious barriers to road and rail construction, and the distances are enormous across this vast country ...
References
External links
Defunct airlines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Companies based in Kinshasa Airlines established in 1976 Airlines disestablished in 1998 1976 establishments in Zaire {{DRCongo-stub