[Hidden Gem] Hewa Bora Airways’ Lockheed L-1011 TriStar – Parc de la Vallée de la Nsele, Congo-Kinshasa

Hewa Bora Airways, Swahili for “Fresh Air“, was the national airline of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The entire fleet of the airline was blacklisted in European airspace. In 2011, the airline’s Air Operator’s Certificate was suspended, following a fatal crash with a Boeing 727 on a domestic flight between Kinshasa and Kisangani in 2011.

From 2007, Hewa Bora Airways’ Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (9Q-CHC / MSN 1209), previously operated by Air Canada and Delta Air Lines, was stored at Kinshasa’s N’Djili Airport. In the meantime, the aircraft has been cut into three pieces and transported to the Parc de la Vallée de la Nsele. The TriStar has then put back together and found its final resting place on top of a hill next to a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 737 (registrations unknown).

In total, three aircraft will be converted into a bar / disco, a restaurant and a hotel.