Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to GOM:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- GOM Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about GOM
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to GOM
- List of Nearest Airports to GOM
- Map of Furthest Airports from GOM
- List of Furthest Airports from GOM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Goma Airport (GOM), Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,486 miles (or 13,657 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Malmstrom Air Force Base and Goma Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Malmstrom Air Force Base and Goma Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GOM / FZNA |
Airport Name: | Goma Airport |
Location: | Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
GPS Coordinates: | 1°40'11"S by 29°14'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5089 feet (1,551 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GOM |
More Information: | GOM Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- Construction of the wing's first launch facility began in March 1961 and was completed in December.
- This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
- Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
- Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
Facts about Goma Airport (GOM):
- Initially built with a paved 3 km runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2002 eruption of the volcano Nyiragongo, 14 km to the north.
- The closest airport to Goma Airport (GOM) is Gisenyi Airport (GYI), which is located only 2 miles (2 kilometers) ESE of GOM.
- Because of Goma Airport's high elevation of 5,089 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GOM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GOM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Goma Airport (GOM) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,981 miles (19,282 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
- Goma Airport (GOM) currently has only 1 runway.
- At 17:55 local time on 4 March 2013, a Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Fokker 50 from Lodja crashed short of landing in heavy rain, into a residential area.