TMA Cargo

TMA Cargo
IATA code :	N2, formerly TL
ICAO code :	TMA
Call sign :	TANGO LIMA
Founding:	1953
Operation stopped:	2014
Seat:	Beirut , Lebanon
Turnstile :	Beirut airport
Home airport :	Beirut airport
Management:	Mazen Bissat ( CEO )
Fleet size:	1
Aims:	National and international
TMA Cargo ceased operations in 2014. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

A TMA Douglas DC-6 in 1972

TMA Cargo , formerly Trans Mediterranean Airways , was a Lebanese cargo and passenger airline based in Beirut and a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization .

history

The airline was founded in 1953 with a cargo and passenger flight service, but without a fixed flight schedule. In 1966 an office was opened in North America for the first time. The first jet aircraft to be leased was a Boeing 707 -320C cargo plane. From 1967 you flew to the Far East. The fleet now consisted of two Douglas DC-4s , six Douglas DC-6s , two Canadair CL-44s and a Boeing 707-320C.

In the 1970s, the company said it had the largest cargo flight network in the world at times. It acquired three Boeing 707-320s in 1971 and the first Boeing 747 in 1975 . TMA became the first cargo airline to fly in both directions around the world.

Air traffic had to be interrupted between 1985 and 1986 due to the Lebanese civil war .

With new capital, TMA tried to return to its old size. In 1999 she ranked according to IATA list again among the top five cargo aircraft companies in terms of capacity utilization.

TMA ceased operations in February 2004 after the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority revoked its license because of safety problems with the aging Boeing 707 fleet. At that time, TMA was owned by Lebanese Air Investment Holding (99.9%) and private investors.

Reports existed in September 2005 that TMA had plans to renew its fleet by acquiring new aircraft. Boeing 747-200 F were to be obtained for long-haul flights , as well as medium-haul and short-haul cargo planes as feeders. TMA also planned to enter the passenger charter business with 150 seats under the name TMA Leisure .

In 2010, operations were finally resumed as a pure cargo airline with initially one aircraft.

In November 2014, it was announced that air traffic had ceased and the last remaining aircraft had been sold to EAT Leipzig .

aims

TMA Cargo served major cargo hubs in Europe and the Middle East, including Amsterdam and Riyadh .

A TMA Boeing 707 in 1990

A TMA Boeing 747 in 1975

fleet

Fleet at the end of operations

Most recently, the TMA Cargo fleet consisted of a cargo aircraft:

• 1 Airbus A300-600RF

Previously deployed aircraft

The following types of aircraft were also used before:

• Airbus A310 (rented)
• Avro York
• Boeing 707
• Boeing 747-100
• Douglas DC-4
• Douglas DC-6
• Douglas DC-8 (rented)
• Lockheed Starliner (rented)
• Lockheed L-100 Hercules (rented)
• Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (rented)

Incidents

A Douglas DC-4 of the TMA, identical in construction to the ones destroyed in 1962 and 1968

From 1961 to the end of operations in 2014, Trans Mediterranean Airways - TMA Cargo suffered 14 total aircraft losses. In 5 of them, 24 people were killed. Of the total losses, however, 4 were due to acts of war or terrorist attacks. Examples:

• On May 24, 1961, the left tire of an Avro York CI operated by Trans Mediterranean Airways (TMA) ( aircraft registration OD-ACO ) burst during take-off from Azaiba Airport ( Oman ). The pilots returned for an emergency landing. The aircraft came off the runway, the landing gear collapsed and the machine was irreparably damaged. All occupants survived the accident.

• On April 6, 1962, on a Kuwait Airways cargo flight, an Avro York C.1 crashed into Lahore Airport due to a malfunction of the landing gear . The machine (OD-ACN) was rented from TMA. All three crew members survived; the plane was ready for scrap.

A Boeing 707 of the TMA, destroyed in Beirut during the armed conflict in 1982

• On July 9, 1962, a Douglas DC-4 (OD-AEC) hit the sea 2200 m behind the end of the runway at Brindisi-Casale Airport . With the cargo plane on the way to Beirut Airport, the altitude could no longer be maintained after two engines failed. In addition, the six-person crew who were killed in the accident were overtired.

• On September 11, 1962, an Avro York operated by Trans Mediterranean Airways (OD-ADA ) was irreparably damaged in a landing accident at Azaiba airport ( Oman ). All three crew members survived the accident.

• On March 15, 1963, the Avro York OD-ACZ flew into the mountains ten minutes after take-off, 26 km west of Tehran-Mehrabad airport in good weather. The test captain, who was the third pilot, probably simulated an engine failure of engine no. 4, followed by the actual failure of engine no. 3. A timely restart of the intact engine no. 4 apparently did not take place. All four crew members of the cargo plane were killed. This was the last Avro York accident in the world before it ceased operations in 1964.

• On 28/29 In December 1968, Israeli commandos landed at Beirut airport and blew up 14 planes from various Lebanese airlines, including a Douglas DC-4 and DC-6 from the TMA, as well as fuel dumps in retaliation for a Palestinian attack on an Israeli plane on December 26, 1968 in Athens.

• On July 23, 1979, a Boeing 707 of Trans Mediterranean Airways ( OD-AFX ) crashed during a training flight without passengers. On the third touch-and-go of the flight, the aircraft came into an uncontrollable attitude and crashed on the airfield. All six crew members were killed.

See also

• Former Airlines List (Asia)

Web links

Commons : TMA Cargo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ jp airline markings 72
2. ↑ jp airline-fleets, Edition 76
3. ↑ ^{a b} tma.com.lb - Freight ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) accessed on January 22, 2011 
4. ↑ ch-aviation.com - News accessed on April 26, 2015
5. ↑ ch-aviation.ch - TMA Cargo fleet , accessed on August 16, 2013
6. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Zurich Airport 1966–2007.
7. ^ Ulrich Klee, Frank Bucher et al .: jp airline-fleets international . Sutton, UK, 2008-2013.
8. ↑ Accident statistics Trans Mediterranean Airways - TMA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 12, 2018.
9. ^ Accident report Avro York OD-ACO , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 26, 2019.
10. ^ Accident report Avro York OD-ACN , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 23, 2016.
11. ^ Accident report DC-4 OD-AEC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 21, 2016.
12. ^ Accident report Avro York OD-ADA , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on October 26, 2019.
13. ^ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 15 Volume II, Circular 78-AN / 66, pp. 29-33
14. ^ Accident report Avro York OD-ACZ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 21, 2016.
15. ↑ Report List 1968/3, Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed November 9, 2015.
16. ^ Accident report B-707 OD-AFX , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 13, 2018.