An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane flying from Addis Ababa to Zambia accidentally landed at an airport that is still under construction, a government official and the airline said on Monday.
The plane hit the runway on Sunday at the incomplete airport in the northern Zambian province of Copperbelt, which is currently served by Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Misheck Lungu, said the pilot landed at the future Copperbelt International Airport “by mistake”.
“When he was about to land, he was communicating with the radar and they said to him, ‘We can’t see you,'” Lungu told AFP.
“So he used his vision because he had no control and landed at an airport still under construction.”
Lungu added that no damage resulted and said the investigators would publish a “comprehensive report” on the incident.
The pilot later flew the plane to its original destination.
Ethiopian Airlines confirmed the incident and said the details are being investigated in cooperation with the Zambian authorities.
In an email response to AFP, a spokesman said the pilots had not been notified of the construction of a new airport with “the same runway orientation” as the existing one.
“The fact that there is no NOTAM (warning to aviators) … and the proximity between the two airports may have contributed to the incident,” said the spokesman.
Zambia is the second largest copper producer in Africa, with most of the mineral found in the so-called Copper Belt.
The opening of the province’s new Chinese airport was initially scheduled for mid-2020, but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Once completed, the $ 397 million facility will have a larger load capacity than its predecessor, with upgraded amenities and 3,500 meters (yards) of runway.
Cargo flights helped Ethiopian Airlines to remain financially viable during the pandemic, with Africa’s largest carrier reusing dozens of passenger planes as cargo carriers.
str-burs-sch / gd