(CNN) – An Ethiopian Airlines plane landed by mistake at a closed airport still under construction in Zambia, the carrier confirmed on Monday.
The flight – a cargo service traveling from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Ndola’s Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe airport – landed on Sunday at Zambia’s new Copperbelt International Airport, which has not yet opened, the airline said in a statement.
The flight – ET 3891 – made a safe landing at the new airport, Ethiopian Airlines added.
Copperbelt International Airport is approximately 21 kilometers (13 miles) from Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport by car.
The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Misheck Lungu, told AFP news agency that the pilot landed at the closed 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.”
Ethiopian Airlines said: “Although the details of the incident are under investigation in coordination with the Zambian Aeronautical Authorities, the fact that there was no NOTAM (warning to aviators) issued regarding the construction of the new airport, which has the same orientation as course of the runway with the existing one and the proximity between the two airports may have contributed to the incident. ”
“As always, Ethiopian Airlines takes flight safety very seriously and treats it as a top priority and will therefore take all necessary corrective and preventive measures in accordance with the investigation’s findings,” the statement added.
The completion of the new airport was scheduled for October 2020, according to Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL), which manages the country’s international airports. But construction was delayed because of the pandemic, with the installation scheduled to be completed this year, ZACL told CNN.
The new airport where the plane landed has a runway completely completed, ZACL added, and, by last month, the rest of the facilities are at least 88% complete.
ZACL said the new airport, which was initially called Copperbelt International Airport, should now take the name of the existing one – Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport – with the original location returning to the original name of Ndola International Airport and no longer being used for commercial flights. .