DR Congo DC-8-73(F) accident leaves one flying worldwide

A rare DC-8-73(CF), the last remaining aircraft of Congolese cargo carrier Trans Air Cargo Service (Kinshasa N’Djili) (TACS), 9S-AJO (msn 46133), was severely damaged when it suffered a nose landing gear collapse during a runway excursion at Kinshasa N’Djili on September 8, 2026, according to multiple news reports.

On May 24, 2013, the same aircraft, then registered as 9Q-CJO, was involved in a collision with another aircraft on the apron at Lubumbashi, according to ch-aviation research.

The company-owned 55.5-year-old freighter was delivered new to World Airways (1948) in 1971 and was operated over the years by Capitol International Airways, which went out of business in 1984; Viasa, which stopped trading in 1997; Emery Worldwide, which merged into UPS Airlines in 2001; and Gestair Cargo, which was liquidated in 2013.

TACS acquired the freighter in November 2011, according to aviation data, and it was the carrier’s last aircraft after the company scrapped a DC-8-62(F), 9S-AJG (msn 46110), in 2024.

The latest incident leaves only one DC-8-73(F) freighter in service worldwide, according to ch-aviation data.

The last remaining 56.5-year-old DS-8-73(F), OB-2231P (msn 46125), is owned by Peru’s SkyBus Cargo Charters, but is based at Miami International. It was delivered new to Air Canada in 1970, and operated by now-defunct Astar Air Cargo from 1993, before it was acquired by SkyBus Cargo Charters in December 2017. It remains the last aircraft in the Lima-based carrier’s fleet.

ch-aviation has contacted TACS for comment.