Antonov An-140

The Antonov An-140 is a turboprop regional airliner, designed by the Ukrainian Antonov ASTC bureau. It first flew on 17 September 1997. Apart from the main production line in Kharkiv by KSAMC, the aircraft is being manufactured in Samara by Aviakor, and assembled under license by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) in Shahin Shahr, Isfahan Province, Iran (as the IrAn-140 or Iran-140), from Complete knock-down kits manufactured in Ukraine. It may also begin assembly in Kazakhstan. It can carry a maximum of 52 passengers.

Versions
VIP – Regional aircraft An-140 in VIP-version is designed to carry up to 30 passengers in high comfort. The passenger compartment of the aircraft can be divided into two or three zones – the exclusive lounge, equipped with four comfortable seats, audio and video, business class and economy cabin, in which it has 26 standard seats with a standard walk.

The base An-140-100 can be built for civilian, military and special purpose: maritime patrol, medical, aerial photography, geological exploration, freight etc.

HESA IrAn-140
The IrAn-140 is a license-built version of the An-140, assembled by HESA in Iran from complete knock-down kits supplied by Antonov. , 13 aircraft per year were planned to be constructed. There were plans to produce maritime patrol (IrAn-140MP) and freighter (IrAn-140T) versions. 100 aircraft in total were planned to be build; 20 of them were to be acquired by the Iranian government for border patrol and surveillance.

On 09 November 2010, during his opening speech of the Kish air show, the Iranian transport minister announced that 14 IrAn-140 aircraft had so far been completed; the first six entered commercial service on 19 February 2011, after a ban on the operation of the Tupolev Tu-154 came into effect.

Operators
, a total of 25 Antonov An-140 aircraft are in airline, military and police aviation services, with a further 19 firm orders. There are a several prototypes and test frames with the three manufacturing site. The An-140 is currently operated by the following organizations:

Former Operators
After each losing an An-140 to crashes, Azerbaijan Airlines and Safiran Airlines returned their remaining examples to the manufactures and cancelled their remaining orders.

Accidents and Incidents
The An-140 has suffered five major incidents, including three crashes with total loss of life.


 * 1) On 23 December 2002, an Aeromist Kharkiv An-140 carrying many of Ukraine's top aviation designers and engineers crashed into a mountainside, as it was preparing to land at Isfahan, Iran, killing all 44 on board. The delegation was to have attended the inauguration ceremonies for the first HESA IrAn-140 frame. The probable cause was controlled flight into terrain (CFIT).
 * 2) On 12 August 2005, a Safiran Airlines HESA IrAn-140 diverted to Arak International Airport due to an engine failure. During landing, the aircraft overran the runway and was badly damaged. There were no fatalities. The cause of the engine failure appeared to be technical problems with the fuel control unit. The airframe was eventually repaired in the early 2010s and is to be used by HESA as a test bed for the future versions of the aircraft. After the Arak incident, Safiran Airlines returned its two remaining examples to HESA. These two aircraft eventually found their way to the Iran Police Aviation.
 * 3) On 23 December 2005, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217, an Antonov An-140 4K-AZ48, plunged into the Caspian Sea about 20 miles north of the capital, Baku. All 18 passengers and five crew members died. The plane was on its way to Aktau, Kazakhstan. Investigations discovered that three independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilized heading and altitude information to the crew early in the flight. The airline grounded its remaining An-140 airplanes, and cancelled plans to purchase more of the type from Ukraine.
 * 4) On 15 February 2006, an IrAn-140-100 (test registration HESA 90-04) crashed at Shahin Shahr, Isfahan Province, Iran, during a training flight. All 5 pilots on board were killed. The cause was an engine failure during takeoff, which appeared to haven been due to technical problems with the fuel control unit.
 * 5) On 06 September 2008, a South Airlines An-140 coming from Lviv, Ukraine, suffered a front landing gear failure (stuck inside the aircraft fuselage) during landing at Kiev Boryspil Airport. The aircraft landed on a specially prepared foam track using the two intact landing gears. None suffered any injuries and the aircraft was put back to service in three weeks after a minor repair.