On Thursday, the Angara An-24 aircraft with 43 passengers on board crashed in the Amur region. The cause of the disaster has not yet been established, but it is known that the plane was very old. Almost the entire exploitation period specified by the manufacturer has already flew, but he still carried passengers, like other regional aircraft of this model, because in the conditions of sanctions Russian airlines have nothing to replace them. After the war began in Ukraine, these aircraft began to be exploited even more intensively.
The An-24 aircraft performed on the Chabarowsk-Błagowieczeszieńsk-Nynda route. He started with Chabarowska at 07.36 local time (22.36 on Wednesday Polish time). After the technical landing in Błagowieńsk, An-24 reappeared into the air with over two hours of delay (at 11:21 instead of at 9:10 local time). The plane was to land in plaster at approx. 13:14 (6.14 on Thursday Polish time). However, the plane disappeared from the radars a few kilometers from the airport.
The plane wreck and the burning fuselage were found at 15:26 local time, 15 km from Tynda. According to the Governor of the Amur District, there were 43 passengers (including five children) and six crew members on board. Nobody survived.
An-24 failed to land on the first attempt, then made the second round and disappeared from the radars, he informed the channel on the telegram base. The remains of the aircraft were found on the slope of the mountain. The main versions of the disaster are considering a failure and a human factor. Investigators also consider the crew error version during landing.
What is known about the broken plane. An-24 with the side number RA-47315 was produced in January 1976. Until 1993. The aircraft was exploited by Aerofłot. Then he performed flights for the airline of the Lyżgorodzkie Air Lines and that it was. Angara Airlines became the operator of the An-24 aircraft in 2021.
The broken plane from 2018 took part in four air accidents. Technical defects were recorded at least twice on this aircraft. In May 2022, a generator broke during the flight of the aircraft, and in March this year. During the flight from Irkutsk to Kireńska, the crew asked for permission to return to the starting airport due to problems with radio communication.
Antonov An-24b of Russian Angara airlinesOsokin / Wikimedia Commons soils
The planes are too old
One quarter of the fleet of An-24 and An-26 aircraft (about 100 machines) in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations should be withdrawn by 2030, but was to be withdrawn two years earlier, in 2028 it announced this in November 2023. Deputy General Director of the Istland concern, which includes, among others Angara.
As a reason for the accelerated withdrawal of aircraft, the deputy director gave the transfer of some work from foreign airlines to Russian, lack of economic profitability of their major renovation and no access to spare parts produced in Ukraine necessary to extend the operation of these aircraft.
The period of the An-24 aircraft set by the manufacturer is 50 years, but has been extended to 60 years (in the case of a plane broken on Thursday-until 2036). This was done without agreeing with the designer, i.e. Antonow. Only in May this year. The State Scientific Institute of Civil Aviation commissioned certification work to extend the operating period from 50 to 60 years for all An-26 aircraft.
An-24 disasters
Since 2010, three (not counting on Thursday) An-24 aircraft disaster in which people were killed in Russia. In two cases, Angara aircraft aircraft crashed.
- In August 2010, the An-24rv aircraft of the Kataracia airlines in conditions of poor visibility crashed during landing at the airport in Igarka. 11 people were killed, three crew members survived
- In July 2011, the An-24 aircraft aircraft Angara, flying from Tomsk to Surgut, due to the engine fire, landed on the river Ob. Seven people were killed
- In June 2019, Angara's An-24 aircraft aircraft during landing in Niżnangarsk fell out of the runway, hit the sewage treatment plant and caught fire. Two crew members were killed.
