The Facts !
Ndola, Zambia has two Airports at a distance of approx. 13 kilometers ,
► Ndola's old Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport - status "Active" for Operations.
► Under construction and New Ndola's new Copperbelt International Airport - status "Closed".
The Twin Flight Goof Up !
On 4th of April , two of the Ethiopian Airlines aircrafts (ET-AQP and ET-AYL) got confused with the correct Runway alignment , One of them (ET-AQP - a B737-800) aligned with the Underconstruction Copperbelt International Airport runway but upon realization, went around from a mere 50 feet above ground level (AGL) , but the other aircraft (ET-AYL) fell in the trap and landed on the Copperbelt International Airport.
The Story - Inauguration of the Runway By mistake !
The Ethiopian Airlines Boeing B737-800 freighter ( ET-AYL) was performing a flight ET-3891 from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to Ndola (Zambia) , was destined to land at Ndola's active (old) Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, but ended up on Ndola's new Copperbelt International Airport, that is located around 13.3 kilometers (9nm) from the scheduled airport.
When the aircraft taxied to the apron, cockpit realized that they have landed at the wroung airport, thanks to the signals of the airport construction workers. The crew then continued to taxi across the apron, entered the runway via the next taxiway and took off again.
Video footage taken by a construction worker suggests that , the aircraft taxied across the apron with several construction workers gesticulating to tell the crew, they were at the wrong airport.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObR6bszBKFI
