Antonov An-24

The Antonov An-24 (Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 and manufactured in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau.

Design and development


First flown in 1959, over 1,000 An-24s were built and 880 are still in service worldwide, mostly in the CIS and Africa, with a total of 297 Antonov An-24 aircraft in airline service, as of May 2010.

It was designed to replace the veteran piston Ilyushin Il-14 transport on short to medium haul trips, optimised for operating from rough strips and unprepared airports in remote locations. The high-wing layout protects engines and blades from debris, the power-to-weight ratio is higher than that of many comparable aircraft and the machine is rugged, requiring minimal ground support equipment.

Due to its rugged airframe and good performance, the An-24 was adapted to carry out many secondary missions such as ice reconnaissance and engine/propeller test-bed, as well as further development to produce the An-26 tactical transport, An-30 photo-mapping/survey aircraft and An-32 tactical transport with more powerful engines. Various projects were envisaged such as a four jet short/medium haul airliner and various iterations of powerplant.

The main production line was at the Kiev-Svyatoshino (now "Aviant") aircraft production plant which built 985, with 180 built at Ulan Ude and a further 197 An-24T tactical transport/freighters at Irkutsk. Production in the USSR was shut down by 1978.

Production continues at China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation which makes licenced, reverse-engineered and redesigned aircraft as the Xian [Yunshuji] Y7, and its derivatives. Manufacture of the Y7, in civil form, has now been supplanted by the MA60 derivative with western engines and avionics, to improve performance and economy, and widen the export appeal.

Variants



 * An-24
 * Original design and prototypes. Twin-engined 44-seat transport aircraft.


 * An-24A
 * (first use) Airliner project powered by Kuznetsov NK-4 turbo-props, discontinued when the NK-4 was cancelled.


 * An-24A
 * (second use) Production 50-seat airliners built at Kiev with the APU exhaust moved to the tip of the starboard nacelle.


 * An-24ALK (Avtomatizeerovannaya [sistema] Lyotnovo Kontrolya – automatic flight check system)
 * Several An-24s were converted for navaids calibration tasks, with one An-24LR 'Toros' re-designated An-24ALK after conversion. This aircraft was fitted with a photo-theodolite and powerful light sources for the optical sensors.


 * An-24AT
 * A 1962 project for a Tactical transport with rear loading ramp and powered by Isotov TV2-117DS coupled turboprops.


 * An-24AT-RD (RD – Reaktivnyye Dvigateli – jet engines)
 * The An-24AT tactical transport project with two turbojet boosters pod-mounted under the outer wings and a wider loading ramp.


 * An-24AT-U (Uskoriteli – boosters)
 * A projected Tactical transport from 1966 with three or five PRD-63 (Porokhovoy Raketnyy Dvigatel – gunpowder rocket engine) JATO bottles, wider cargo ramp and provision for up to three brake parachutes.


 * An-24B
 * The second 50-seat airliner version with one extra window each side, simple-slotted flaps replacing the complex double-slotted flaps and extended chord of the centre-section to compensate for the lower performance flaps. Some aircraft were delivered with four extra fuel bladders in the wing centre-section.

A projected long-range airliner version of the An-24B with a single RU-19 booster jet engine in the starboard nacelle, stretched fuselage with seating for 60, strengthened structure and increased fuel capacity.
 * An-24D :
 * An-24LL (Letyushchaya Laborotoriya – flying laboratory)
 * The generic suffix LL can be applied to any test-bed, but in the An-24's case seems to refer to a single aircraft equipped for metrology (science of measurement), to be used for checking the airworthiness of production aircraft.


 * An-24LP (LesoPozharnyy – forest fire fighter)
 * Three An-24RV aircraft converted into fire bombers/cloud seeders by installing a tank in the cabin, optical smoke and flame detectors, provision for a thermal imager, racks for carrying flare dispensers and the ability to carry firefighters for para-dropping.


 * An-24LR 'Toros' (Ice Hummock)(Ledovyy Razvedchik – ice reconnaissance)
 * At least two An-24Bs converted to carry the 'Toros' SLAR(sideways looking airborne radar) either side of the lower fuselage, for ice reconnaissance, guiding icebreakers, convoys and other shipping.


 * An-24LR 'Nit' (Thread)
 * One An-24B was converted to with 'Nit' SLAR in very large pods along the lower fuselage sides.


 * An-24PRT (Poiskovo-spasahtel'nyy Reaktivnyy [Uskoritel'] Transportnyy – SAR boosted transport)
 * The production search and rescue aircraft based on the An-24RT, eleven built.


 * An-24PS (Poiskovo-Spasahtel'nyy – SAR)
 * A single An-24B aircraft converted for search and rescue duties, rejected after acceptance trials in favour of a derivative of the An-24RT.


 * An-24RR ([samolyot] Radiotsionnyy Razvedchik – radiation reconnaissance [aircraft])
 * Four aircraft converted as Nuclear, biological and chemical warfare reconnaissance versions of the An-24B, carrying RR8311-100 air sampling pods low on the forward fuselage and a sensor pod on a pylon on the port fuselage side.


 * An-24RT (Reaktivnyy [Uskoritel'] Transportnyy – boosted transport)
 * Similar to the AN-24T, fitted with an auxiliary turbojet engine.


 * An-24RT (Retranslyator – relay installation)
 * A few An-24T and An-24RT aircraft converted to Communications relay aircraft. Sometimes referred to as An-24Rt to differentiate from the An-24RT.


 * An-24RV (Reaktivnyy [Uskoritel'] V – boosted V)
 * Turbojet boosted export version, similar to the An-24V but fitted with a 1,985-lb (900-kg) thrust auxiliary turbojet engine in the starboard nacelle.


 * An-24ShT (Shtabnoy Transportnyy – Staff/HQ transport)
 * A tactical Airborne Command Post for use by commanders, also capable of forming ground based communications and HQ.


 * An-24T (Transportnyy – transport)
 * (first use) Tactical transport version, rejected due to poor field performance during acceptance testing.


 * An-24T (Transportnyy – transport)
 * (second use) A tactical transport version with a ventral loading hatch, cargo winch and escape hatch aft of the nose landing gear.


 * An-24T 'Troyanda (Ukrainian – rose)
 * From the 1960s the Soviet Union was faced with nuclear submarine threats that were virtually undetectable with the technology available. To assist in the development of sophisticated, optical, chemical, sonic, infra-red and electromagnetic detection systems several aircraft were built or modified as test-beds. One significant aircraft was the An-24T 'Troyanda' which was built new, for the development of sonobuoy and infra-red detection systems. As well as equipment inside the cabin, sensors could be mounted in large teardrop fairings either side of the lower forward fuselage, and extra equipment could also be carried in extended wing centre-section fairings.


 * An-24TV (Transportnyy V – transport V)
 * The export cargo version of the An-24T.


 * An-24USh (Uchebno-Shturmanskiy (samolyot) – Navigator training aircraft)
 * Seven An-24Bs were converted to An-24USh navigator/air traffic controller trainers with five training stations and four standard rows of seats for trainees in waiting. Outwardly the Ush was distinguishable by the bulged windows at each trainee station.


 * An-24V-I
 * The initial export version of the An-24B 50-seat airliner with the early narrow chord inner wings, double-slotted flaps, single ventral fin, powered by two 2,550 hp (1,902 kW) Ivchenko AI-24A turboprop engines.


 * An-24V-II
 * Export late production 50-seat mixed passenger, cargo and freight aircraft with extended chord inner wing, single-slotted flaps, twin ventral fins and powered by AI-24T(SrsII) engines.


 * An-26
 * Tactical transport with cargo ramp.


 * An-30
 * Survey/Photo-mapping aircraft.


 * An-32
 * Hot and high re-engined An-26.


 * An-34
 * The initial designation of the An-24T production tactical transport, discarded shortly after production began.


 * An-50
 * A mid-1960s project for a jet-powered An-24, with four Ivchenko AI-25 turbofan engines in podded pairs, pylon mounted forward of the wings. Not proceeded with due to competition from the Yak-40.


 * Xian Y-7
 * The Y-7 is a Chinese reverse-engineered version of The An-24 /An-26 family.


 * MA60
 * Up-graded and Westernised Y7.


 * An-24
 * In the early 1990s, North Korea installed N-019 Topaz pulse-Doppler radars on at least one of its An-24 aircraft in an attempt to achieve a rudimentary Airborne Early Warning (AEW) capability.

Military operators

 * : People's Air and Air Defence Force of Angola
 * : Armenian Air Force
 * : Azerbaijan Air Force
 * : Belarus Air Force
 * : Bulgaria Air Force
 * : Royal Cambodian Air Force
 * People's Liberation Army Air Force; as Xian Y-7
 * People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force
 * : Congolese Air Force
 * : Cuban Air Force
 * Georgian Air Force
 * : Military of Guinea
 * : Military of Guinea-Bissau
 * : Equatorial Guinea Air Force
 * : Hungarian Air Force
 * : Iranian Air Force
 * : Air Force of Mali – 2
 * : Korean People's Army Air Force
 * Russian Air Force
 * Russian Naval Aviation
 * : Sudanese Air Force
 * : Syrian Air Force
 * : Military of Turkmenistan
 * : Ukrainian Air Force
 * : Military of Uzbekistan
 * : Military of Turkmenistan
 * : Ukrainian Air Force
 * : Military of Uzbekistan

Former military operators

 * : The Afghan Air Force received six from 1975.
 * : Algerian Air Force
 * : Bangladeshi Air Force, none in service, all retired
 * Czech air force (before 2005)
 * : Czechoslovakian Air Force – No longer in service.
 * : Air Forces of the National People's Army
 * : Egyptian Air Force
 * : Georgian Air Force
 * : Iraqi Air Force
 * : Military of Kazakhstan
 * Laos
 * Pathet Lao
 * Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force
 * : Military of Mozambique
 * : Mongolian Air Force
 * : Nicaraguan Air Force
 * : Polish Air Force- 6 operated from 1966 to 1977; replaced with An-26
 * : Romanian Air Force – the last An-24 of the RoAF was retired in 2007
 * : Slovak Air Force last one retired in 2006
 * : Somali Air Corps
 * Soviet Air Force
 * Soviet Naval Aviation
 * : Vietnam People's Air Force
 * : Yemen Air Force
 * : Yemen Air Force

Civil operators
Major operators of some of the 448 Antonov An-24 aircraft still in airline service at August 2006 include: Scat Air (20), Yakutia Airlines (10). Some 112 other airlines also operate smaller numbers of the type.

Following fatal incidents in July 2011 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proposed the accelerated decommissioning of AN-24s, which resulted in a ban for this type from scheduled flights inside Russia.


 * PMTair
 * President Airlines
 * Royal Khmer Airlines
 * Air Koryo (8)
 * Askari Aviation
 * Exin (4)
 * Aeroflot (6)
 * Novosibirsk Air Enterprise (9)
 * UT Air (17)
 * Yakutia Airlines (17)
 * Jubba Airways (1)
 * Air Urga (7)
 * ARP 410 Airlines (10)
 * Motor Sich Airlines (2)
 * Daallo Airlines
 * Jubba Airways (1)
 * Air Urga (7)
 * ARP 410 Airlines (10)
 * Motor Sich Airlines (2)
 * Daallo Airlines
 * Motor Sich Airlines (2)
 * Daallo Airlines
 * Daallo Airlines

Former civil operators
Civil operators have included:
 * Pan African Air Service.


 * Ariana Afghan Airlines
 * Pamir Airways
 * Belavia
 * Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
 * Civil Aviation Administration of China
 * China Southern Airlines
 * Lina Congo
 * Aero Caribbean
 * Cubana
 * Interflug
 * Egyptair
 * Misrair
 * Air Guinee
 * Union des Transports Africains (West Coast Airways)
 * Iraqi Airways
 * Kyrgyzstan Air Company
 * Lebanese Air Transport
 * Air Mali (1960-1985)
 * MIAT Mongolian Airlines
 * Mosphil Aero
 * LOT Polish Airlines
 * TAROM
 * Lionair
 * Turkmenistan Airlines (22)
 * Aeroflot
 * Aerosvit
 * Uzbekistan Airways
 * Lebanese Air Transport
 * Air Mali (1960-1985)
 * MIAT Mongolian Airlines
 * Mosphil Aero
 * LOT Polish Airlines
 * TAROM
 * Lionair
 * Turkmenistan Airlines (22)
 * Aeroflot
 * Aerosvit
 * Uzbekistan Airways
 * TAROM
 * Lionair
 * Turkmenistan Airlines (22)
 * Aeroflot
 * Aerosvit
 * Uzbekistan Airways
 * Aeroflot
 * Aerosvit
 * Uzbekistan Airways
 * Uzbekistan Airways
 * Uzbekistan Airways

Summary: as of 2012

 * Hull-loss accidents: 136 with a total of 1966 fatalities
 * Other occurrences: 13 with a total of 59 fatalities
 * Hijackings: 33 with a total of 4 fatalities

An-24 accidents

 * On 18 March 1966, United Arab Airlines Flight 749 crashed while attempting to land at Cairo International Airport. All 30 passengers and crew on board were killed.
 * 24 January 1969, LOT Polish Airlines, Flight 149 from Warsaw to Wrocław (Poland) with 48 passengers and crew on board. The Plane with reg. number SP-LTE crashed shortly before landing at the Wrocław Strachowice Airport. There were no casualties although the plane was irreparably destroyed.
 * On 2 April 1969 at 16:08 local time, a LOT plane registered SP-LTF, crashed into Polica, a mountain near Zawoja. The aircraft with 48 passengers and five crew on board had been operating Flight 165 from Warsaw to Kraków when the pilots lost orientation because of a snowstorm. There were no survivors.
 * On 28 February 1973 Polish Air Force An-24W s/n 97305702 (tail number 012), crashed in Szczecin, north-west Poland. All 18 people on board were killed (including ministers of the interior of Poland and Czechoslovakia).
 * On 29 December 1974, an Antonov An-24 (YR-AMD) operating on a domestic scheduled flight from Bucharest to Sibiu crashed into the side of the Mountains (Muntii) Lotrului (22 km south of Sibiu) at an altitude of 1,700 m, killing all 28 passengers and 5 crew members. The crew's incorrect approach procedure execution, which led to the aircraft drifting south off course by 20 km, while the wind was increasing turbulence was present.
 * On 26 March 1981, LOT Polish Airlines, flight from Warsaw to Słupsk (Poland) with 51 passengers and crew on board. The plane with reg. number SP-LTU crashed before landing at the Slupsk-Redzikowo Airport about 2 km from the runway threshold. One passenger were killed, 4 or 5 persons were seriously injured.
 * On 11 August 1981, LOT Polish Airlines, flight from Katowice to Gdańsk by SP-LTT(c/n 97305701), was hijacked, and one hijacker demanded to be taken to West Germany. Plane was stormed and hijacker arrested with duration of the hijacking less than 1 day. The same registered plane was used in Polish film series "07 zgłoś się", as a hijacked plane.
 * On 2 November 1988, LOT Flight 703 had to execute an emergency landing on a field near Rzeszów following an engine failure, killing one passenger. The other 24 passengers and four crew on board the plane with reg. number SP-LTD survived, though most of them received serious injuries.
 * On 28 December 1989, during the Romanian revolution, an AN 24 aircraft flying from Bucharest to Belgrade, carrying journalist Ian Henry Perry, was shot down by a missile atVişina, Dâmboviţa. All the people on board (six crew members and the passenger) died.
 * On 18 March 1997, Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia Flight 1023 crashed into a forest in Cherkessk, Russia killing 50 on board.
 * 29 September 1998 – Lionair Flight 602, operated by an Antonov An-24RV, fell into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka under mysterious circumstances. The aircraft departed Jaffna-Palaly Air Force Base on a flight to Colombo and disappeared from radar screens just after the pilot had reported depressurization. Initial reports indicated that the plane had been shot down by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels. All 7 crew and 48 passengers were killed.
 * On 4 April 2001 a Sudanese Air Force An-24 crashed on take-off in Adaril near Malakal.
 * On 16 July 2005, an Equatorial Express Airlines An-24 crashed into a jungle near Baney shortly after takeoff, killing all 60 people on board.
 * On 19 January 2006, a Slovak An-24 military transport with 43 persons on board (of which 28 were soldiers) crashed in Hungary, only 3 km from the Slovak border. Only one person survived, and 42 were reported dead. The plane was carrying Slovak KFOR forces that had been serving in Kosovo for half a year. See also 2006 Slovak Air Force Antonov An-24 crash
 * On 25 June 2007, a Cambodian PMTair An-24 commercial flight with 16 passengers and six crew on board crashed in mountains 130 km south of the capital Phnom Penh. The flight was en route from Siem Reap, near the historic Angkor Wat temples, to the coastal town of Sihanoukville. See also PMTair Flight U4 241
 * On 4 February 2010, Yakutia Airlines Flight 425, operated by RA-47360 suffered an engine failure on take-off from Yakutsk Airport for Olekminsk Airport. During the subsequent landing, the nose and port main undercarriage were retracted, causing substantial damage to the aircraft.
 * On 17 May 2010, a Pamir Airways Antonov AN-24 operating as Flight 112 crashed 100 km away from Kabul International Airport. The plane was en route from Kunduz Airport to Kabul, when it suddenly disappeared from radar.
 * On 3 August 2010, Katekavia Flight 9357, operated by an Antonov An-24, crashed on approach to Igarka Airport, Russia. Seven people were killed. The aircraft was on a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Krasnoyarsk Airport.
 * On 11 November 2010, a Tarco Airlines An-24 flight from Khartoum International Airport crashed on landing at Zalingei Airport, Sudan. One passenger was killed. One person received serious injuries and another five escaped with minor injuries The remaining 32 passengers and five crew escaped injury.
 * On 11 July 2011, Angara Airlines Flight 5007 from Bogashevo Airport, Tomsk to Surgut International Airport, Surgut, operated by RA-47302 suffered an in-flight engine fire. Although an attempt was made to divert to Nizhnevartovsk Airport, the aircraft ditched in the Ob Canal some 30 km short of the airport. At least five people were killed and the aircraft was written off.
 * On 8 August 2011, IrAero Flight 103 overran the runway on landing at Blagoveshchensk Airport, Russia. Twelve of the 36 people on board were injured.
 * On 28 April 2012, Jubba Airways flight 6J-711 blew both right main gear tires on landing, causing the aircraft to veer off the runway at Abdullahi Yusuf International Airport in Galkayo, Somalia. The wing separated from the body of the aircraft.  No injuries were reported, although the aircraft was substatially damaged.
 * On 13 February 2013, an AN 24 operated by South Airlines on an internal Ukrainian flight between Odessa and Donetsk crash-landed and caught fire at Donetsk International Airport.
 * On 9 August 2013, an AN 24 operated by the Ethiopian Air Force crash landed at Mogadishu International Airport while carrying ammunition, killing four of the six crew.