Rudi Kappel Airstrip is located south of the
Tafelberg tepui
A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...
in
Suriname. It was constructed as part of
Operation Grasshopper. It used to be named Tafelberg Airstrip, but was renamed Rudi Kappel Airstrip, after the
co-pilot of a flight that crashed near
Vincent Fayks Airport
Vincent Fayks Airstrip , in Paloemeu, Suriname. The airport was constructed as part of Operation Grasshopper. It was named after the Polish pilot Vincent Fajks who crashed with co-pilot Ronald Kappel with their Aero Commander AC 520 (PZ-TA ...
on 6 October 1959.
History
The airstrip was the first airstrip to be constructed in the interior of Suriname. On 3 March 1958, the expedition to the Tafelberg began. One of the goals of the expedition was to examine whether an airstrip could be built on the savanna. On 16 March, Rudi Kappel, H. Massink, and 18
Amerindian
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
s started clearing the area, and on 24 March, the first plane landed on the airstrip. In February 1959,
Operation Grasshopper was announced which intended to map the natural resources in the
interior of Suriname. As part of the operation, six more airstrips were to be constructed.
Charters and destinations
Charter Airlines serving this airport are:
Accidents and incidents
* On 25 October 1968 a
Douglas C-47A
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
PH-DAA of
KLM Aerocarto flew into Tafelberg following an engine failure whilst on a survey flight. The aircraft collided with the mountain in cloud, killing three of the five people on board.
See also
*
*
*
List of airports in Suriname
This is a list of airports in Suriname, sorted by location.
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America. It is situated between French Guiana to the east and Guyana to the west. The southern border is s ...
*
Transport in Suriname
The Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname) has a number of forms of transport. Transportation emissions are an increasing part of Suriname's contributions to climate change, as part of the Nationally Determined Contributions for the Par ...
References
External links
Aerial photoTafelberg runway
Mountain tours
Airports in Suriname
Sipaliwini District
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