Muddy take-off

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.