Muddy take-off
By Geoffrey Thomas Tue Nov 12, 2013
It has one of the world’s worst crash records with 189 hull losses but when you see the video below it is hardly surprising.
The Antonov AN-24 flies to and from some of the world’s most challenging airports and thus accidents are more likely.
This video captures a take-off from a rain soak muddy airfield.
The AN-24 was designed to operate into unprepared and rough airfields and does a remarkable job at achieving that.
It first flew in 1959, over 1,000 An-24s were built and 880 are still in service, mostly in Russia and Africa.
About 250 An-24s are in airline service.
The high-wing layout protects engines and blades from debris and mud and the aircraft is very rugged.
The AN-24 entered airline service in 1963 and production ended in 1979. In all 1332 were built.
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