As I was returning to Bangalore on Saturday, I spotted this very unusual aircraft at the ramp across the passenger terminal at Mumbai CSI airport, an Antonov An-74-TK-100. UR-CKC belongs to Cavok Air, a Ukranian cargo operator. The striking feature of this aircraft is the overwing engines which are used to perform short take-off and…
It is essentially the world’s largest cargo airplane. Capable of carrying 120 metric tonnes it is surpassed by only the Antonov An-225 of which only one aircraft is in existence. It is the Antonov An-124-100M-150 Ruslan. Last Saturday, a Ruslan registration RA-82078, operated by Volga Dnepr Airlines, visited Bangalore to carry a satellite for the…
Thanks to a technology based economy (sorry world, but Bangalore is a lot more than just BPO outsourcing), Bangalore has always been a preferred destination for air cargo. Bio-technology, electronics, aviation, pharmaceuticals, high-end precision engineering, floriculture, fresh produce, and the outsourcing industry which buys tons of imported computers, ensure that Bangalore is the leading hub…
The intruding Volga Dnepr Antonov Anotnov AN124 finally departed Mumbai late on Saturday evening at 22:39 (17:09Z). The aircraft apparently has been “wet leased” i.e. aircraft and crew, by the US military for supply flights between the US base at Deigo Garcia in the southern Indian ocean and Kandahar in Afghanistan. The aircraft has made…
A Volga Dnepr Antonov AN-124 super transporter has been forced to land at Mumbai airport after it violated Indian airspace under highly suspicious circumstances. As per news reports, the plane was spotted on radar entering Indian airspace around 21:50 local (16:20Z). With no record of the flight and Mumbai having some of the busiest airspace…
An Indian Air Force (IAF) Antonov 32 (AN-32) has crashed in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh which borders China. A total of 12 people – two pilots, a navigator, three air crew and six army personnel, were on board the twin engined cargo aircraft. The AN-32 plane had flown from Jorhat in Assam…
At the start of Aero India in early February, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., announced it would make delivery of the first five of the Advanced Light Helicopters sold to the Ecuadorian Air Force using the behemoth Antonov An-124-100. On the night of March 18th the giant transporter came to the HAL airport to load up. I…
An Antonov AN-12, belonging to Aerolift a cargo operator in Windhoek, Namibia, registration S9-SVN freight flight LFT-1015 from Entebbe, Uganda to Nikolaev, Ukraine with 5 crew on board, had diverted to Luxor (Egypt) due to shortage of fuel. After refuelling the airplane caught fire and burned down while taking off Luxor, killing all 5 occupants.…
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