Nouadhibou International Airport Explained

Nouadhibou International Airport
Nativename:
Iata:	NDB
Icao:	GQPP
Pushpin Map:	Mauritania
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location of airport in Mauritania
Pushpin Label:	NDB
Pushpin Label Position:	right
Type:	Public
Operator:	Government
City-Served:	Nouadhibou, Mauritania
Elevation-F:	16
Elevation-M:	5
Coordinates:	20.9331°N -17.0297°W
Metric-Rwy:	y
R1-Number:	02/20
R1-Length-M:	2,426.5
R1-Length-F:	7,961
R1-Surface:	Asphalt
Footnotes:	Source: DAFIF^[1]

Nouadhibou Airport is an airport serving Nouadhibou (formerly Port-Étienne), a city in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou region of Mauritania.

Accidents and incidents

On July 2, 1942, a Lockheed 18-07-01 Lodestar (F-ARTL) of Air France crashed shortly after takeoff. All 3 occupants survived and the plane was written off.^[2]
On August 7, 1980, a Tupolev Tu-154B-1 (YR-TPH) of Tarom arriving from Bucharest was approaching and the crew couldn't see the runway at the 90 meter decision height. The plane contacted water 300 meters short of the runway at 03:04, which the pilot mistook for dry land, leading to a missed approach procedure being initiated. 1 passenger out of the 168 occupants was killed, and the plane was written off.^[3]
On April 10, 2001, an Antonov An-12BK (3C-AWU) of Air West Co. departing for Nouakchott made a forced landing on the beach 6 km from the runway during initial climb after one of the engines caught fire; the plane later burnt out. All 6 occupants survived.^[4]