Trans Air Cargo Service’s Douglas DC-8-73CF, registration 9S-AJO, ran off the runway while landing at Kinshasa N’Djili International Airport on 8 September and came to rest on soft ground with no fatalities reported. The cargo aircraft had been returning to base after a hydraulic-system failure on a Kinshasa–Kisangani flight, with the landing ending in a runway excursion that left the nose gear collapsed.
The Congolese aviation accident bureau and the RVA airport authority are investigating the event, which involved one of the last commercial DC-8s still flying. Early reports mention haze and reduced visibility at the airport, but the cause has not been established. Aviation Week reported that investigators have sought outside help to decode the aircraft’s ageing recorders, underscoring the challenge of analysing a rare legacy freighter accident.
Later accounts clarified that the aircraft was not on a routine return leg. After the hydraulic problem emerged roughly 14 minutes into the flight, the crew turned back toward Kinshasa before the jet overran the runway on landing.