Antonov An-140

An-140
Antonov An-140. Hostomel Airport, Ukraine, 2008
Role Airliner
First flight 17 September 1997
Status Operational
Primary users Ukraine
Iran
Russia
Produced 1997-present
Number built 28
Unit cost US$9 million
Variants HESA IrAn-140

The Antonov An-140 is a turboprop regional airliner, designed by the Ukrainian Antonov ASTC bureau. It first flew on September 17, 1997. Apart from the main production line in Kharkiv by KSAMC, the aircraft is being manufactured in Russia, and under licence by HESA in Iran (as the IR.AN-140 or Iran-140), and it may also begin production in Kazakhstan.[1] It can carry a maximum of 52 passengers.

Contents

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.

Civil operators

As of August 2010, a total of 25 Antonov An-140 aircraft are in airline service, with a further 34 firm orders. It is currently operated by the following organizations:

Airline In Service On Order
Antonov Airlines 3 0
Ilyich-Avia 2 0
Motor Sich 3 0
Yakutia Airlines 4 4
Ministry of Defence (Russia)[2] 0 7
Safiran Airlines[3] 2 0
Iran Air Tours[4] 4 4
Total 23 15

Specifications (An-140)

Data from www.antonov.com[5]

General characteristics

Performance

Accidents and Incidents

The An-140 has suffered five major accidents. Two of them had no fatalities, and three had all on board killed.

  1. In December 2002 an aircraft carrying many of Ukraine's top aviation designers and engineers crashed into a mountainside as it was preparing to land in Isfahan-Iran, killing all 44 on board. The passengers, including some Russian specialists and officials, were headed for the official inauguration of Iran's version of another Antonov plane, the An-140 commuter airliner, which is licensed by the design bureau. Iranian officials at first said they believed pilot error was to blame for the crash, but later said it was early to determine what caused the accident. The aircraft's flight data recorder was recovered but the results were never revealed.[7][8]
  2. 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. The airline has grounded its other remaining An-140 airplanes, and also postponed plans to purchase more of the type aircraft from Ukraine.[9] Investigations have discovered that three independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilised heading and altitude performance information to the crew early in the flight.[10]
  3. The third accident (non-fatal) occurred on 12 August 2005 with a HESA IrAn-140 belonging to Safiran Airlines. One of the engines failed and the airplane tried to land with the remaining engine. During the landing it went out of the runway in Arak airport. Airplane body was badly damaged but no-one died.
  4. The fourth accident happened on 15 February 2006 in Iran killing 5 pilots on board.[11] This airplane was also of the Iranian type known as the HESA IrAn-140.
  5. The fifth accident occurred on September 6, 2008 in Kiev Boryspil Airport. A Southern Airlines Ukraine An-140 coming from Lviv suffered a front landing gear failure (stuck inside the aircraft fuselage). The aircraft landed on a specially prepared foam track using two intact landing gears. None suffered any injuries and the aircraft was put back to service in three weeks after a minor repair.[12]

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^ Antonov examining proposal to assembly Russian-Ukrainian An-140 in Kazakhstan
  2. ^ Russian Ministry of Defense will acquire a batch of An-140s
  3. ^ Flight International, 3–9 October 2006
  4. ^ Fars News Agency
  5. ^ "Antonov An-140". http://www.antonov.com/products/air/air-liner/AN-140/. Retrieved 2006-08-22. 
  6. ^ At 520 km/h (280 kt, 320 mph) at 7,200 m (24,000 ft) with a 6,000 kg (13,000) payload / standard load -- 500km/h with 52 passengers at 7,200m (24,000ft)
  7. ^ http://www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/209/678
  8. ^ "Ukraine mourns Iran air crash victims". BBC News. 2002-12-26. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2606607.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
  9. ^ Azerbaijan plane crash 'kills 23' - BBC
  10. ^ Crashed An-140 had gyro failure
  11. ^ سقوط مرگبار سومین هواپیمای ایران 140 در اصفهان
  12. ^ An-140 lands successfully after a front landing gear failure

Notes

Antonov aircraft
Airliners
An-10 · An-24 · An-28 · An-74 · An-140 · An-148 · An-158 · An-174 · An-180 · An-218
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OKA-38 · An-2 · An-3 · An-4 · An-8 · An-12 · An-14 · An-22 · An-26 · An-32 · An-38 · An-70 · An-72 · An-112 · An-124 · An-225
Reconnaissance and surveillance
An-6 · An-30 · An-71 · An-88
Experimental
An-13 · SKV
Gliders
A-1 · A-2 · A-7 · A-11 · A-13 · A-15 · A-40
Unknown
An-204
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Accidents/incidents
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