On 12 February 2012, a Katanga Express

Gulfstream IV The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United State ...

business jet carrying several Congolese government officials overran the runway and crashed on landing at

Kavumu Airport Kavumu Airport is an airport serving Bukavu, the capital city of the Sud-Kivu (South Kivu) province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airport is north of Bukavu. The Bukavu non-directional beacon (Ident: BKV) is located on the field ...

near

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Two crew members and two passengers were killed, along with two people on the ground.

Victims

Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed in the impact, along with two farmers on the ground. Two of the eight passengers were also killed: the former Governor of Katanga Province and President Kabila's closest advisor Augustin Katumba Mwanke and the ex-President Director General of OGEDEP (''Office de Gestion de la Dette Publique'') and national deputy for the district of Lukunga Oscar Dimageko Gema, who died of his injuries two weeks later. Among the survivors was Finance Minister and future Prime Minister

Augustin Matata Ponyo Matata Ponyo Mapon (born 5 June 1964) is a Congolese political figure who was Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 18 April 2012 to 17 November 2016. Previously he served as Minister of Finance from 21 February 2010 to 12 A ...

, who was seriously injured, and the roving ambassador of President Kabila and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Antoine Ghonda.

Aftermath

After the crash, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's decided to suspend the license of Katanga Express while the Congolese and American teams investigated the cause of the crash. Katanga Express was listed as an air carrier banned from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

ten months later, in December 2012.

Investigation

The investigation revealed that the airplane touched down about 1,200 meters past the threshold of the 2,000 meter runway. The 800 meters left for the landing rollout was insufficient to safely land a Gulfstream IV.

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2012 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Katanga Express Gulfstream IV crash Aviation accidents and incidents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bukavu February 2012 events in Africa 2012 disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo