Port Kaituma Airport | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Serves | Port Kaituma | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 20 ft / 6[2] m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 7°44′32.644″N 59°52′54.84″W / 7.74240111°N 59.8819000°W | ||||||||||
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Port Kaituma Airport (IATA: PKM, ICAO: SYPK) is an airport serving the village of Port Kaituma, in the Barima-Waini Region of Guyana.
Port Kaituma Airport made headlines on 18 November 1978 when US Congressman Leo Ryan and his team boarded a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter with registration 8R-GEJ. Ryan had been investigating the Peoples Temple cult of Jim Jones. The aircraft carrying 16 people was about to depart, when it was attacked by armed commune members. The attack resulted in five deaths including Ryan and 11 wounded. A Cessna 310G carrying six defectors from the cult was also attacked resulting in two injuries. The attack marked the beginning of the Jonestown massacre.[3]